You’ve got to expect some pretty big things from a film that uses the massacre at Wounded Knee as a mere starting point. Add Viggo Mortensen fresh from his stint as Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s excellent Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and how can you not expect big things? And if that’s not enough, we’ll throw in some genuine Arabian sheiks and breathtaking cinematography… oh, and there’s horses. With a combination like that you simply can’t go wrong, or can you? Hidalgo isn’t by any definition a bad film, but it had far too much going for it to be a hair above average.

Let’s start with the story. Disney took some heat for this one. I’m not sure why when you consider every “based on a true story” film ever made is usually more fiction than fact. The problem here is that the film’s pre-release buzz was all about the real life Frank T. Hopkins, who most experts confirm was a better teller than he was ever at doing things. The media has by now picked apart the story that comes with no documentation at all. But I really don’t care much if it really happened or not. Just entertain me. In this story Hopkins (Mortensen) has won a few long distances races with his trusty mustang, Hidalgo. He was also a runner for the Army from time to time until one day he delivered orders that led to the massacre at Wounded Knee. Although he tries to hide, it he’s half American Indian himself and he carries a heavy conscience after the slaughter. For a guilt- ridden sad man, he seems to find enough grief relief working for the famous Buffalo Bill Cody Wild West Show. It is here that he is approached by emissaries from the Middle East. It seems his claim that Hidalgo is the fastest long distance horse in the world has ruffled more than a few feathers abroad, and these gentlemen have come to kindly ask him to remove the claim. It seems a big sheik has a horse he considers worthy of the honor. Hopkins isn’t about to sell Hidalgo out like that, so he refuses. The gentlemen offer another solution. Come to the Middle East and enter the thousand year old “Great Race”. The event takes its contestants across 3000 miles of harsh desert. He eventually accepts the challenge and enters the race. Once there he is immediately treated as the outside infidel who has no chance of winning. Do I have to tell you how that turns out? The writers must have suspected they needed more, because they throw in a rather unnecessary bit of royal intrigue, a non-romantic entanglement, and would you believe there’s even a side trip to rescue a princess. No kidding. Hey, I couldn’t make this stuff up.

The photography for Hidalgo is beautiful, to be sure. From the snowy mountains in America to the vast burning sands of the Middle East the shots are a wonder. The story just is too implausible. After all of the horror Hopkins experiences, it seems completely out of character for him to embark on this journey to uphold his horse’s honor. Yeah, I know he did some good with the prize money, but it doesn’t seem like more than a “oh by the way” at the end of the film. Mortensen is a very good actor, but he’s trying too hard to be Clint Eastwood here, and he never appears to develop any comfort level with the character. Omar Sharif has by far the best role as Sheik Riyadh. He actually looks and sounds like a cultured Boris Karloff at times, and his portrayal is quite captivating. J.K. Simmons also does a mighty fine job in his underused role of Buffalo Bill Cody. The Spider-Man and Law & Order alum is a very versatile actor, and this part only adds to the reputation. Malcolm McDowell has a very short role as Major Davenport, who is sponsoring a woman’s horse in the race.  The greatest flaw is that the film is overlong. The trouble is that too many side plots that never satisfactorily resolve are thrown about seemingly almost at random. I would rather have had a 90 minute film that deals strictly with the race. Give credit to the writers for trying to work a new angle into the Western genre, but that also ends up being their downfall. The film never ends up deciding exactly what kind of a film it wants to be. With an ending that’s not going to surprise anyone, you must make an impact in the journey itself. Hidalgo does no more than an average job of that.

Finally, the film doesn’t do us any favors in the Islamic community. To some this film demonstrates what they already believe we are. Hopkins isn’t just an outsider, he appears, albeit quietly, arrogant. He does eventually have doubts near the end, but the enormity of this event doesn’t ever seem to impress him. He’s there to show the snobbish Muslims how it’s done. There’s a remark by one of the characters during a raid that tribal wars are their national pastime. It’s done in such ay we don’t think the filmmakers are pointing out a character flaw for the lady but merely a legitimate observation.       

Video

Hidalgo is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1. The hi-def transfer makes use of wonderfully mastered AVC MPEG4 codec. As I’ve already stated, this is a visually beautiful film. From the very first images I was taken in by the absolutely stunning reproduction here. There’s no question the film greatly benefits from this hi-def transfer. The compression stayed at about the 30 mbps mark throughout, and I couldn’t find any flaws or artifacts. Black levels weren’t quite as nice as I expected with all of the sharpness and detail, but they were fine, and this film rarely ventured into very dark moments. The transfer reproduced colors convincingly if not in any great brilliance. The true feat was to portray the heated desert, allowing various shades of gold and brown to show through. I was disappointed in the sandstorm scene. Perhaps in such high definition the CG work stood out too much against the rest of the film. It was far too obviously computer generated, and no faces. The detail is most appreciated in the shots of Hidalgo himself. I’m not really a huge horse guy, although my wife certainly is, but I thought Hidalgo’s color and definition were quite attractive here.

Audio

This is a nice PCM uncompressed 5.1 presentation. The audio is compressed at a decent 4.6 mbps. The film made marvelous use of surrounds. The score does a great job of accenting those rousing horses at full speed segments and is enough to get your heart pounding. Hoof beats were particularly well done. The realism was quite convincing. There isn’t a lot of powerful sub action going; instead the producers made a nice choice of using the low end to fill the sound rather than overwhelm the audience. The overall effect had a very rich texture to it. Dialogue is always clear, but Mortensen at times speaks rather softly. It’s a testament to the audio that even with that I caught everything he said.

Special Features

Sand And Celluloid: This feature is ported over from the SD release. At 9 minutes it’s not a very conclusive behind the scenes feature.

America’s First Horse: This 22 minute feature looks at the history of the Spanish Mustang. Strictly for horse lovers.

Final Thoughts

Hidalgo is a pleasant enough distraction as films go, but at almost every corner there’s no sense we haven’t seen it all too many times before. The film never has its break out moment and tends to make a heavier than necessary demand on your patience. It’s worth the rent if only to experience the film’s fine hi-def images. Otherwise it’s nothing new. “The cowboy rides away into the setting of the sun.”