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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 12:05 pm
This movie is getting heavy marketing right now. It stars Viggo Mortensen (Aragon from LOTR). THe marketing stresses that it is based on a TRUE STORY!!! I HATE LIES IN ADVERTISING!..and I don't think we need to create more enmity, however slight, with the Arab countries This news item comes from IMBD : 'Hidalgo' a Fake, Say Arabs The Council on American-Islamic Relations has denounced the upcoming Disney/Touchstone film Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif, claiming that it presents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs and that, despite being promoted as "an incredible true story," is completely fictional. The film depicts an American cowboy arriving in Aden in 1890 to compete against a hundred Bedouin riders in a desert horse race covering 5000 kilometers (3,107 miles) called "Ocean of Fire." However, the English-language Arab News today (Monday) quotes Dr. Awad Al-Badim director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and an authority on Western travelers to Arabia, as saying: "The idea of a historic trans-Arabian horse race ever having run is pure nonsense." Noting that a 3,000-mile race would put the finish line "somewhere in Romania," Dr. Al-Badi told Arab News: "Since they are claiming it is a true story, it's astonishing that neither Disney nor their scriptwriter have even bothered to check records in established museums and archives or tap a single credible academic." Meanwhile, the Lincoln NB Journal Star reports that research by U.S. historians has also concluded that the film is based on a series of fabricated stories told by Frank Hopkins, the cowboy depicted in the movie. It quoted Vine Deloria Jr., author of Custer Died for Your Sins, as saying, "The man was a pathological liar." This is the site: Hidalgo a fake
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Legalboxer
Member
11-17-2003
| Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 12:24 pm
jan when i first saw the preview months ago i looked into it and saw a lot of websites claiming it was NOT a true story, that the man made it up years ago etc- a sparse few claim it is true- I too would hate false advertising because people will believe it is true if that is what is being said, but at the same time i cant wait to see the movie because it has everything I love, old west, arab deserts, sandstorms, horses and Viggo - i just wish tgey didnt say "based on a true story" if its really not. this site has alot of articles about it- mostly if not all negative http://www.thelongridersguild.com/hopkins.htm
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Jan
Member
08-01-2000
| Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 12:30 pm
I agree Legal..I will go see it because it looks good...why did they have to add the obvious lie about it being true????? My peeve with that is that movies feigning to be true will often end up on the History channel and then become believed in fact! and, at this point, we don't need another fib to make arab countries broadcast that we are all liars!!! Thanks for the site. I'll go check it out.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Tuesday, March 02, 2004 - 4:51 pm
One point though, you could ride a horse 3000 miles without ever having to leave a racetrack. So, in essence, a circuitous route in that country could add up to a 3000 mile race.
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Friday, March 05, 2004 - 4:34 pm
The movie looks good. But I'll need to wait for reviews before I go see it. They were showing clips of it on Animal Planet, interweaved with stories of the Spanish Mustang in USA. At one point, the documentary said that most people knew how the US Soldiers tried to decimate the American Indians by killing the buffalo herds; but few people knew how the soldiers also tried to kill off the Indians horses too. Then it flashed to a movie clip in the field of a line of solders (guns in hand) walking towards a horse pen, and then a clip of the horses milling around the pen in panic. If they show a slaughter of horses in the movie, I won't go see it. I still can't bear to watch Dances With Wolves again, after the soldiers executed his horse and wolf at the end.
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Carlpsmom
Member
01-03-2004
| Monday, March 08, 2004 - 11:03 am
We went to see this yesterday. I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. It was a little long, but it was fun. Who, they only showed part of the scene in that clip. It was towards the end of the movie and SPOILER...... the horses were not killed.The hero saved them from being shot.There is more in that scene but I won't spoil that much! There were a couple of parts where I looked away but that is only me. I am buying this one and Miracle for my nephews if they come out on DVD for Christmas. JMHO, but I thought it was a good time.Action and adventure without machine guns and sports cars. lol
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Whoami
Member
08-03-2001
| Monday, March 08, 2004 - 4:03 pm
Thank you Carlpsmom!
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Friday, April 02, 2004 - 3:21 pm
I swear the phone knows when I'm trying to post something! Saw this last weekend - another of today's almost-epic-length movies that seems to wander a bit aimlessly at times. After so much mediocre press, it was something of a pleasant surprise that I ended up enjoying this movie more than I had expected to. However I wouldn't call it a classic by any means. As for the Arab cultural stereotyping issue...I understand the concern and do think there is some validity to the criticism but, to be fair, it is white settlers' mistreatment of Native Americans that is the actual focus of the movie's message. But I'm not sure you could ever reconcile opinions on this. Most distressing for me were the scenes of animal suffering. It was difficult to watch Hidalogo struggle across those barren wastelands - for what? Human glory? I could not help but think of the Iditarod (sp?) which had just been run and again saw dogs die. Viggo Mortensen's lips looked chapped the entire movie and I lost count of how many gorgeous, silent shots there were of man and horse silhouetted against the changing skyline. I was definitely misty-eyed by the end. Lots of trailers... ~ Troy ~ Home on the Range - don't know about the movie but the trailer was a riot ~ The Punisher ~ The Day After Tomorrow - Think this movie's jawdropping effects will jolt Americans into getting concerned about global warming more effectively than Deep Impact did in raising public awareness of monitoring space rocks on a collision course with Earth? ~ Around the World in 80 Days - very cute, lighthearted trailer - looks like fun
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Webkitty
Member
07-24-2001
| Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 9:07 am
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone....do do do do...... I didn't read any reviews before I went so I wasn't 'looking' for any flaws. Animal suffering? Hildalgo struggling? I'm an animal lover and don't remember any of this at all..... The cinematography was beautiful. Viggo's low key dry sense of humor was wonderful. I actually thought it was a rather lighthearted movie. So what if the cowboy Viggo's character was based on exaggerated his life, the movie is still worth seeing. jmo
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 11:13 am
***Spoilers*** Webkitty: I was referring to the times they were struggling across the desert while being so very thirsty, and the times Hidalgo was injured (especially when they fell through the trap and Hidalgo was impaled on those sharp spikes). Remember how a despairing Frank very nearly shot him after that, so as to put him out his pain and suffering? Even though I knew he had to survive, when I saw the blood trickling from Hidalgo's nose and heard his wrenching whinnies...oh, I just couldn't help weeping. Hope you didn't get the wrong impression from my first post, I enjoyed the movie as well and agree there was a fair amount of humor in it. But for me it was more a thoughtful, rather than lighthearted, film - albeit one with a lot of action and thrills. As I wrote before, the scenes set in the American west that bookended the film (Wounded Knee and the mustang round-up) were what affected me the most. P.S. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who loved the beacon sequence in RotK!
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