Movies
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Hidalgo
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 36 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Adventure | Drama | Western
Written by: John Fusco
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 5, 2004
DVD: August 3, 2004
Running Time: 136 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for adventure violence and some mild innuendo
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha Robinson, Omar Sharif, Louise Lombard, Adam Alexi-Malle, Saïd Taghmaoui, Silas Carson, and Harsh Nayyar
Based on the story of long distance rider Frank T. Hopkins, Hidalgo is an epic action-adventure and one man's journey of personal redemption. (Touchstone Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Jumanji Jurassic Park III October Sky
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
It's mostly quite enjoyable. Director Joe Johnson's many action sequences are lively and engaging, the location photography (mostly Morocco) is breathtaking, and both the horse and Sharif (in his biggest Hollywood role in years) are adorable.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
But if you do not have some secret place in your soul that still responds even a little to brave cowboys, beautiful princesses and noble horses, then you are way too grown up and need to cut back on cable news.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter
The beautifully photographed film is quite stylized at times...But it manages to steer clear of the stereotypes one might expect of a movie set in this time and place, thanks in part to the underlying and, mostly, underplayed themes of spirituality and the search for identity.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
This big-budget western bears a striking resemblance to the recent Tom Cruise vehicle "The Last Samurai," though it's more fun and less pretentious.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Hokey though it is, with a horse-hugger ending thrown in to boot, Hidalgo has a sweet-natured appeal that welcomes sentiment without overdoing it.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Tells an old-fashioned boys' adventure yarn in an equally old-fashioned way.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
There is enough compelling adventure, awesome cinematography and dynamic stunt work involving horses to keep one entertained by Hidalgo.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
Hidalgo can still be a wonder to behold, especially in its dynamic racing sequences, but the movie bogs down in its midsection with a needless kidnapping subplot that ultimately becomes quite tedious.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
A sometimes stirring, sometimes preposterous movie.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Performances are simple and complementary, and Hidalgo's potential death scene sustains suspense as much as is equinely possible.
Read Full Review >Premiere Sara Brady
Mortensen proves once again that he’s an able, even intuitive performer, more compelling speaking Lakota Sioux than many others in plain English.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Like most movies about men and horses, Hidalgo spares no expense in matters of corniness. Set in the 1890s, it's sort of a throwback movie, executed with the boyish kick of dusty old cowboy matinees.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
There is some lovely cinematography by Shelly Johnson in the classic David Lean style and plenty of excitement. Taken just for that, Hidalgo delivers.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Fortunately, most of the malarkey in this movie seems intentional in the same Sunday-afternoon-serial way as the Indiana Jones movies (some of which Johnston worked on).
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Mortensen nicely underplays his role, offhandedly tossing off one-liners and making the script's sometimes purple dialogue sound a little less cheesy, but the rest of the film often lurches into hammy overdrive.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Simplest of its charms is the opportunity to watch Mortensen adapt his charismatic demeanor of wary, taciturn soulfulness from that of a Middle-earth king-in-waiting to one fitting a half-Lakota horseman in 1890.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Bill Gallo
Yet another version of the conscience-stricken white soldier Kevin Costner played in "Dances With Wolves" and the Indian killer-turned-noble warrior Tom Cruise gave us in "The Last Samurai."
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
You might expect "Seabiscuit" meets "Lawrence of Arabia," but overall, it's a big, beautiful bore.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
It's a bit of an oddball story, but surely there was a less plodding way to elaborate on it.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Benjamin Strong
The screwball antics recall "Cannonball Run" more than David Lean.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The supporting cast is a riot of stock exotic characters, verging on the offensively stereotypical.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
An adventure that never met a cliche it couldn't saddle, mount and ride for a butt-numbing two hours and sixteen minutes.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Ultimately, Hidalgo won't win any movie races, but I'd definitely bet on the movie to show.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
While often diverting and physically impressive in an old-fashioned way, Hidalgo suffers from weird shifts in tone, offensively outdated stereotypes, a cumbersome subplot - and a supposedly fact-based story that bears only a nodding acquaintance with reality.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
The racing itself is entertaining enough, though it's not so mesmerizing as the shorter, more focused competition in the far-superior "Seabiscuit."
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
The lost opportunity of Hidalgo isn't that it fails to live up to its potential for romantic adventure, but that it fails to dig into the romance between man and horse that's at the heart of the story.
Read Full Review >Empire Olly Richards
Ultimately, Hidalgo falls down due to a neglect of basic story elements -- anonymous villains, a hero with no clear goal other than money, love interests who sound alternately gin-sodden and lobotomised -- and after a brief burst of energy staggers home at a mild limp.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
This movie needs a star performance at its center, and the director, Joe Johnston, doesn't seem to know it. His closeups dote on Mr. Mortensen's striking face, and on the actor's interesting inwardness, but he doesn't ask for, or find, the sort of zest that could turn laconic into romantic.
The New York Times A.O. Scott
The much too long, primitively plotted family action adventure Hidalgo, directed by Joe Johnston, has a handful of well-handled sequences but, given the young audience the film is intended for, the picture may be like having to finish an entire pot of broccoli to get a couple of jelly beans for dessert.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
If it weren't for Sharif's extraordinary presence, there wouldn't be a cherishable moment in the movie.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.1 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Pat C. gave it a2:
Your chance to see "A" actors in a "B" movie. A plot with possibilities is continually interrupted by scenes that are excruciatingly stupid.
Anonymous gave it a7:
Made like an old fashioned adventure movie, but with modern cinetography. OK, it's cheesy, but there's nothing really not to like. To some, though, old fashined is...old fashioned.
T. M. gave it a2:
Viggo Mortensen needs a new agent. He seemed mortified, justifiably so, at appearing in this crapfest. His acting, usually charismatic, consisted here of mumbling in a fake Southern accent and showing absolutely no facial expression. This was nothing but a heavy-handed, sanitized, racist waste of celluloid. Oh well, at least it gave Omar Sharif a good juicy role (though casting him for the role he played seemed a trifle obvious). I agree with Patricia M. that we need more of this type of movie, but it's just that this one simply wasn't done at all well. I'm still waiting for an action movie that isn't mindless drivel.
Patricia M. gave it a 9:
This movie was excellent on many levels. It was more than action, it was emotional and spiritual. We definitely need more thinking movies such as this one and less mindless drivel in the action movies being released these days.
Efe B. gave it a 2:
Not a single interesting thing in this movie. a horse, aragorn, and omar sharif is all you get to look at. the horse is cute, aragorn has no sword, omar is old.....yeah. let's summarize it now, aragorn...omar....old....no sword...horse...cute..........wait!....there is the desert....but, hey.....it's a desert you know?....no water....nothing.....not a thing there.....not........a......single.....interesting.....thing. hey, did i mention that omar sharif looks really old?....i mean, he must be old in real life too...he was in lot's of movies......yeah......old.....aragorn....cute.....horse. yup.....cute horse.
Greg T. gave it an 8:
A good action movie. Viggo is good at action, let's admit it and give him credit where credit is due. I enjoyed this film, and it is not Anti-Islamic. In the end he becomes the best friend of the Old Sheik and everyone is duly respected, each in his own right.
Kel R. gave it an 8:
Heck I thought it was a good Ol' time. Action, Suspense, Romance what more could you want? I especially liked the white woman who turned out to be the bad guy. Plus it was even more realistic than I thought it would be.
