Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie Review

Not, repeat not, a prequel to War Horse.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 5, 2023

There's a kind of interesting if slightly defensive sounding quasi-commentary bonus item on this disc where co-writer, co-director and star Johnny Strong reacts negatively to critics who evidently called the film out for making a "political statement" in its opening scenes, something Strong denies was ever his intention, this despite the fact that one I guess supposedly right leaning character laments the fact that "this administration" (one assume that of Biden) has decided that pulling out of Afghanistan is a good idea, something the character is more than obviously unhappy about. What's kind of simultaneously interesting but ultimately frustrating about Warhorse One is that it starts with some ostensibly provocative material about that pullout, which, at least according to this story, left some Americans stranded, but which then probably predictably descends into a more cliché ridden enterprise following the exploits of SEAL Master Chief Richard Mirko (Johnny Strong) trying to get an American little girl named Zoe Walters (Athena Durner) to safety, this after both Mirko and Zoe's family have been hit by RPGs, leaving Mirko without his SEAL team and Zoe without her parents or older sibling.

The basic setup here just can't escape the fact that it recalls too many other efforts where some heroic type is stuck Behind Enemy Lines (so to speak, and note that the linked to film is not the only enterprise bearing that hoary title). Adding to the angst factor is of course the little girl, but even that element has been exploited in any number of other properties. The "me and you against the world" (or at least the Taliban) aspect is probably the most viscerally engaging part of the film, but Strong and his co-writer and co-director William Kaufman instead want to concentrate on stereotypical villains and shoot outs.

Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warhorse One is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. Unsurprisingly the IMDb doesn't offer much in the way of technical specs, but perhaps surprisingly I didn't even see a credited cinematographer on this, though maybe that, along with craft services, was another role Johnny Strong filled. One way or the other, this is a really nice and often abundantly well detailed digital capture that I frankly wouldn't be surprised to find out had a 4K DI. While Texas fills in none too convincingly for Afghanistan, the film is filled with awesome vistas of really gorgeous scenery, and both palette and general detail levels pop very nicely in these scenes. Fine detail on items like the textures on fabrics of costumes is also very precisely rendered almost all of the time. Some of the CGI, notably the opening shots of a SEAL helicopter getting hit by an RPG are pretty laughable, but many of the practical effects involving gunfire and squibs are pretty gruesome at times.

Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Warhorse One features a surprisingly effective DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, at least for what I'm assuming had less than a "blockbuster" sized budget. There are any number of floorboard rumbling uses of LFE, and there is also some clear immersive activity in any number of the gunfights that break out. Strong provided an effective if not exactly revelatory score, and that, too, noticeably engages the side and rear channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available, and some forced English subtitles appear on occasion during foreign language dialogue.

Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Commentary Featurette (HD; 58:10) is kind of a variant on a "scene selected commentary", though evidently Johnny Strong spent too much time commenting on various sequences, which means they play in somewhat confusing loops (and even loops within loops) here. There is some information here that some may find interesting.


• Trailer (HD; 2:21)

Note: As tends to be the case with Well Go USA Blu-ray releases, the disc has been authored so that supplements follow one another automatically (so that clicking on Director's Commentary Featurette is essentially a Play All button. The disc is also authored to automatically move on to trailers for other Well Go USA releases after the Trailer for this film plays. Those trailers for other Well Go USA releases also play automatically at disc boot up.

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Warhorse One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

In what may be an ironically funny comment, Strong in the featurette included on this disc talks about not wanting to wait around for someone else to give him work as an actor, and so decided to just create films for himself instead. In that regard, though, I have to say it's little Athena Durner who ends up stealing this film pretty handily. This is obviously a preposterous story, with a really treacly "happy ending" (if you forget how many people have been killed), but it does offer some decent action scenes. Technical merits are solid for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.