In the Sahara, a young American boy must rescue his beloved horse from a desert chieftain.A rare sequel that can stand alone, 1983’s The Black Stallion Returns is both a fun follow-up to the 1979 Carroll Ballard/Francis Ford Coppola film and a fine adventure in its own right. Kelly Reno returns as the now adolescent, deceptively ordinary Alec Ramsay, who stows away on a plane for Casablanca after the titular horse is kidnapped by Arabs. Getting him back pitches Alec into the middle of tribal rivalries and all sorts of complicated, dangerous intrigue. The cast includes Teri Garr, Vincent Spano, and Woody Strode, but the real star here may be cinematographer Carlo Di Palma, a veteran of several Woody Allen films and a master of color, light, and framing. Director Robert Dalva edited the previous film and happily executes countless ideas he appears to have stored up from his first stallion outing. But it’s Reno’s resourceful hero–his anti-Harry Potter normalcy–that finally ta
Review by Gregory Nyman for The Black Stallion Returns Rating:
Four years after the first film, l983 would usher in this sequel to the The Black Stallion, and Kelly Reno would once again be the one who rescues the Arabian stallion from other thrilling captivities. There are more horses, exotic locations, and thrilling plots here than meets the eye, and the story gets so much better. But of course, it is “Cass-ole” who steals the show – the beautiful black Arabian stallion.A might fine sequel to a great original film. Highly recommended!!!
Review by for The Black Stallion Returns Rating:
This Black Stallion Returns is charming and delightful. I had seen the movie as a child and recently purchased it. I still got chills and tears came into my eyes when the race was coming to a conclusion. I will always consider this to be the best movie anyone can watch.
Review by Beth Brownell for The Black Stallion Returns Rating:
I watched this movie in the theater when it first came out. It was a great movie. I cried when Abu ben Ishak claimed the stallion from Alec, while Alec was trying to encourage the stallion to gallop away, who refused to move. The book is much different from the movie but both book and movie are great to read and to watch. I would have liked to see Abu go to Alec’s home and explain about Shetan(the Black’s true Arabian name) being his and that the stallion was stolen from him. (somewhat similar to what the book did.) Instead they had them kidnap the stallion, wrong thing to do, if Alec was smart he would have turned back to the cops that must have been at the house while the barn was burning down and told them that someone was stealing his horse. But he didn’t. What he did was run after the thieves and get into the trailer with the Black. But they must have stopped once or twice on the way to the waterfront werehouse. Alex could have easily have escaped with the Black before they reached the werehouse. The whole movie was great, a few things were not by the book but I guess that’s how Hollywood wanted the movie to be. I still love both movie and book.
Review by Concerned Citizen for The Black Stallion Returns Rating:
Certainly this is a far cry from the magnificent, magical dream-poem that is the original Black Stallion movie. More of a standard animal/adventure film for younger viewers and if you think about it that way, it’s not too bad. Most of the original cast (except Mr. Rooney) return and it was made in a timely enough way that Kelly Reno is still relatively young and charming — a really non-actorish child actor and part of the whole appeal. I read both books as a little tyke, but didn’t remember the second book too well. It seems to me that many of the details were changed but the general idea of the Black being kidnapped back to his original home in an Arabic country is retained.Alec’s adventures chasing his horse are appealing and interesting, and so is the climactic race at the end. But the story just peters out, and we never see Alec return home or what he does without his beloved horse now. (You do have to wonder in a kid’s film why there is no resolution with his poor mom (Terri Garr), who had to be frantic when her young son mysteriously disappears for about three months.)I applied the “11 year old girl who is horse crazy” test to this film, and decided it would definitely pass. That is who it is really made for, despite the male protagonist (and there is a girl rider in the plot, although she gets the heave-ho in favor of the hero). And that girl (me, about a million years ago) would have enjoyed this, although not as much as the original. It would have held my attention and I would have wanted to view it several times. If your children loved the first film, this much more prosaic sequel would probably be of interest. Just don’t expect great art.
Review by Dannielle Gleim for The Black Stallion Returns Rating:
As a child, I sat up and dreamt about this beautiful horse and watched the movie over and over again. Both The Black Stallion and The Black Stallion returns are awesome. I recently bought both movies to share with my children. This movie is a wonderful family film and a film for those who love those beautiful Arabian Horses as I do. Enjoy! 🙂
Gregory Nyman
November 3, 2010 at 4:13 am
Review by Gregory Nyman for The Black Stallion Returns
Rating:
Four years after the first film, l983 would usher in this sequel to the The Black Stallion, and Kelly Reno would once again be the one who rescues the Arabian stallion from other thrilling captivities. There are more horses, exotic locations, and thrilling plots here than meets the eye, and the story gets so much better. But of course, it is “Cass-ole” who steals the show – the beautiful black Arabian stallion.A might fine sequel to a great original film. Highly recommended!!!
Anonymous
November 3, 2010 at 4:04 am
Review by for The Black Stallion Returns
Rating:
This Black Stallion Returns is charming and delightful. I had seen the movie as a child and recently purchased it. I still got chills and tears came into my eyes when the race was coming to a conclusion. I will always consider this to be the best movie anyone can watch.
Beth Brownell
November 3, 2010 at 3:58 am
Review by Beth Brownell for The Black Stallion Returns
Rating:
I watched this movie in the theater when it first came out. It was a great movie. I cried when Abu ben Ishak claimed the stallion from Alec, while Alec was trying to encourage the stallion to gallop away, who refused to move. The book is much different from the movie but both book and movie are great to read and to watch. I would have liked to see Abu go to Alec’s home and explain about Shetan(the Black’s true Arabian name) being his and that the stallion was stolen from him. (somewhat similar to what the book did.) Instead they had them kidnap the stallion, wrong thing to do, if Alec was smart he would have turned back to the cops that must have been at the house while the barn was burning down and told them that someone was stealing his horse. But he didn’t. What he did was run after the thieves and get into the trailer with the Black. But they must have stopped once or twice on the way to the waterfront werehouse. Alex could have easily have escaped with the Black before they reached the werehouse. The whole movie was great, a few things were not by the book but I guess that’s how Hollywood wanted the movie to be. I still love both movie and book.
Concerned Citizen
November 3, 2010 at 2:59 am
Review by Concerned Citizen for The Black Stallion Returns
Rating:
Certainly this is a far cry from the magnificent, magical dream-poem that is the original Black Stallion movie. More of a standard animal/adventure film for younger viewers and if you think about it that way, it’s not too bad. Most of the original cast (except Mr. Rooney) return and it was made in a timely enough way that Kelly Reno is still relatively young and charming — a really non-actorish child actor and part of the whole appeal. I read both books as a little tyke, but didn’t remember the second book too well. It seems to me that many of the details were changed but the general idea of the Black being kidnapped back to his original home in an Arabic country is retained.Alec’s adventures chasing his horse are appealing and interesting, and so is the climactic race at the end. But the story just peters out, and we never see Alec return home or what he does without his beloved horse now. (You do have to wonder in a kid’s film why there is no resolution with his poor mom (Terri Garr), who had to be frantic when her young son mysteriously disappears for about three months.)I applied the “11 year old girl who is horse crazy” test to this film, and decided it would definitely pass. That is who it is really made for, despite the male protagonist (and there is a girl rider in the plot, although she gets the heave-ho in favor of the hero). And that girl (me, about a million years ago) would have enjoyed this, although not as much as the original. It would have held my attention and I would have wanted to view it several times. If your children loved the first film, this much more prosaic sequel would probably be of interest. Just don’t expect great art.
Dannielle Gleim
November 3, 2010 at 2:48 am
Review by Dannielle Gleim for The Black Stallion Returns
Rating:
As a child, I sat up and dreamt about this beautiful horse and watched the movie over and over again. Both The Black Stallion and The Black Stallion returns are awesome. I recently bought both movies to share with my children. This movie is a wonderful family film and a film for those who love those beautiful Arabian Horses as I do. Enjoy! 🙂