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In Pursuit of Honor

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In Pursuit of Honor (1995)

March. 18,1995
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7
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To save a group of horses slated to be destroyed by the US Cavalry, a group of officers rebel and begin a journey towards Canada to save themselves and the mounts.

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HeadlinesExotic
1995/03/18

Boring

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Aneesa Wardle
1995/03/19

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

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Derrick Gibbons
1995/03/20

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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Zlatica
1995/03/21

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

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johnalmquist
1995/03/22

CONTAINS SPOILERS....After watching this movie on HBO Go, I absolutely had to look it up and research the topic. I'm a history buff, and couldn't believe the story to actually be true. I'm going to make this as logical as possible, but first, I had to give points to the acting in the movie. Aside from the historical inaccuracies, I had to tip a hat to Don Johnson for his work in making this film. This quite possibly was his best acting - EVER - and it was in a made for TV movie?? It was THAT good. Way to go man. I give you props 21 years after the fact.1. THIS IS NOT BASED ON A TRUE STORY! After reading numerous articles and reviews - one written after the release of the film - the BS meter is off the scale. For as young as the internet was back in 1995, people were really upset about this film, the story, the supposed slaughter of the horses, and inaccurate military portrayals of MacArthur and the common Cavalryman, enough to light up their Netscape 24/7 talking about how terrible the U.S. was back in the day to do this to innocent little bunnies - I mean horses. The fact is, this is a TALL TALE - like Paul Bunyan - passed down and told by drunken cowboys with a dash of history (the Bonus Riots in DC and the turning in of the cavalry sabers) baked in to make it just a little bit more believable. I agree with some of the other reviews that HBO has done a much better job in recent past with their historical research. Today, the claim that it is based on a true story would be supplanted with, "This is a story that some guys told me in a bar in Santa Fe. Here is the best article I could find: "In Defense of Honor: General Douglas MacArthur and the Horse Cavalry of 1934", by Bob Seals 2. MacArthur was NOT a horse killer! Just to reiterate, both military and historical records back up the fact that this NEVER HAPPENED, and General MacArthur did not order the slaughter of these horses. Yes, the esteemed General did get a bit loopy later in life, after the Korean War, and was dismissed by Ike, but this was in the 30's! He is in his military leadership prime, and was given a short stick and a black eye. In fact, at the time of this movie, 1934, the U.S. was in the middle of the Great Depression, and there was a shortage of working horses and mules. I've seen figures that state all 500 horses could have sold for as much as a several million dollars in today's money. Didn't happen.3. The names of the main characters in this film are made up - with the obvious exceptions. 4. There is no "Milk River" dividing the U.S. from Canada. Anywhere. Look on a map. The border in Montana is the 49th parallel. For 1000 miles. 5. They didn't have to go to Canada, or a Native American Reservation in Montana - they went right THROUGH 3 or 4 of them on the map in the film!! If you look at the map in the film, starting from the Sonoran desert, they head north, right through the Apache and Navajo nations, then have the opportunity to dump the horses in one of several, including going right past the Uintah and Ouray reservation in Utah and through the middle of the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. Finally, in Montana, there are the Crow, Blackfeet, and other reservations with vast swaths of territory that make these guys look like they couldn't find their "you know what" in the dark. I give this movie 6 stars for good acting and story line, but understandably, the historical aspects and claim that it is based on a true story detract from the appreciation of the better parts of the movie.

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bchole
1995/03/23

This is a great movie! As an old Cavalry Officer myself (albeit Air Cavalry) this is a great story, presented in an excellent manner. Doing the right thing in the face of official and professional ostracism illustrates personal courage as strong as the courage required to face the enemy on the battlefield. Doing the right thing is not always the easy thing to do, particularly when you stand by yourself in an organization that expects and demands conformity and acceptance to change. The change forced upon these few horse cavalry soldiers, by an organization determined to leave the old way and adopt the requirements for mechanized cavalry, during the early days of World War II, is a story that all should remember. The courage of these soldiers, to do the right thing, and disobey official orders, provides a lesson not only in honor but personal courage that very few would be able to see through to the end. This is an excellent movie and in my opinion, the finest performance by Don Johnson I have seen.

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Vantana
1995/03/24

History has ridden on the back of the horse for centuries. This "true story" depicting the bond between the war horse and his warrior rider is terrific.Excellent,excellent. Don Johnson at his best. Great realistic setting, wardrobe, tack, etc. Recommended for the whole family especially if you love the west and horses. I'm surprised we didn't see more of this film in theaters. The role played by horses and calvary from Alexander the Great right up to this time period is famous. Patton new that and he saved the "Lipizzan War Horse" from extinction in World War 11 because of his respect for the "war horse" and the "Haute Ecole of Equitation" which was the ability of the horse to execute the most difficult moves in combat. The irony is that he inherited the mechanical horse "the tank" and used similar tactics used with light calvary on the battlefield.

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Stargal427
1995/03/25

The film opens onto a flashback of one of the darker moments of history -- the destruction of WWI veteran camps outside the White House during the Depression. This sets the stage for how a few veteran calvarymen have a stronger sense of personal morale than their fellow men. Then the present, with an adept young man whose father left a longlasting impression to many men he comes into contact with in a southwestern military base. It's a calvary stronghold, with around 500 horses and a fraction of that in men. But the seeming low-action utopia ends when a Colonel retires and is replaced by a more ruthless replacement who carries out orders of Gen. MacArthur -- to disband the calvary's traditions [discontinuing sabers] and destroy the spare mounts in a brutal method that reminded me of the WWII concentration camp scenes of horror where Nazis would shoot Jews and bury them in mass graves on top of one another. The start of this movie is a fast set-up for the rest of the film and does not leave much room for intermission. It's a long journey they undergo, and isn't without the harsh reality of the peril that the renegades face in their decision to rescue the horses. I was attracted initially because of its history-base, which I'm interested in, and I've learned while being entertained at the same time of what happened within our own borders that might not have attracted everyone's eye, but was brutally savage all the same. In conclusion, this made-for-TV movie scored an 8 with me and if any of this movie's main elements fascinate you it should be on your agenda to see.

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