Search - Return to Snowy River on DVD

A Wonderful Follow Up

Maigray | 02/04/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of those soaring, melodramatic epics, set as a sequel to the classic film "The Man From Snowy River." It's a typical action-adventure love story, laden with turgid emotional scenes, where the hero gets plenty of triumphal moments and everybody gets what they deserve in the end.



The movie is set apart from most by its stunt work, cinematography, scoring, top notch actors and classy style of filming. This movie is also suitable as family entertainment, though this in no way takes away from its overall quality.



Plot wise, there are several engaging storylines, well knitted together and leading to a thrilling climax.



Fans of the first film should also be pleased to see the return of the prize colt, who Jim and Jessica trained in the first film, making his racing debut.



This film seems to be frequently overshadowed by its predecessor. But I think it's a more polished product; the actors look better, the editing is smoother, the stunts are more daring, the cinematography is more expansive. It come across as a more mature film overall, which is really what it's supposed to be.



The cinematography is notably fabulous, and the dramatically flighted score matches it perfectly. Many prefer Mr. Douglas in the first film, but I thought Brian Dennehy did the role a lot of justice.



The social commentary implicit in some of the storylines can get a bit heavy-handed. Some of the characters are saved from being too stereotypical only by the skin of their scripts and some good acting. There are times when the dialogue skates the edge of cheesiness or the plot line takes a turn into improbability. But the overall strength of the acting and filming always manages to pull it through.



This film is especially noted for its stunt work with horses. As a rider and horse lover myself, I've seen pretty much every horse movie out there and 99% of them just can't pull it off. The action in this one is just mind blowing, very realistic and filmed with incredible intensity. Even better, all the horses are gorgeous and the main actors are fabulous riders, who you actually get to see doing most of their own riding stunts. In my mind, it still sets the standard for horseriding action in film.



Overall, this is a great old fashioned drama, and a wonderful experience on film.



Notes:

The internet fosters some reaaallllly wild ideas.



The movie "The Man From Snowy River" is based on the famous poem of the same name, by Banjo Patterson, considered to be a national treasure in Australia.



Several other reviews have mentioned the idea that a horse died onset. The rumor is specifically concerned with one scene, where a horse named "Denny" (please note this is the name of the character's horse and not the real horse - you can confirm it with subtitles) is shown falling down the side of a mountain.



Being an avid horse lover, I spent some hard hours ferreting out the source and veracity of the rumor.



A check at the American Humane Association's online ratings site revealed a review for "Return to Snowy River," which rated the movie as "Unacceptable." But the review had several inconsistencies, which I contacted them about directly (they're very prompt in answering emails).



It stated only that they had received a report from Australia that a horse had died on set; no further contact was ever made and the report remains unconfirmed.



The problem is that AHA does not monitor films made in foreign countries, nor do they accept ratings from foreign animal welfare agencies. So the the film should be listed as "Not Monitored." In sum, the rating appears to have no legitimacy based on their own rules.



Further research yielded the fact that the Lovicks, who were responsible for supplying all the horses for the film, will confirm they owned the main horse actor who played "Denny" up until his death and that no horses died onset. They have a website you can contact them through.



Finally, there seems to be an underlying confusion as to how horses are actually used in film. The main animal "actor" in any film has multiple doubles for handling the work. I myself counted at least 3 different "Dennys," which an experienced eye can easily pick out. In movies, there are special stunt horses trained to "fall" for any scene where a horse goes down. A "fall" horse and rider did the controversial scene on the mountain, not the main horse who played "Denny." Nor, of course, was anybody falling down a mountain; the camera angles simply make it appear so. The stunt is common, and capable of being filmed safely.



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