Fresh and Exciting

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A rare treat for fans of Omar Sharif (dies at 83, Requiescat in pace), fans of Afghanistan, and fans of equines. There's a hilarious scene with a thin sheep at a sheep fighting contest (one of many "sports" Afghans like to watch and bet on). A nomad (David Porath from The Odessa File (1974)) brings along a thin, deformed sheep to fight a big ram.Great acting as always from Omar Sharif. Leigh Taylor-Young is hot as a gypsy witch. Jack Palance adds a fatherly touch as well.Also recommended: Bite the Bullet (1975) The Man From Snowy River (1982) Eagle's Wing (1979) The Black Stallion (1979)

Set in Afghanistan, John Frankenheimer's 'The Horsemen' is the story of a tribesman determined to rival his father at horsemanship… Uraz is sent by his father Tursen to win the traditional Royal Buzkashi on the field of Bagrami in the capital city of Kabul… Uraz on Jahil has to battle for control of a headless calf, carry it around a blue flag, and deposit it back in the 'Circle of Justice'… thus signifying that he wins the king's pennant… and remains as the master chapandaz of all Afghanistan… During the tournament, opposing horsemen use their whips to urge on their horses and to hit the rider for the chance to snatch the heavy carcass… The motion picture turns around five well drawn characters: an angered son eaten up with vanity; a brave father who knew something worse than danger; a nomad woman whose touch defiles; a once loyal servant lusted for an 'unclean woman;' and a wager from the high passes of the East where 'men know how to forge fine weapons and use them well'… Uraz (Omar Sharif) deliberately chose to bribe his devoted servant with the magnificent white stallion in order to increase the already terrible dangers which he hopes to conquer…Zareh (Leigh-Taylor Young) urges her man to kill his high blood master to secure for herself his horse and his money…Tursen (Jack Palance) know nothing but evil legends about an impossible road taken by his embittered son… His pain, remorse, and blood wept for a son lost through his fault… Mukhi (David de Keyser) forgets his humble and faithful world in the arms of the 'untouchable' woman who pushes him to murder the great prince…Hayatal (Peter Jeffrey) takes the challenge against 'the Prince Ram of the Valley' declaring openly to Uraz: 'What a one-horned ram can do, a one-legged chapandaz can do better!'To understand 'The Horsemen' you must understand the rage, the beauty, and the tradition of a mountainous and landlocked country, isolated and left outside the mainstream of civilization…Written by Academy Award winner Dalton Trumbo (The Brave One, Best Original Screenplay, 1956) 'The Horsemen' is a passionate film for men only… The film is a search that marks out the true concepts of honesty, integrity, loyalty, and trust

Not having seen this film since its initial release, I have vague moments of recollection (I was eleven at the time) but, after all these years, I still remember this film, a few scenes-even the theater where I saw it-so that has to count for something. We, my parents, and myself went to many, many movies so it was not unusual for me to come along, even at decidedly adult fair such as this. My mother had a crush on Omar-notwithstanding that they share the same passion for bridge. Frankenheimer had a good reputation for producing and directing interesting, offbeat films that hit as often as they miss-The Manchurian Candidate, Grand Prix, and Black Sunday come to mind. So, we gave this film a shot.While I do not remember the plotline to any great extent, what I do remember quite vividly was that this film took place in Afghanistan, and features quite prominently the national sport of Buzkashi-a sport whereby riders on horses attempt to deposit the carcass of a lamb in a circle. Also, this has what is quite honestly the best performance in a film by Omar Sharif you will ever find. He plays a great rider who is injured early in the film. He broads about a lot but finally finds redemption by returning to the sport that nearly killed him for that one last ride. I do not remember if he makes it through alive.Buzkashi is an old, old brutal sport/ritual full of tradition and ceremony. The film took great pains to present this dying spectacle as realistically as possible and is the great set piece to the film. A true Man's man sport, it is not for the fainthearted. For me, at eleven, I was not used to cinematic `realism' even though by then I had seen hundreds of films. Perhaps it is why I remember it so for it made quite an impression.The film was transferred to video but is long out of print and only available through collectors. It has not made it to DVD, unfortunately. I have not seen it since it initial release.Still, in a long career for Frankenheimer, this is a film that should not be forgotten and is probably one of his best.

An excellent adaptation of the Book by Joseph Kessel; centered on the running of the first Buskashi in Kabul by the King of Afghanistan circa the 1950s. I have read the book in its English translation(1968) and seen the Movie on VHS.(1671) The movie is very fresh and not dated; and all the more compelling due to recent liberation from Arab control of that country. Footage of the Buskashi just has to be from a real game. The games were played at Bagram (Bagrimi) the plain above Kabul which was made an airport in recent years.The author, Kessel can be compared to Joseph Conrad and Hemmingway as he apparently lived what he wrote. The book has themes just as penetrating as "Heart of Darkness" or "the Old man and the Sea" and much has translated well to this Movie. The acting is well done and convincingly. Local color shots were done in the late sixties giving this film a truly timeless feeling with little motor traffic evident. One inspired scene has Jack Palance as Chief breeder and legendary Horseman, interrupted in his instructions to his team by the noise of a Jet; and looking up to see contrails above.This is a real treasure just begging to be on DVD.