Hidalgo - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

I'm a fan of westerns as they were king when I was a boy.So when you take a cowboy from the west and put him somewhere else I'm curious.I loved Quigly down under and this is not as good but still better than most.Released in 2004 and running quite long at 136 minutes,I took 1 1/2 stars off for a much to long attempt at a fairly short story. One of my favorite actors,Viggo Mortensen , plays Frank Hopkins and veteran Omar Sharif returns to the screen as Sheikh Riyadh .The trailer is below the pix and a IMDB summary is below.If only it was a little shorter I would have bought it.Still worth your time on a cold evening.


Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire--a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert--was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the U.S. cavalry--and had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders--some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible. Written by Sujit R. Varma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urnjRUVYRY8