SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: YOUNG BLACK STALLION

"YOUNG BLACK STALLION"
(2003) (Biana G. Tamimi, Richard Romanus) (G)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
None	None	Moderate	*Mild	Mild

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	Mild	None	None

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
None	Minor	Minor	Moderate	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Drama: After befriending a young black stallion in 1946 North Africa, a young girl hopes to use him in a race to win back her family's previously sold herd.

PLOT:

It's 1946 North Africa, and Neera (BIANA G. TAMIMI) is a young girl traveling with the elderly Kadir (ANDRIES ROSSOUW) in a camel caravan through the desert. When Mansoor (ALI AL AMERI) and his men approach with seemingly hostile intentions, Kadir sends Neera riding off for safety. She escapes, but ends up falling from her ride. When she awakens, she has no idea where she is.

She finds a friend of sorts, however, in the form of a young black stallion whose mother was captured by Mansoor and his men. After several days in the desert, Neera finds her way to the house owned by her grandfather, Ben Ishak (RICHARD ROMANUS), but the black stallion runs off. That prompts Ben to state that he was just a desert apparition spawned by none other than the Devil.

Neera doesn't believe that, but is upset when she learns that her grandfather had to sell the family horses - to make ends meet -- to Rhamon (GERARD RUDOLF), a sheik who's involved in cross-desert races where the winner claims their opponents' horses.

A year later, the black stallion suddenly reappears, much to Neera's delight. She wants to race him in a contest against Mansoor and Rhamon to retrieve the family horses, but Ben explicitly forbids it. Nevertheless, and with the aid of her friend Aden (PATRICK ELYAS), Neera begins to train with her new horse in hopes of entering that tough race and winning.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're into horses or are fans of the previous Black Stallion films or novels, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G: For not containing material to warrant a higher rating.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: BIANA G. TAMIMI plays a young, parentless girl who meets the black stallion while lost in the desert. Once she finds her way to her grandfather's home, she wants to race the horse in a strenuous contest to win back her family's horses from others (and disobeys him to do so).
RICHARD ROMANUS plays her grandfather who doesn't want her to race for fear of losing the rest of his home following WWII.
PATRICK ELYAS plays Neera' friend who assists her in training the young stallion.
GERARD RUDOLF plays a sheik who's into racing horses and previously purchases many of Ben's.
ALI AL AMERI plays the film's apparent villain, a man who captures the stallion's free mother and then races against Neera and Rhamon.; RICHARD ROMANUS plays her grandfather who doesn't want her to race for fear of losing the rest of his home following WWII.
PATRICK ELYAS plays Neera' friend who assists her in training the young stallion.
GERARD RUDOLF plays a sheik who's into racing horses and previously purchases many of Ben's.
ALI AL AMERI plays the film's apparent villain, a man who captures the stallion's free mother and then races against Neera and Rhamon.; PATRICK ELYAS plays Neera' friend who assists her in training the young stallion.
GERARD RUDOLF plays a sheik who's into racing horses and previously purchases many of Ben's.
ALI AL AMERI plays the film's apparent villain, a man who captures the stallion's free mother and then races against Neera and Rhamon.; GERARD RUDOLF plays a sheik who's into racing horses and previously purchases many of Ben's.
ALI AL AMERI plays the film's apparent villain, a man who captures the stallion's free mother and then races against Neera and Rhamon.; ALI AL AMERI plays the film's apparent villain, a man who captures the stallion's free mother and then races against Neera and Rhamon.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this G-rated drama. Pretty much benign from start to finish during its short fifty-minute runtime, the film does contain a handful of scenes that could possibly be unsettling or suspenseful to very young kids, but that all depends on their age, level of maturity and tolerance for and/or past exposure to similar material.

A few characters have some bad attitudes, several carry guns, some fall from their rides, and the protagonist's parents are missing. Beyond that, the remaining categories have little or nothing in the way of major objectionable material.

That said, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content.

For those concerned with flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs during a thunderstorm at the beginning of the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: None.

BLOOD/GORE: None.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Rhamon has a little bit of a "to the victor go the spoils" attitude toward Ben.
Mansoor and his men are portrayed as the film's villains (in the final race and for capturing the colt's mother - although she was previously released into the wild).
Neera disobeys her grandfather forbidding her to enter a race and does so anyway (and wins, with Aden helping her train in secret).

FRIGHTENING SCENES: For those seeing the film on the giant IMAX screen, the sheer size of the picture might further accentuate some of the suspenseful moments for younger kids. Older ones will likely have little if any problems with the material.
We see the young black stallion looking somewhat scared during a thunderstorm.
Several men on horseback (and carrying rifles) approach and then chase the young black stallion and his mother (accompanied by suspenseful music), eventually capturing the latter. The colt is then all alone.
The above men on horseback approach Neera's camel caravan (at first heard as a thunderous sound and then seen) and Kadir sends her riding off in advance to avoid them (they fire warning shots in the air as they surround the caravan). She gets away, but ends up falling from her camel and tumbles down a hill where she loses consciousness. When she comes to (half buried in blowing sands), she realizes she's lost in the middle of nowhere.
We see the skeleton of some large animal in the desert (it could be unsettling/scary to younger kids).
Neera slowly makes her way through her grandfather's seemingly deserted house (as a tiny bit of suspenseful music plays). Aden then suddenly rushes out at her with a stick until he realizes who she is.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Rifles: Carried by some bad men (and used to fire warning shots) as well as to start a race.
A caravan passes by several abandoned WWII German tanks in the desert.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Old man" and "Have you gone mad?"
The film could inspire kids to want to take up horseback riding.

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A mild amount of suspenseful and action-oriented music plays in the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: None.

SEX/NUDITY: None.

SMOKING: We briefly see some men in the background of a shot smoking some pipes.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: There's some brief talk about Neera's absent mother, but we don't know where she is or if she's alive.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Approaching wild animals.
Desert mirages.
Surviving in the desert.
Ben says that the colt (that he has never seen) is the devil in the desert that played tricks with Neera's mind when she was stuck there.
Neera living with her grandfather and little mention of what happened to her parents.

VIOLENCE: Neera ends up falling from her camel and tumbles down a hill where she loses consciousness.
Two riders fall from their horses during a race but are okay.

Reviewed December 20, 2003 / Posted December 25, 2003

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