The Water Horse (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Jay Russell

Writers (WGA):

Robert Nelson Jacobs (screenplay)
Dick King-Smith (book)

Release Date:

25 December 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

Every big secret starts small.

Plot:

A lonely boy discovers a mysterious egg that hatches a sea creature of Scottish legend. |

Plot Keywords:

Egg | Scotland | Thunderstorm | Artillery | Country Estate

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Bruce Allpress	...	Jock McGowan
Geraldine Brophy	...	Gracie
Eddie Campbell	...	Hughie (as Edward Campbell)
Ben Chaplin	...	Lewis Mowbray
Peter Corrigan	...	Jimmy's Buddy #1
Brian Cox	...	Old Angus
Carl Dixon	...	Gunner Corbin
Alex Etel	...	Angus MacMorrow
Nathan Christopher Haase	...	Male Tourist
Craig Hall	...	Charlie MacMorrow
Ian Harcourt	...	Jimmy McGarry
Rex Hurst	...	Jimmy's Buddy #2
Bill Johnson	...	Clyde (as William Johnson)
Megan Katherine	...	Female Tourist
Elliot Lawless	...	Beach Kid

Also Known As:

The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (International: English title) (promotional title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for some action/peril, mild language and brief smoking.

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG | UK:PG | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:All | Philippines:G (MTRCB) | Malaysia:U | Peru:PT | Sweden:11 | Taiwan:GP | Australia:PG | Finland:K-7 | New Zealand:PG

Filming Locations:

Ardkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

The title, 'The Water Horse', is a reference to the kelpie, a malevolent beast of Celtic lore that would disguise itself as a horse to lure unsuspecting victims to it. Once the unfortunate soul had mounted the kelpie, it would drag him or her down to their watery death.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In an early scene, Angus pulls out a first aid kit, and the bandage on top is labeled 'Telfa'. The film is set in 1942, but Telfa bandages weren't marketed by the Kendall Company/Curity until 1954.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Female Tourist: What is that?
Male Tourist: It's a famous picture of the monster. But it's fake.
Female Tourist: How do you know it's fake? It looks real.
Old Angus: Oh, it's fake alright.
Male Tourist: Of course it's fake. Everyone knows that.
Old Angus: We'd know, son. There's more to that photo than meets the eye.
Male Tourist: Oh ho, really.
Old Angus: Well, if you'd like to know the real truth.
Female Tourist: Yeah, I wanna know. Come on, it'll be fun.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Jaws (1975)

Soundtrack:

Magic

Beautiful gentle film, excellent reflections of WWII in the UK

Our family (2 kids in high school) went to this film Christmas night. It was a perfect wrap up to a glorious family day. The story line was told by the camera as a story should be told; with reflective moments, beautiful long scenic shots and great close-ups on some of the best character faces one can find in a pub. All of the time taken for this was appreciated by our family. The CGI was beautifully woven into the film so that it did not take away from it, but rather created the water horse to fit beautifully with the surrounding images. He/she was charming and we all root for the dream that there is a Nessie! Mum (Grammy) is British and flew Spitfires in WWII. She told of regiments taking over estates and the events in this movie matches her stories. Two small critical comments: The male/female travelers who open and close the film were far too forced and it felt like they were given the roles as friends of a director/producer? It's too bad because the opening and closing of the film felt awkward and unconnected with the rest of the charming story. There is a sequence of footage of the young lad working that repeated itself that felt like it was just looking for extra shots and couldn't find them. Having done that as an amateur, I was surprised when the pros did this! Enjoy this film. Thank-you to all who worked on it!