Movies

[tammysinnett]

If anyone wants a good evening of movie watching --try Seabiscuit, Dreamer and Flicka(the new versions) Really enjoyed Seabiscut thought it really protrayed some good racing, Dreamer and Flicka got my tears....love the music on Flicka. Anyon else watched these films??

[Skipitgirl]

Personally I thought Flicka was pretty lame. But for horse crazy kids they will do.

I must say though that I remember when "Dreamer" first came out that the question of how they could determine she was sterile so easily was brought up.

My friend recently had a mare off the track vetted for breeding soundness and she was found to have no ovaries and no uterus. So I guess it is possible.

[tammysinnett]

I agree about Flicka but I just love that song so some how I felt to give the movie a break......interesting fact about Dreamer....

[Tucumcari]

Seabiscuit was done well... Dreamer I was compelled to use the fast foreward a bunch... the breakdown scene was too gruesome and way overdone for the injury... it turned my stomach, though...
Flicka, I have passed on all together

[tbrace]

Spoken like a true horseperson, T. Maria's Storm, on whom the movie is roughly based, did have a pretty have a pretty good injury, though.

Why do they always have to make the breakdown scenes so disturbing, though? It doesn't help our image.

[Tucumcari]

It was just so stupid... and nauseatingly well (over)done... if a horse actually blew apart like that it would be long dead, not making a comeback....
They could have just shown a horse pulling up badly... that would have been easier to stomach... I was shocked and appalled by the scene... and I like to believe my skin to be petty thick...

[Arctic Cielo]

The backyard style racing in Seabiscuit was interesting. Or fairground racing? Its in the beginning of the movie where pollard first starts riding. Its just interesting to see how racing was done back then in some places.

[Toccet02]

Seabiscuit was nice, but nowhere near as interesting with the agonizing race decisions and frustrations as the book.
Dreamer was pretty unlikely and moderately corny...except where Dakota Fanning says "Oh PLEASE don't treat me like a child . . ." that was priceless.
Of course I think the most gorgeous is the 1979 Black Stallion.

[Tucumcari]

Ya, I agree, I loved that movie... Phar LAp too.... two of the greats.
The Black Stallon was unealistic, but for the time they did it superbly!!!!

[BladeRunner]

In my opinion, Seabiscuit is not only the best horseracing movie, but to me one of the best movies of all time...and yes, the book was much better, but I felt they did a good job capturing the feel of the book and the acting was excellent.

Yes, Dreamer was a little on the corny side and let's face it, it wasn't demographically pointed toward horseracing enthusiasts, but rather for people who wanted to see a story of tragedy turned to triumph. Of course, as a breeder we all slumped our shoulders and resisted to tell who we were watching with that they most likely wouldn't have tested her fertility before starting to breed her. And I felt the breakdown was handled much better than some of the people on here, the audience had to feel that this horse's life was in imminent danger.

Flicka isn't really a horseracing movie, but my kids enjoyed it.

Two other movies worth mentioning are Let it Ride, starring Richard Dreyfuss who has the hottest day of his life at the track...and 1978's Casey's Shadow (about a quarterhorse) starring Walter Matthau, actually very similar to Dreamer in many respects.

[Prairie]

The ORIGINAL Flicka and the sequel, Thunderhead, Son of Flicka, are the very best!

[Derring]

Thank you--yes, the originals are better. I hate when they take a classic and change it. Flicka is a pass.....saw it anyway, didn't like it.

Seabiscuit was a very well done movie. A friend of mine that doesn't even like horses much (poor girl) said it was one of the best movies she's ever seen. I agree.

Another movie to watch (horse related if not central theme) is Something to Talk About. Very funny.....

[magic code]

Hello! Racing Stripes!!!

[Prairie]

Hello! Racing Stripes!!!

Racing Stripes couldn't be cuter!! I don't think our thoroughbreds could be that "mean", though!

[pfrsue]

First post on this forum. Please don't hurt me!


I always thought it was a pretty neat in-joke in Dreamer that one of the stallions they looked at when considering breeding the mare was Giant's Causeway - who is the son of Mariah's Storm who the movie was based on. Talk about inbreeding!