Hidalgo (Widescreen Edition)
by Joe Johnston
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Actor: Adam Alexi-Malle, Louise Lombard, Omar Sharif, Viggo Mortensen, Zuleikha RobinsonDirector: Joe Johnston
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Cinematographer: Shelly Johnson
Editor: Robert Dalva
Producer: Casey Silver
Producer: Chris Salvaterra
Producer: Don Zepfel
Producer: Patricia Carr
Writer: John Fusco
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Unknown; Spanish (Dubbed), Unknown
Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 136 minutes
Published: 2004-08-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Touchstone / Disney
Product features:
- A sandstorm of epic proportions. A swarm of locusts so massive it obliterates the relentless sun. Deadly traps that defy imagination. These are just a few of the astonishing obstacles Frank T. Hopkins, the greatest long-distance racer ever, faces in the rousing action-adventure HIDALGO. Based on a true story and starring Viggo Mortensen (THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy), Hopkins (Mortensen) and his
DVD Reviews of Hidalgo (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness
Summary: 1 Stars
This movie is a wonderful example of what social responsibility is not, and the role of Hollywood and other dispensers of American mainstream media that ends up shaping the attitudes and opinions of the American public.
My conclusion after seeing most of the reviews for this movie is that the Hollywood audience enjoys being lied to. ( Read about the "Hopkin's Hoax" on the internet ). It is amazing what is considered worthy of the words "based on a true story".
What's more disturbing is that people don't want, nor do they expect the truth. They are overcome with joy at paying their hard-earned money on the cotton-candy junk dished out by mega-bucks corporations. The larger implications of such irresponsible filmmaking are never considered.
You will see that most movie-goers don't care that they are being pushed an inaccurate story. This is because it does not affect the outcome of their lives and it corroborates the fantasy they already have about Arabs, Islam and Muslims. No one will glare at these "I loved Hidalgo!" movie-goers as they walk down the street. No one will ridicule their culture or faith. No one will spray-paint ethnic or religious slurs upon their homes and cars.
However, if you are an American Muslim of any race, or an Arab of any faith in America, it means the difference between living among prejudice and hostility or living in acceptance and hospitality. Movies like this one, that depict such inaccuracies and further the ignorance of the American public only fuel a future of discord. Who ends up bearing the wounds? We do and so do our loved ones; our children who we hope will not be faced with the xenophobia that so many other groups have had to endure throughout history.
Aside from the obvious historical distortions and story-making of the horse race, this "legend" begs for an additional, more pressing criticism. For an Arab or Muslim the areas of offense in this movie are almost too numerous to list, but I will sure give it a try:
1. Point: In the movie, the Arab sheikh refuses to shake the cowboy's hand because he is supposedly an "infidel".
Comment: A Muslim man would never refuse to shake the hand of a non-Muslim man for any religious reason whatsoever. This is a complete falsehood meant to incite animosity against Muslims and further widen the gap. In Islam, we are taught as a matter of faith that people are equal and that there is no coercion in religion. All people should be free to believe what they choose to believe. Moorish Spain is an exemplary case of this type of tolerance of thought that is abundant in Islam.
2. Point: The Arabian daughter of the sheikh makes many references to her lowly status as a woman. The veil is cited either visually or by passing remark as a symbol of this oppression.
Comment: The Qur'an explicitly states that women have rights over men similar to men having rights over women and that in God's eyes each are equal. Before Islam spread in the Arabian peninsula, non-Muslim Arabs used to keep as many woman as they wished, to be treated in whatever manner they wished. Non-Muslim Arabs were killing their newly born daughters because son's were more valued to them. It was the spread of Islam that stifled all of this. Islam placed a limit on how many wives a man could keep. It forbid awful practices like infanticide. It elevated the right of women. Men who chose to take more than one wife had to have their first wife's permission as well as be able to afford good, and separate, living conditions for all of them. Marrying more than one wife today is a very rare occurrence. Most often multiple marriage was used when women were widows of war and had no other caretakers during a time when women did not bring home the "bread" so to speak. In the Qur'an, as well as the Haddith it states that a man's duty is to be a good husband to his wife. Even Mohammad (pbuh) used to do chores around the house.
In Islam, the head covering is a symbol of liberation, freedom, respect and human dignity. Human nature observes that man is the aggressive pursuer of women. Most commonly it is men who leave their families for another woman, and who cheat on their wives. The requirement to cover with a scarf allows the woman to assert her privacy over her own body. It prevents men from "checking her out" and functions as an expression of modesty. The headscarf is not to be pushed onto women. Wearing the headscarf should always be a woman's choice because the Qur'an says that there is no coercion in religion. I wear the headscarf and I wore it also when I worked as a web applications developer for a large telecommunications company. Islamic women in America have quite a self-esteem and independence about their faith ( Check out Azizah Magazine on the web ).
3. Point: Many images depicting black Africans as slaves of cruel Muslims are rampant in this film.
Comment: This is another fallacious depiction of history by the Hidalgo wizards. The Muslims were commanded to free slaves and emancipate. I named my son after a black African slave who was freed by the Muslims. His name is Bilal and was the first man to annunciate the call to prayer that all know today as the Adhan. A Qu'ranic example follows:
Attempt the Ascent, Free a Slave, Qur'an: Surah 90 Al-Balad (The City): Nay, I swear by this city... We verily have created man in an atmosphere... But he hath not attempted the Ascent, Ah, what will convey unto thee what the Ascent is! It is to free a slave, And to feed in the day of hunger, An orphan near of kin, Or some poor wretch in misery. And to be of those who believe and exhort one another to perseverance and exhort one another to pity."
Unfortunately Hidalgo, the film, corroborates the western fantasy of "Islam the evil empire", "Islam the barbaric oppressors" when, in fact, ironically the message of the religion asserts itself against opression. Today, with America's Imperial invasions of other countries, we can see a "secular" form of oppression, proof that extremism and terrorism can take any form, not just a religious form.
The Western fantasy, fed by propaganda, has been such a cornerstone in our media, an inaccurate a picture to portray of the worlds 1.4 billion Muslims (approximately 6 billion people live in the world today).
It is the Arab and Muslim who are the ones who really are asking "Why do they hate us?". Movies like this, which deliberately smear, twist and distort a people's history contribute significant storms in our vast social ocean.
But, alas, only people who use their minds and are capable of compassion will understand what I am talking about in this review. Only people who can identify hypocrisy and double standards will be able to reach out to this review and embrace, like a true sibling of humanity, and know what I say.
Sources of Interest to the Interested:
"Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People" by Jack Shaheen
"Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical & Modern Stereotypes" by Katherine Bullock
Description of Hidalgo (Widescreen Edition)
A sandstorm of epic proportions. A swarm of locusts so massive it obliterates the relentless sun. Deadly traps that defy imagination. These are just a few of the astonishing obstacles Frank T. Hopkins, the greatest long-distance racer ever, faces in the rousing action-adventure HIDALGO. Based on a true story and starring Viggo Mortensen (THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy), Hopkins (Mortensen) and his mustang Hidalgo enter the ultimate extreme sport of its time -- the Ocean Of Fire. Underdogs challenging the finest Arabian horses and riders, they must not only survive the grueling race across 3,000 miles of the Arabian Desert?s punishing terrain, but they must thwart the evil plots of competitors who vow victory at all costs! A great story of personal triumph, amazing special effects, and memorable characters make HIDALGO one of the most thrilling adventures ever.Director Joe Johnston has always had an entertaining sense of adventure, and with Hidalgo he proves it in spades. It's yet another underrated film for Johnston (along with such enjoyable popcorn flicks as The Rocketeer and Jurassic Park III), dismissed by many critics but a welcome treat for anyone drawn to good ol'-fashioned movie excitement. In his first role since playing Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo Mortensen brings handsome appeal to his low-key portrayal of Frank T. Hopkins, a real-life long-distance horse racer who, as the movie opens, has witnessed the appalling massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890. Drifting into Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, he agrees to compete, with his trusty mustang, Hidalgo, in "The Ocean of Fire," a treacherous 3,000-mile horse race across the Arabian desert. Toss in a bunch of conspiring competitors, a noble sheik (Omar Sharif), his lovely daughter (Zuleikha Robinson), and enough fast-paced danger to fill 133 minutes, and you've got a rousing, humorous, and lightly spiritual adventure that's a lot of fun to watch. It hardly matters that it's almost pure fiction (the real Hopkins was known by many as "a pathological liar"). More important is the love of movies and moviemaking that Johnston so delightfully conveys. --Jeff Shannon
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