Warhorse One

Ok, it's not a movie classic, and I sat down to watch it with low expectations, but this movie turned out to be quite good. I had expected a low budget botch job. Instead, what I got was a pretty well made movie, if a bit corny and by-the-numbers.

It was quite well acted by the cast, with Johnny Strong doing a good job in the title role. And you young actress who played the orphaned girl was very good, too.

The locations were good and even the Talis were quite well played and they did all speak Pushto, surprisingly.

The only annoying thing was that the cinematography got carried away with unnecessary anamorphic blue streaks that looked rather out of place, but that's a minor quibble.

If you're at a loose end, worth a look.

I am going to whine a little bit about the idiots that complain it was filmed in Colorado, what you wanted it filmed in Afghanistan. The main star did everything in this movie but run the food truck. If you gave this a one/ten what will you give Megalodon., the Frenzy. Also low budget but without the acting, any special effects. I also think Warhorse One was entertaining, not an academy award winner by any means, The typical good guy that at least misses his target occasionally and the bad guys that can't hit anything. I don't watch a movie to complain if he shoots to many bullets from one magazine or if the soundtrack is not the best. All I can say about people like that, is I have more important things to be critical of.

I really enjoyed Warhorse One but it does take a bit of patience. Hollywood action and military movies have conditioned us to expensive sets and dramatic effects. I found this to be a much more one character focused story with set intimate action sequences. Others have commented on the endless ammunition but I found the attention to detail refreshing with malfunction clearing and a more steady approach as opposed to typical action movies. The little girl is fantastic and provides the core emotion and motivation for the movie. The dialogue was a little quiet but I took this as intentional due to the evasion and covert aspect of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and it was a nice change of pace.

I truly can't say that the movie is a great one... It's a budget movie, and that shows.

The filming locations (although stunning) aren't really convincing of (how I picture) Afghanistan's nature.

Not always very convincing special effects...

But I've got to hand it to Johnny Strong (Mirko), he was not only co-writer/co-director/co-main character, but he also was Head of Post Production, Editor and Color, Original score & music, Head of sound design, Lead VFX Design, Makeup and special effects makeup, Camera operator, Stunt Coordinator, Props, Head of Lighting, Miniatures and Miniature SFX all designed, build, and filmed by Johnny Strong.

So he had a lot of tasks to do in this movie, and I don't know if that's always a good thing, but he gets some kudos for that!

The main reason it got a 6 from me is: ''Zoe'' aka Athena Durner.

She acted in a very convincing way, she put down a great character!

She did a great job in making the film a lot more watchable!

I think a new star is born here!!

I won't give this a number. It's true that it's unreal that Mirko never runs out of ammunition. I noticed and I didn't care. I think it strange that he seemed to move faster and yet, somehow the "insurgents " always seemed to be right behind him. I'm sure that SEALS are better marksmen. He certainly was mistaken to have trusted the obvious enemy and more so to leave the child behind with him, but the rescue effort had to be set up. No one can cover so much challenging terrain and do it with no food and almost no water. There are many faults in the plot and the reflections when looking skyward were annoying to me. So what! I was entertained and amazed at everything that was conveyed in Zoe's expressions. I don't think that can be coached. It has to be natural talent. True, as 1 professional reviewer pointed out, one who acts with children or animals is sure to be upstaged, and Athena Duren did it without having to have a single word of dialogue. That smile...