Gabrielle Anwar is unquestionably a fox. She hasn't much chin to her face but otherwise her girlish features are flawless, as if they'd been sculpted by someone at Walt Disney's Studio. And what a background! From Wikipedia: "Anwar was born in Laleham, Surrey. Her mother, Shirley Hills, is an actress, and her father, Tariq Anwar, is an award-winning film producer and editor. Her father was born in Delhi, India, to an Austrian Jewish mother and an Indian father." As one writer described another nymph, "a salad of racial genes." It's hard to know why her career didn't flourish. There's no pronounced weakness in her performance or her delivery. It may just be that her little-girl voice never conveyed a mood or emotion with any conviction. If a four-year old told you something, would you automatically believe it? Here, she's the daughter of Rod Steiger, retiring commander officer of an army cavalry camp in Arizona. The easy-going Steiger is replaced by Bob Gunton, one of those officers you know immediately is going to be a problem because he never smiles, he's ruthless, arrogant, and he has a pencil mustache. The camp has several hundred horses belonging to the US Cavalry. By 1932, horse cavalry was obsolete everywhere except Poland. Yet the men, including top sergeant Don Johnson, are fond of their horses. The horses, after all, have fought beside the men and died beside them. The newly arrived first lieutenant, Craig Sheffer, is a cavalry officer and he loves the horses too. Also, Sheffer and Anwar generate some strictly non-equine vibes between them.The autocratic Gunton calls the men together, informs them brusquely that the cavalry unit will now be merged with the infantry he's brought with him. Furthermore, the men will turn in their sabers and the horses will be replaced by tanks that look like tin toys, the animals to be exterminated by gunfire in a great pit in Mexico. The infantry, ignorant of the bond between cavalry men and their horses, set about machine-gunning the first pitload. It's a shocking scene.The handsome and impetuous Lieutenant Sheffer will have no more of this. With the help of Johnson and three other sergeants, Buxton commandeers the remaining hundred or so horses and takes off with them for the high ground, his justification being that he has never seen any written orders that the horses be disposed of. The infantry major in charge, another bony faced automaton, threatens him with court martial, but Sheffer, his men, and all the horses light out anyway. A pursuit by Gunton's remaining horses, plus tanks, howitzers, and other motor vehicles follows. The trek takes them a thousand miles to the north -- without food. That's okay for the horses. They eat grass.It's a sentimental story, of course. How could it not be? It's about saving a hundred helpless horses. But it's not SLOPPILY sentimental. The story could have been milked for every tear it was worth, yet the writers have minimized the pathos either out of a trust for the audience or out of incompetence. Only one horse has a name, Don Johnson's black horse, Ahab. And Johnson has to shoot him in the forehead when Ahab can no longer walk. It's a monumental opportunity for wallowing in pity -- Johnson making a long, loving speech to his mount, while Ahab nibbles at Johnson's ear and whispers his forgiveness. But -- no such thing. "See you in hell, Ahab," says Johnson, and after a drawn-out pause shoots the animal, which clumps noisily to the ground.If the film is described as a story about heroic soldiers who refuse to allow their mounts to be destroyed, it sounds terrible. But it's better than that.

Enjoyed it immensely, however; it left me to consider the logistics of driving 400 horses over 2000 miles. At max the drive can move at about 3 miles an hour for 10 hours a day. No time line was provided in the movie. At 30 miles a day it would take between 2 to 3 months to get the horses to Canada if driven in a straight line without having to search out water. There was no mention of any supply line. What did the men and horses eat? How did they cross fence, the Rocky Mountains, and rivers? Since the story is based on a myth, it is obvious that the HBO researchers were unable to find any evidence that there is any substance behind the tale. It would have been much more likely, had the Army rid itself of surplus horses, that they would have been sold off either as working stock or to meat packers. At any rate, even during the depression, horses had significant value and it is doubtful that the Army would have overlooked that fact. All this aside, it is still a great story and a well done flick with good performances by human and animal actors. I would have loved a "How they did it" segment included on the DVD, especially on the horse slaughter with 50 cal. machine guns.

I first saw this film during a snowstorm at my dad's house in 1998 and got the video when IT came out, and the DVD when IT came out! It's a first-class film in every way. It takes place at the time when the army was just leaving the "old" cavalry and getting ready for the "new", mechanized cavalry, and a group of old-style cavalry troopers have to destroy a group of horses that the army no longer needs. James Sikking does a first class job portraying Douglas McArthur, first clearing out the "bonus" marchers from World War 1, then pursuing these old soldiers as they try to take these now useless cavalry mounts up to Canada, hoping they'll be safe there. If you love horses; great movies with little special effects-just great acting and a really nice end; you must see it; you'll be VERY glad you did!

I saw this movie and was pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect a "B-rate" movie to capture and keep my attention the way this one did. I happened to be skipping through channels when I saw the uniforms and cavalry and before I knew it, I had seen the whole movie. It's a good story about how a small group of soldiers went against the grain during a rough period in our country's history. I've seen Don Johnson in a lot of different roles throughout the years and I think this was one of his best roles. Its a simple storyline with a happy ending but I would definitely recommend anyone see it-especially if you are an animal lover.