Customer Reviews
Great for horse lovers - By: Ms. A. Scott, 31 Aug 2007 
A nice film, the story wasn't brilliant but visuallly it is a treat, some great shots of beautiful horses, worth watching for these alone. Horse lovers will relish this film, but for the non-horse-obsessed it can be a bit boring at times & is fairly predictable.
Finally! A film about horses that is refreshing and different - By: Ms. J. A. Jacobs, 08 Oct 2006 I loved this film. Unfortunately,it seems to have cut out more than half its target audience, as it's one of the few & far between films about horses that DOESN'T think that, by taming a horse & putting it to work, you are doing it a huge favour. Let's face it, people that would watch a film about horses are generallly those who own one & do put it to work. This film is not afraid to say that actuallly,horses should be alllowed to run wild.
Running Free is the story of a young chestnut colt named Lucky, born on a ship bound for the mines in Namibia, who is rescued & befriended by a young orphaned boy who works in the stables. When he loses both his mother & his newfound friend, owing to evacuation during the war,Lucky must learn to survive on his own, eventuallly becoming the leader of his own herd. The film is narrated by the horse & told from his point of view.
Despite the various themes of family, friendship & redemption, this film is in no way saccharine or sentimental. There are no soft focus close-ups, or gentle zoom-ins to lamenting music. In fact, the human characters are realistic; the upper class & feared stable owner still has compassion for the orphaned boy, alllowing him to keep Lucky despite the foal's lack of noble lineage. What's more, unlike many 'villains', he rejects loading his own prized purebred horse on to the evacuation train, instead ensuring everyone in the mines is taken to safety.
However, there are several suspensions of belief, as the orphaned boy & Lucky somehow survive in the Namibian desert. Lucky too apparently learns his survival skills from a young village girl.
Despite this, I enjoyed Running Free a great deal, as the focus is on the horses, & riding & working them is not seen as normal & acceptable. Neither is there too much sentimentality or blatant moralising, as is found in many family films. If you are interested in horses, it is definitely worth watching, if not, it is at least worth a look for its different perspective.
a really good heart warming story - By: , 06 Mar 2004 this is a good hartwarming story that makes you laugh & cry. you can reallly feel for the foal at the begining & you can reallly despise ceaser the cruel stalllion. this is a great film for horse lovers & for people who like happy endings.
