The Black Stallion

"From the moment he first saw the stallion, he knew it would either destroy him, or carry him where no one had ever been before ..."

This movie, made in 1979, is about a boy and a horse, and is based on a book by the same name. It is one of my favorite movies of all time and one that I consider to be a minor masterpiece.

What makes this movie special is the way the director chooses to tell the story primarily with images and sounds. There is very little dialogue throughout the movie. In fact, the second act, in which the boy befriends the horse, contains no dialogue at long. This is a wonderful section and my favorite part of the movie, especially the scene where the boy rides the horse for the first time.

The movie is beautiful to look at with lush colors and great natural lighting. It is very quiet overall but uses sound in a really creative way. Great editing, too. All of the actors offer low key way performances which really work well, though the boy seems a little self-conscious at times.

The story is very simple, but I won't tell you any of it, so that, if you choose to see this, you can experience it and enjoy it to the fullest extent possible. It's well worth a look. Two thumbs, way up.