Hidalgo

Synopsis: Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire--a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian desert--was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy sheik invited an American, Frank T. Hopkins, and his horse to enter the race for the first time. During the course of his career, Hopkins was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the U.S. cavalry--and had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders--some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse attempt the impossible.
Director(s): Joe Johnston
Production: Buena Vista Pictures
  1 win & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
54
Rotten Tomatoes:
46%
PG-13
Year:
2004
136 min
$67,249,474
Website
931 Views


Come on, little brother.

Checkout time.

Yeah.

Everyone's well

behind us, Senator.

When we cross

the finishing line,

we'd best look like champions.

Howdy.

Nice mornin',

don't you think?

You went over it.

You went off the wagon trail.

Cross-country race, ain't it?

Well, I didn't ride 1,100 miles

to finish second place.

Why did you, then?

This race is mine, cowboy.

Yah!

Ready when you are, brother.

Let 'er buck.

Yee-hah!

Whiskey.

That's right.

I don't like

your style, Hopkins.

Heh-hey! You made it.

Mustangs don't belong

in races with thoroughbreds.

If you ask me,

they belong in fertilizer.

Mister...

You can say anything

you want about me.

I'm gonna have to ask you

not to talk about my horse that way.

Call it.

Tails.

Mr. Hopkins...

Private Abernathy.

With the 7th.

Major Whitside, 2nd Battalion,

7th Cavalry Encampment,

at Wounded Knee Creek, sir.

Carry on.

Mr. Hopkins...

Right now, huh?

Wounded Knee Creek

December 29, 1890

Dispatch rider!

Major Whitside, 7th cavalry,

commanding battalion

in the field.

General Miles

directs me to say

that a solution to the Sioux

uprising must be found at once.

Disarm the Indians.

Take every precaution

to prevent their escape.

If they choose to fight,

subdue them.

Dispatch, sir.

They've been doin' it all night.

There's gonna be an uprisin'.

No, soldier. It's a ghost dance.

That's all.

Praying to their ancestors

for help.

Boy.

Where are they taking us?

They called you Blue Child.

I knew your mother.

Get back behind the tent line.

Come on, now.

You don't need that.

Come on.

You know what army this is,

Big Foot?

This is the 7th.

Yellow Hair's men.

You remember Pahaska?

Yeah, you probably

ate his liver.

Hey, you. Come 'ere.

Give me the gun.

Black Coyote is deaf.

He cannot hear your orders. Please...

Let go of it!

What are you doin', Bronco?

Go on, there!

What are you lookin' at?

27 Congressional medals

were awarded at a place

called Wounded Knee.

This was the proud 7th who fought

at the Little Bighorn

and saw their great general

killed in battle.

The Battle of Wounded Knee

would not be that way.

On that day,

outnumbered by warriors,

but undaunted in spirit,

the brave 7th held their ground.

Hopkins!

Get up.

Hidalgo's up next.

Hey, Phoebe Anne.

Get your own gun.

Makin' sure you don't

have live shot in there.

Damn gun's loaded,

and so are you.

- I'm gettin' the hell out of Cleveland.

- Good. Cause we're in Boston.

Come 'ere. Remember?

You're the good guy.

Who has come out to parlay

with Buffalo Bill?

Could it be a real and living

war chief of the red race?

Chief Eagle Horn.

Mothers, hold your children close.

This is not an act.

You are beholding

the last of the wild hostiles,

the red pirates of the prairies.

He who scalped many a pioneer

on the bloody warpath

that led to the winning

of the West.

Now, this is the man

whose power

took the life

of the great general Custer

on the day that

colonel Cody was too late.

And that, gentlemen, is

why they call me Texas Jack.

Far Rider, I must speak to Long Hair.

Please speak United States for me.

Chief says... his people

are vanishing

faster than he can earn silver

with you.

- Can't this wait?

- Curb your tongue, Nate!

Let the chief speak.

Chief Eagle Horn says

that our nation... his nation's... hoop

is broken and scattered.

The buffalo herds

have been destroyed.

Elk and deer are gone.

And now the government is

rounding up our wild horses,

and they plan to...

shoot them, too,

before the first snows.

They put a price

on the native horses

too great

for a poor Indian to meet.

Chief says that perhaps his

people have lost their lands,

but not their spirit.

And he asks you for your help.

Tell my dear friend Eagle Horn

that... the mustang breed

has known its day

and served its purpose.

If my chief

wishes a fine horse,

I will give to him

a thoroughbred steed

of his chosen color.

Yes. He'll do whatever he can.

Behold the famed

Cheyenne-to-Deadwood stage line.

What? What?

Heavens, folks!

It's an ambush.

What think you

of the show, Aziz?

Bravely, the pioneer

meets the savages...

Jack, what are you doing?

Hold on to it.

- Get your foot up there, Frank.

- This is the real West

and not for the faint of heart.

And now, folks,

you remember them,

rough-riding Frank Hopkins

and his horse, Hidalgo!

Galveston, Texas,

to Rutland, Vermont,

is over 1,800 miles.

But Frank Hopkins

and his painted wonder

made the ride in 30 days.

Can cross the country

in 30 days,

but he can't find

his horse backstage.

The wounded-soldier trick!

Ladies and gentlemen,

let's hear it

for the wounded-soldier trick.

You're lucky

this gun's got blanks.

Let go o' me,

you rabbit-eared...

And the horse

- drags the wounded soldier home.

- Let go o' me!

Sheikh Al Riyadh is keeper

of the Muniqi stallion.

His excellency's

royal stables

preserve the purest equine

bloodline in the world.

And he wishes to invest

in the Cody enterprise?

The Sheikh of Sheikhs,

His Greatness,

is beyond investment.

His pride is

in his family horses.

You see, Mr. Cody, the sheikh's

own stallion, Al-Hattal,

is the greatest living

endurance-race champion

of all time.

The sheikh saw your show

in Paris.

His honor was deeply

insulted by your claim

to exhibit the world's greatest

endurance horse and rider.

Hidalgo is a legend, my friends.

He has never lost

a long-distance race.

In America, perhaps.

On deserts that women from

my country could cross on foot.

Frank, you just missed some

wonderful compliments about your horse.

Five minutes, Billy.

Gentlemen, I present

rough-riding Frank Hopkins.

- Mr. Hopkins, a pleasure.

- Mr. Cody, His Excellency...

- Sit down before you fall down.

- ... requests that you remove the title

that you have bestowed

on this American horse.

What's goin' on here, Bill?

Perhaps you have never heard

of the great horse race

of the Bedouin.

It has been held annually

for more than 1,000 years.

A 3,000-mile race.

Across the Arabian Desert.

Along the Persian Gulf and Iraq.

And across the sands

of Syria to Damascus.

It is known

as the "Ocean of Fire".

Our office will accept your entry

at 1,000 dollars in Spanish silver.

The winner's purse makes

the victor very honored.

Very... How do we say?

Very rich, Mr. Cody.

These boys are serious, Frank.

His greatness invites

you and your horse

to enter in the challenge

if you will not

remove the title

that you have bestowed

on this impure animal.

Impure?

He is pure mustang, friend.

What shall I tell

His Excellency?

You can go tell 'im

to pound sand for all I care.

Tequila.

To be more exact,

my Arabian friend.

Gentlemen, the third act

is starting.

I suggest you take your seats.

A very wise choice

you have made, Mr. Hopkins.

I don't think that was

a compliment, Frank.

Long Hair has promised me

rock candy in Pittsburgh.

Our good red and blue days are over.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

John Fusco

John Fusco is an American screenwriter born in Prospect, Connecticut. His screenplays include Crossroads, Young Guns, Young Guns II, Thunderheart, Hidalgo, and the Oscar-nominated Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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