Running Free (DVD)

Running Free (DVD) ... the beginning of World War I, Running Free is an unusual movie narrated by a horse, voiced by Lukas Haas (Witness). While the gambit works for the most part, let's face it, some sentences ("I had to find my place in the world") just sound silly coming from equine lips. Lucky, as he is called, is born on an African-bound ship but is separated from his mother when the horses swim for shore and the new colt simply can't keep up. While mum and the rest of the gang are sent to work in the mines, Lucky is discovered by a young orphan who works as a stable hand. The mother-son pair are briefly reunited, but the stable's stallion, Caesar, fatally injures her. The high-born Caesar also prevents his own foal, Beauty, from seeing Lucky and eventually forces the colt out on his own. The dour indignities heaped upon this horse, including a heart-wrenching parting with the boy, last for about an hour of this 78-minute film before events begin to shift and Lucky is able to live up to his name. Although the film is rated suitable for all viewers, horse death, graphic fighting and cruelty toward the boy might be overwhelming to young or sensitive children. --Kimberly Heinrichs, Amazon.com