Imax: The Story of Equus [Import]

This movie, as several reviews on Amazon and Netflix point out...that yes, it's a MOVIE, not a documentary. The horses are obviously trained for many of the scenes, most implausiblely the horse who runs into the "wild". The film follows two trainers coming home from a sale with a yearling horse. The trailer breaks off like magic when the truck skids. The trainers open the trailer doors to check on the horse. One of them takes the bridle off of the horse, and just stands there. The horse runs off into the woods, and the film follows the horse's "free" life as it somehow manages to get from countryside to deep forest, where he finds a herd wandering around the woods. The colt and the mare 'fight', which means rearing up and pawing at each other several times. Rearing very well, actually--obviously TRAINED. Horses don't rear constantly, as in films. Also, the horses in the herd happen to be well-groomed, shiny, and have fantastic conformation. PLEASE. Then the film follows the yearling running all over the country, going from heartland fields to...very snowy mountains, and he happens to find another herd! Ugh. If you took it to be a documentary, then the filmmakers would be following an expensive colt, just left to run around in the wild. The other horses are a horse being trained to race and a horse being trained to jump. The jumping horse stumbles in competition. The rider jumps off, suspiciously coordinated, and the horse stands still, very calm and stares at the rider, who lands in the water perfectly. The racehorse runs her first race, winning by several lengths, only the rest of the horses are held back and let her get ahead. More acting. This is just the beginning of the mistakes--I'm just writing a long review b/c I don't want others to get suckered into buying a film that is marketed to be a documentary, but isn't. Some people might like it just for entertainment, or for the gorgeous photography. But be warned. I'm glad I rented it and didn't buy.

1 Disc Widescreen, released June 8, 2010

"Horses: The Story of Equus" was financed by the Australian Film Finance Corporation and is the story of three horses: The Chestnut being trained for racing, The Bay being trained for movie stunts, and The Black who on his way to a stud farm gets into an accident and escapes into the wild joining a herd.

The cinematography on this film is breathtaking capturing every beautiful muscle of the horses galloping. Horses are speedy and graceful and always alluring to watch. The stories while clearly set up are very different and give the horses a chance to show their personality in their circumstances.

The Chestnut has issues connecting with its rider and throws her sensationally into a lake. The Bay has a fiery spirit that prevents it from getting close to anyone till the end of the film. The Black gets the most exciting journey of all getting to run free across gorgeous landscapes that are a feast for the eyes.

Good but it needed more about the horses. The movie needed to explain more about each horse and why that horse went to that particular way in its training and follow each horse more through its training.