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By
WAYNE KLEIN
This epic adventure
chronicles the exploits of a former pony express
rider and his horse Hidalgo as they compete in a
grueling race through the Arabian desert at the
turn of the century. When we meet Frank Hopkins
(Viggo Mortensen) his life has become frayed and
tattered after witnessing the massacre of his
native people at Wounded Knee. Although only half
Indian, Hopkins has hidden his heritage as much as
possible to avoid the prejudice so prevalent
during the time. But after seeing his people
slaughtered, Hopkins drifts into alcoholism and is
reduced to doing tricks for Buffalo Bill's crass
Wild West Show.
Invited to participate in The Ocean of Fire race
by a powerful and wily sheik (the wonderful Omar
Sharif), Hopkins realizes the only way to escape
what he has become is to escape the country that
helped drive him into the bottle and reclaim his
life. This 3,000 mile trek across burning sands
takes him into many perils as he braves a
sandstorm, locusts and less than honorable
competitors. Ultimately, Hopkins redeems himself
reclaiming his soul in a recreation of Hell on
Earth.
Although it didn't do well in theaters, Joe
Johnston's ("The Rocketeer," "Honey I Shrunk the
Kids," "Jurassic Park III") adventure captures
America at the turn of the century in nice detail.
"Hidalgo" probably could have been cut by about 20
minutes -- the first half of the film drags a bit
-- but the overall effect of the movie is
wonderful. The sweep and majestic look recall
David Lean ("Lawrence of Arabia") and even Steven
Spielberg, but the leaden pacing at the beginning
may wear out younger viewers. Still, it's an
invigorating and exciting movie once the action
starts racing along.
I wish I could say that "Hidalgo" the DVD was as
sleek and sharp as a racehorse. It's not. Let's
start with the positives first: The film doesn't
have any analog blemishes and looks very sharp
with crystal clear images and vivid colors.
Usually a film of this nature with as much fine
detail would also have compression problems, i.e.,
the image would look overly "grainy." The
engineers that worked on this transfer skillfully
avoid that trap but fall into another one. The
film is marred by some heavy-handed use of edge
enhancement. This effect is often used to
"sweeten" a movie and increase sharpness but does
so at the expense of fine detail and a "natural"
look. This wouldn't normally be a huge problem but
the extreme contrast between the landscape and the
riders lends an unreal quality to the film at
times.
The dynamic presentation of the soundtrack gives
the film considerable presence. The 5.1 transfer
makes good use of all the surround speakers
particularly during the sequence involving the
sandstorm. Viewers will feel as if they've been
plopped down in the middle of this threat along
with Hopkins.
Surprisingly light on extras, "Hidalgo" comes with
one featurette that is presented in full-screen
format and a DVD-ROM feature. The 9-minute "Sand &
Celluloid" focuses on the production and gives
viewers a glimpse behind the scenes. This
featurette also has a number of brief interview
segments woven into the body of the presentation.
The DVD-ROM feature is actually the better of the
two presentations. "Hidalgo: America's First
Horse" gives an excellent overview of the Spanish
Mustang breed and its role in American history.
There's also an easter egg, which is fairly easy
to find that tells the story from the Native
American viewpoint as well. It's a very brief
featurette but one worth looking at.
Johnston, surprisingly, chose not to do a
commentary track. Actually, the film could have
used his comments as well as a historian's
perspective on the real story vs. the "reel"
story. It's always fascinating and fun to discover
where life begins and myth ends. At the very least
a commentary from the folks that did the visual
effects for the sequences involving the sand storm
and locusts would have been interesting.
Although a bit too long, "Hidalgo" benefits from a
strong performance by Sharif and a powerful but
understated performance by the magnetic Mortensen.
The race itself is wonderfully shot with the epic
sweep and grandeur of a Lean or Spielberg.
Although a bit short on extras, this would be a
worthwhile film to rent or purchase for fans of
epic films such as "Lawrence of Arabia" or even
fans of westerns. |
