Well, I'd always avoided WAR HORSE because the premise sounded terrible to me. I expected a sentimental tear-fest about a horse, and I only started watching the film because it was one of the few Spielberg films I hadn't seen (and I generally do love me some Spielberg). As it turned out, the maverick director used the horse and the premise of the children's book the film is based on more as a plot device, almost a "McGuffin" so to speak, to lead the audience through a number of small, very human stories about a period in history contemporary Cinema has neglected a little as of late - the early 20th century and World War I - which happens to be a period I'm interested in quite a bit.
To my surprise I found this film to be a beautiful - in a sad kind of way - portrait of an era, a war and the generation that suffered through it, told through many different perspectives. It may not be the legendary director's most spectacular work (and it IS quite a bit sentimental, this being Spielberg after all, and him doing an adaptation of a children's book at that) - but I connected with these sad little tales (or anecdotes) of war about simple English, German and French people more than I expected. All things considered, I would definitely call it a good film, and the great cast as well as the beautiful cinematography and epic John Williams score alone are enough to make it absolutely worth seeing.
To my surprise I found this film to be a beautiful - in a sad kind of way - portrait of an era, a war and the generation that suffered through it, told through many different perspectives. It may not be the legendary director's most spectacular work (and it IS quite a bit sentimental, this being Spielberg after all, and him doing an adaptation of a children's book at that) - but I connected with these sad little tales (or anecdotes) of war about simple English, German and French people more than I expected. All things considered, I would definitely call it a good film, and the great cast as well as the beautiful cinematography and epic John Williams score alone are enough to make it absolutely worth seeing.