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SoTrumpBelieve Must See Movie...

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Blueghost One of the great geniuses of the cinema, Carroll Ballard, bring us a story about a boy and a horse. Big deal, you say. There's lots of stories and movies about horses, and the people who love them. But here we have an intimate tale of two living beings bonding with one another. Both are innocent, and come to terms with one another on a deep soulful level.Any human who's ever cared for another living creature and has experienced the joy of unconditional love from that creature, will be moved and relive those days. The incredible shot setups from Ballard energize the film with tenderness and a level of intimacy that is very difficult to catch on visual medium. But here we are given glimpses and gazes of a friendship between two very different souls by Ballard. His cinematography, in my opinion, is unsurpassed by any contemporary. Ballard shows us the development of the relationship between boy and horse, and makes us feel as if we are witnessing something special, which we are. Each shot is almost voyeuristic, as if we're seeing something that most people don't ever get to see, and should feel privileged upon witnessing it.The second half of the film is a bit more prosaic, but we're still witnessing the tale of adventure and friendship, as the two face challenges of the real world, and how they ultimately overcome obstacles presented by that very same world.I wish I had more to say, but the film speaks for itself. It is predominantly a "children's film", so to speak, but incredibly high caliber of film making that Carroll Ballard brings to every project he lays hands to, elevates the genre from a wink-and-a-nod G-Rated kids' film, to a movie that's truly meant for all "General Audiences" of all ages.It is superbly crafted and executed by one of the all time great cinematographers of our time.Do not miss this one with your young ones.

osama-abdo The Black Stallion is the best this is what real good movie is most times of the movie just the boy and the horse no much talking but much events and feelings - the best two scenes i love 1st when the boy (Kelly Reno ) give the horse food . 2nd when the horse protected the boy from a snake . Kelly Reno : one movie made him a legend in my opinion . i did not see other movies for him i guess he did not act much but he is a good actor . the director he control in good way all his tools to made a good movie like that At the end if you did not watch till now you should do it now - this is the best classic movie . thank you for all cast .

runamokprods Time has perhaps taken a tiny tick off the perfection of this for me (the ending is a bit abrupt, etc.), but this is still one of the best, most beautiful, most emotional, and most entertaining 'family' films ever made. Eschewing dialogue entirely for large blocks of time, and then only using words sparingly when people do speak, this is story told in pictures, both breathtaking wide shots (often tracking shots moving so fast, but so smoothly that it seems impossible) and intimate close-ups revealing subtle details of emotion. The sequence with boy and horse making friends while trapped on an island is justifiably what people remember most, but there's lots that's great here, including what was arguably the best performance of Mickey Rooney's long career.NB: The DVD releases are frustrating. The US release isn't even anamorphic, and the UK, while anamorphic, has lots of dirt, grain, and less than perfect moments. And they're still gorgeous.

Momcat_of_Lomita If you were a horse-crazy girl kid who didn't have a horse to ride, you read "The Black Stallion" series of books, or at least the first book. They were like a religion for horse-loving kids.Revisiting the books as an adult is like going back to any place you remember as a kid: it's smaller, it's not as nice, you see flaws you weren't aware of when you were a kid.So when I found out they were making a movie out of "The Black Stallion," I was mentally braced for a disappointment. Movies rarely are able to reproduce the magic of books we loved as kids; especially if the movie is consciously made as a "kid's movie," which is to say an adult's version of what a kid is supposed to want to see.I was absolutely stunned by how beautifully the book was translated to film. Carroll Ballard's interpretation of Walter Farley's book is tender without being precious and is true to the spirit of the book without being slavish in following every detail. And above everything else, it's BEAUTIFULLY photographed. There are sequences, like when young Alec Ramsey (Kelly Reno) first rides The Black, that are pure visual poetry. And Carmine Coppola's score for the movie is beautiful, right on the money in setting the mood and the rhythm.I have to comment on Mickey Rooney as hardboot horse-trainer Henry Dailey. I think that this is the best thing I've seen Rooney do as an older adult actor. The scene where he's explaining to Kelly Reno's character Alec how you ride racehorses is so vivid and well-done that it's stayed crystal clear in my memory since I saw the film the first time in 1979.For all the visual poetry and the excellent translation of the book to the screen, this is not a perfect movie. There are some schmaltzy, kitschy moments to it, where as an adult viewer you're just kind of gritting your teeth for them to move on to something that's authentic and not contrived. And in discussion with other horse-lovers, I know that not everyone who is familiar with Farley's book is happy with the liberties that have been taken by the filmmakers in adapting the story for the screen. Also, this is unabashedly a horse story. If you aren't into horses, if they don't stir up any romance or poetry or love of their beauty in your soul, this is not a movie you're going to enjoy or even understand.But if you love horses, there are parts of this movie that are going to be pure magic to you. I have to regard the sequence of Kelly Reno riding The Black for the first time right up there with the chariot race sequence of Ben-Hur as the two most beautifully evocative scenes involving horses that have ever been filmed, and I think that is reason enough to recommend this movie.