Roger Ebert, in his review of War Horse:
The closing shots of Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” will stir emotions in every serious movie lover. The sky is painted with a deeply red-orange sunset. A lone rider is seen far away on the horizon. The rider approaches and dismounts. He embraces a woman and a man. They all embrace the horse’s head. Music swells. This footage, with the rich colors and dramatic framing on what is either a soundstage or intended to look like one, could come directly from a John Ford Western.
War Horse is of another era to be sure. Spielberg, in conjunction with Williams’ over-the-top score, can occasionally ladle the sentiment on a bit thick but there’s a classic innocence to War Horse Spielberg has seldom wielded since well before 2001’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.
