The Black Stallion Returns

If you don't watch this movie as a sequel, but as an adventure movie, you will appreciate it. The Black Stallion was a special movie, so to try to recapture that story would be fruitless. This movie is completely different and the character of Alex is much different than his young self. Its just a nice family story that has enough going on to keep your attention. What is really underappreciated though is the soundtrack. Its very good, and adds to the quality of the movie. I think if this movie wasn't a family movie it would have a cult following. It definitely is one that the critics got wrong and I believe in retrospect many would be much more kind to it today.

source: The Black Stallion Returns

Berbers come to New York to get their prize stallion back and Alec (Kelly Reno) pursues them to the desert wilderness of Morocco and possibly Algeria. Vincent Spano plays his Moroccan companion. I like "The Black Stallion Returns" (1983) slightly more than the first one. It's not as artistic, but it's dramatically compelling and definitely more adventurous. It's like "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), but with a boy & his horse and faster-paced. No, it's not epic or refined like "Lawrence" but, if you're in the mood for a youth-oriented Saharan adventure, it fills the bill. The stowaway part is well done and I appreciated the inclusion of raven-haired beauty Jodi Thelen. Some viewers complain about the ending, but it fits. Think about it. The film runs 1 hour, 43 minutes, and was shot in New York City, Djanet, Morocco, Algeria, Abiquiu, New Mexico, Italy, Santa Clarita & Los Angeles. GRADE: B-

Alec Ramsey(Kelly Reno)has the best horse in the world. He's fast, trainable and friendly. But when he finds out that someone is trying to kill his beloved friend he cracks. Soon The Blacks real owner shows up. He takes him home beside all Alec's wishes. So what does Alec do? He follows Abu Ben Ishak(Ferdy Mayne) to his home and begs for his horse back only to find that the horse is the be entered in a race. Alec decides to ride The Black in the race and wins. This movie makes everyone tearry because at the end Alec decides to give his priced possession back to his rightful owner. But the thing is that Abu doesn't tell Alec about The Blacks breeding to Johar and about the new foal about to come. That's the only bad part.

As a filmmusic enthusiast I must say that the soundtrack of this fabulous movie has always blown me away eversince I had seen the film at its Swiss premiere in Zurich back in 1983. I think that the movie as well as its soundtrack have never gotten the attention and popularity it would have deserved🌺

"The Black Stallion Returns" is shot in 1.85:1, and I saw it in 1.33:1 because of the TV-network cut it down as usual. "The Black Stallion Returns" is a cinema-movie, you should see this on the big screen but after all, this should be done in 2.35:1 instead. This doesn't mean that the movie is bad because of the wrong format, but it would be more powerful in a wider one, as long as the cinematographer would handle it together with the director (I think they would). One of the reasons why it is shot in 1.85:1 might be that the first film was in that format too. The story is faster and the film is shorter than it could be. After a standard opening, all gets better. And soon Alec, the main character reaches the desert, which is the reason why I wanted to see this movie. This isn't "Lawrence of Arabia" by David Lean, I know that, but the desert scenes are beautiful. And it is because of this scenes I like this movie. Everything started with photos from this film that I saw as a kid. The impression was that the desert was beautiful, or could be shown as beautiful. I should have seen "Lawrence of Arabia" already when I was younger, maybe I would have liked it even more than. For me, "The Black Stallion Returns" could have more and also slower desert scenes than it has, without getting a bit boring. "The Black Stallion Returns" is actually shot in Morocco, North Africa. The cinematography is not poor, far from. But some of the characters could be better done. The choice of Woody Strode as Meslar was perfect, but he isn't used as good as I hoped. Alan Garfield doesn't amuse as Kurr, a villain, I had hoped that Kurr would be cooler and more menacing. Kelly Reno is a bit weak but at least okay as Alec, but Vincent Spano is cool as the Arabian prince. The music by Georges Delerue is a bit unequal but at times very good. The best parts of this movie are without doubts the desert scenes, including the horse race in the end (even if I think it should have been even better). If you hate horses (why should you?) you can't like this, but otherwise it isn't that hard to enjoy this movie, even if it gets very emotional and describe the relationship between Alec and Black as close as a relation can be, which is booth fascinating and perhaps irritating. Here the direction shows what it really wants to show: emotions, admiration, love, friendship and almost worship from Alec to the Black. In that chase, the director (Robert Dalva) has succeeded. "The Black Stallion Returns" is first of all a movie for a younger audience than me. That is why I see so many ways how it could have been even better, a more "hard core" movie with a harder, more action-filled tune and an even stronger adventure-feeling in style with perhaps my favorite from this time; "Conan the Barbarian". This would be a movie that was perhaps fitting a wider audience, or at least another. I saw "The Black Stallion Returns" before I saw 'The Black Stallion', I think that is the best way to enjoy this sequel (it is somehow rather independent from the first one). (Goofs:) Couldn't Kurr's Uruk men have killed the stallion instead of letting it survive or did they want it to survive? This is not clearly explained. Rating: 6 of 10.

It's been 20 years since I watched this movie. Twenty years of bad plots and toilet humor. This movie stands the test of time and gets better and better, a true coming-of-age movie in the classic sense of a boy growing up to make a man's decision. The final scene, the horse race in Moroccow, reflects Alex's future. He has pursued The Black with a single-minded purpose. He now has the ability of keeping The Black, but only if he wins the race. He must win not only for himself, but for the tribe of Abu Ben Ishak. But to win the race, he will harm is friend, Raj, who he crossed the desert with in his trek to find The Black. In the end, Alex finds himself making a grown-up choice for himself, The Black, and his adopted tribe. Kello Reno displayed a genuineness sadly lacking in young actors now. Vincent Spano's role as Raj is done with a subtle dignity for Arab culture, and the movie reflects it. And of course, Cass Ole and El Mokhtar are magnificent as The Black. Last but not least, the score written by Georges Delerue is wonderful.

I also do not understand how this film did not get better reviews. This is a movie I grew up with and one of the few films in that category that I do not just keep around for sentimental reasons; I love it just as much as an adult as I did the first time I saw it. The filming location is wonderful, Kelly Reno's acting is superb, and it has the most amazing score that always tugs on my heart and makes me want to close my eyes and throw my arms wide just to feel the wind on my face. As a result, it is one of the few sequels that is better than the original. In short, The Black Stallion Returns is a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable movie; a great watch for everyone.

The moderate financial success of the excellent original 'Black Stallion' movie almost guaranteed a sequel considering the series of novels of available source material. Unfortunately, the absence of Carroll Ballard's unique vision reduce this effort to a by-the-numbers horse-and-boy adventure story which is likely to be of interest to children only. So, we get a welcome return of 'The Black' and Alec Ramsey, but sadly, the magic is mostly gone. I have only read the first few pages of the book 'The Black Stallion'. It is obvious that the book is a good children's' story and that Mr Farley's legacy has been to encourage reading in several generations of American children. I suspect that this sequel movie, with its more conventional storytelling approach is closer to Mr Farley's works than the first movie, but this does not make for memorable cinema. Mr Ballard must have turned this one down, because I can't imagine that he was not offered the director's chair given the reception the first movie received. Maybe he didn't like the 'action movie' script? He seems to be very particular about the movies he makes. Performances here are generally lacklustre and there is one particularly bad hammy supporting actor turn - if you've seen this, you know who I mean. One part of me can't help but wish that they hadn't bothered with this. It doesn't spoil the original exactly, but the excellence of the first 'Black Stallion' movie so far outshines this effort that you wonder quite what the point of this was, other than a quick cash-in at the box-office. One point of excellence - Georges Delerue's theme 'Alec and The Black Stallion' is a wonderful soaring score and could have been a welcome addition to the original movie soundtrack. Your kids will probably enjoy this. Your mind will probably wander... Greg

This movie started off really well, being very interesting, but once Alec (Kelly Reno) arrives in the desert, the story begins to bog down and it doesn't pick up until the horse race. Thus, this could have been much, much better cutting 20 minutes off. Overall, it's a nice family with almost no profanity or anything else that might anyone. That climactic horse race was a disappointment, credibility-wise. They made it ridiculously dramatic with the jockey being slapped off his saddle by the villain, men in trucks shooting at the horses, etc. Nonetheless, even if the ending was nice, even if predictable. Do "good guys (and horses)" ever lose in the climactic race? Reno's character was a headstrong-but-likable kid and the film is fine. It's just an average adventure story, hence the "fair" rating.