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War Horse
War Horse Image
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Metascore
72 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 40 Critics What's this?

User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 192 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man's Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history. (DreamWorks Pictures) … Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 40
  3. Negative: 0 out of 40
  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    Dec 26, 2011
    100
    Spielberg has been ridiculed for shooting his actors from below against impossibly Spielbergian skies and a denouement that lays the love on copiously. But there's nothing simpleminded about how he uses movie magic, as a spell to dispel nihilism, to save us from the worst of ourselves by summoning up the best.
  2. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    Dec 26, 2011
    100
    There isn't a moment in the movie where you don't feel Spielberg's passion, and this time, the film is worthy of his enthusiasm. It's a knockout.
  3. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    Dec 29, 2011
    60
    The result is a film that may stay in the mind's eye longer than it lingers in the heart.

See all 40 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 97
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 97
  3. Negative: 24 out of 97
  1. gunnyart
    7
    Above average, but just. The better part of the movie plods along at the pace of a plow horse. Then without warning it descends into mayhem and brutality. At one point (near the end) several people quickly spirited their young children out of the theater. (I hope they got a refund.) We were concerned our twelve year old might not sleep peacefully following it. It wasn't clear to me if we were supposed to live the experience through the eyes of the horse or were stuck in a sort of astral plane above the drama. It tried every trick to yank at your heartstrings but never quite made you feel empathy for any of the characters, human or horse. I'm quick to admit I'm a sucker for a tear jerker and so is my wife but, we came out feeling like we had been manipulated not moved. We never shed a tear. So why the score of seven. We really like uplifting stories about animals. which it was undeniably, just not a great one.… Expand
    • 4 of 5 users said yes
  2. Hfahmy
    5
    Beautifully shot movie, excellent scenery, attracting but its events are thinly related. The good point is the new actor, the war horse, no human did match him. The poor is the scenario , sometimes slow, other times fast, most of the time beyond logic, events are basically cut and paste, how, why, where, when, no answer. It is a lengthy movie that will attract you and bore you, over its course. The war horse is the prime motive, disregarding other cinematography logic and requirements. Anyhow it is worse seen, it is not a regrettable experience.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  3. lbolen
    3
    Very slow starting, then picks up in the middle and towards the end. Movie has a clumsy pace. There are some great acting here and there, but overall for me it fell rather flat. Historically, the writers could have done much more research, as I was watching for more of the allies, but apparently WWI only had germans and brits fighting eachother!… Expand
    • 2 of 2 users said yes

See all 97 User Reviews

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