Edit: revisited 8/07 and downgraded half a star

I was really hoping, when I selected Italian language on the DVD, that I wouldn't have to listen to Bryan Adams singing, but alas...

Dreamworks have yet to make a 2D animated film that I really like. Let's see: what bugged me about this one...

First, why on earth can Spirit talk to the human audience, but not to the other horses? There is one scene where he runs up to the mare, and I thought he was going to say "I wanted so much to tell her I loved her, but I could only do narrations".

There are a couple of really unappealing songs, far too close together near the start (though there are one or two nice instrumentals later).

I agree with Athena's comment about the animation not seeming to belong in the same place as the backgrounds (there was just a little of this at times in Balto Wolf Quest, but here it is overwhelming).

And did the directors decide that they wanted to fit every recognisable landmark in Utah, Arizona and probably a few other states within a few miles of each other? Ok, a minor quibble. Back to the more serious ones.

I don't like the LOOK of Dreamworks animation. It's so angular. I spent years around horses, and they don't have these flat, chiseled faces. (on the plus side, Spirit's body movement _is_ very nicely animated, but they do tend to shove it down your throat)

The story itself was promising, even if it took a hundred and fifteen people to write it , but somehow it just seemed to be gesturing at emotional potency in the scenes whch should have been really heart-rending or stirring. Still, there were a few moments that conjured appropriate emotions.

Are you noticing a pattern here? Every time I find something to rubbish about this film, I find an exception which pulls it back from the brink. That was how I felt about the whole thing. For a film which should have so much heart, it seemed curiously empty to me.

There's no denying the eye-popping, panoramic qualities of this film, and the production values make up most of the marks it gets here, but it just does too many things wrong, or not very well, for me to give it more than two and a half. If you think I'm being unfair, watch this, then go watch 'Bambi'.

Not a bad movie, but there are at least three DTV's I can think of that I like better, and that shouldn't really happen.

I can easily imagine someone falling in love with this film, particularly if they're into horses, and/or are at the right age - but for me there wasn't an awful lot to really enjoy beyond the technical aspects. It was an enjoyable 80 minutes, but it could only clutch at the emotional intensity of the sort of dramas or adventures I've given higher grades to.

There is something else that niggles me a little, too. I'm generally not hung up about historical accuracy in cartoons, but Spirit goes on about his herd having 'always' lived there, and then the Native American guy (Spirit has apparently never seen a human before at all) is regarded as a slight variation on the two-legged European interloper. In fact, as far as I'm aware, horses were introduced by the Spanish, escaped and were domesticated by native Americans, which means Little Creek is far more indigenous than Spirit, and Spirit is only marginally more indigenous than the cavalry Colonel. That doesn't detract from the 'freedom' theme, but it does confuse the issue of how wild horses ended up in North America in the first place.

Perhaps the thing is I just have a problem with Dreamworks. The weird thing is, when they team up with PDI and do 3D (Shrek, Antz), they're great! Go figure.

(side note: in the scene where they're dragging the train over the mountain, it reminded me so much of Werner Herzog's 'Fitzcarraldo' I almost expected to see Klaus Kinski standing on the engine playing a grampahone.)

My favourite DreamWorks !
Musics and songs are really beautiful ! As the backgrounds !
If you don't like animals, don't see it !
This movie show how humans what absolutly to control everything and how important is freedom and that we have to fight all our life to keep it.

I've read some reviews on other sites and I get the impression that this film is one you really, over-the-moon are in love with or it just don't it do it for you. For me unfortunately it was the latter. I really, REALLY hoped I would like it as I hoped that Dreamworks had come up with a smart, intelligent way to break the animation mould... but there was so much about Spirit that just didn't work for me.

First, there was the look of the film... the horses were so incredibly flat while the backgrounds were these deep, rich, practically photorealistic paintings... it just didn't click. (Spirit's homeland looked like it was covered in astroturf.) This isn't to say that there wasn't some brilliant 2D animation in there on Spirit--the way that stallion moved you could just feel the power and presence of him rising off the screen... Spirit doesn't do a lot aside from run, but even that was enough to grab you and pull you into his character.

Which sort of brings me to my next big gripe... I thought Matt Damon was a poor choice for the voice of Spirit. His narration was flat and it didn't really convey what I thought were Spirit's essential characteristics--his self confidence, his strength and that little bit of cheekiness that made him lighthearted as much as it made him wild... Matt Damon's dialog--particularly the opening bit--struck me as uncharacteristically pretentious for Spirit's character... and I found myself connecting with Spirit much more when both he and Bryan Adams just *shut up*.

There were definitely moments of brilliance and this is one I will still consider for my DVD collection... but I think it would've done better as a simple story rather than trying to be an "epic".

A beautiful and enjoyable film, Spirit shows the taming of the west through the eyes of a wild mustang. Bucking the tradition of the talking animal, these horses communicate mainly through their expressive faces and poses. The narration provides just enough commentary to keep matters clear, while leaving the story firmly in the hands (hoof?) of the characters.

The beginning of the film--the childhood of Spirit--and some story elements are marked with the brand of Disney influence, and the Indian/animal relationships are a touch romanticized. But there is plenty of heart and character to enjoy in this film, and exciting scenic vistas. The movie touches on historic elements such as the Indian wars and the encroachment of the railroad.

Through Spirit, we can vicariously enjoy a genuinely wild West long since disappeared, and cheer on his struggle to remain free, and his success in halting inevitable progress for at least the length of one movie.