Looks promising, but the stage play is an extraordinary in a way that I doubt can quite be matched. Brilliant staging and puppetry, strong acting, and it made me emotionally engaged in some things that were pretty mundane on paper--then took me to World War I once I was on the hook. A rare and hard to describe gem. Such a unique experience.

I've studied directing under the stage director Jack Hofssis. He believes curtain calls are very important in the theater, because when theater is good, audiences really want to say thank you. I've never felt that to be truer than at War Horse.

Amos, the reviews of both the London and Broadway presentations of the play are pretty close to spectacular:

THR

Variety

NYT

Chicago Tribune

It will be interesting to see how Spielberg migrates the story into a movie. Given key narrative elements, it would appear to be in his wheelhouse. But the play evidently is magical. Can that magic be reproduced on the silver screen?

Well, it's epic and sentimental, so it's right in Spielberg's wheelhouse, as you say. But there's something so visceral about the stage performance that I'm afraid will feel canned and force-fed on screen. (I admire much of Richard Curtis' work, but his involvement worries me in this regard.)

I haven't seen the play, but I saw press photos and was really glad to find this trailer posted. However, as it progressed, I found myself thinking of other emotional horse movies (Seabiscuit, that one with Kristen Scott Thomas nobody saw, Black Beauty...) From the photos alone, the play War Horse looked like something powerful, different, and visceral. The trailer for the film looks a bit sappy....

I just got in from Amazon (yesterday!) the play itself, along with a companion book by the puppet masters who interpreted the horses on stage (There has to be some great stuff in there about characterization through movement, et al...). Haven't read either yet, but...

...man, in the trailer, the visuals that Spielberg and Kaminsky create just kinda make the ground dissolve under your feet. Gut-wrenchingly poetic, beautiful stuff.

The "sappy" dynamic is a legitimate concern. Let's hope it hits just the right tone.

On the sappy note, to me this just seemed like a bad trailer. I don't think many people would admit that because it's Spielberg but the way they cut the trailer didn't excite me at all for it. Other than that, because it is Spielberg, I cannot wait to see this movie.

I watched the TED Talk about the puppetry behind War Horse on Broadway and it was quite impressive.

This is an odd trailer. It's beautiful to look at and the music choice is nice, but it feels like it's about forty seconds too long. It's not quite a teaser and it's not quite a story trailer either - it's some weird hybrid - almost like a first cut that needs to be trimmed.

The close-up shot of the horse limping ruined it for me. It comes of as manipulative and melodramatic.

Oh yeah, I forgot... it's Spielberg...

Teddy - Great heads up and link on the TED talk. Thanks for sharing that.

On the sappy issue, yeah, it's present and even kinda crept into things a bit in SUPER 8. It's in their DNA, I guess, but man... How to deftly pull on the heart-strings of an audience across a wide range of age and story sensibilities, without stretching them too far? That's a skill set I marvel at from afar.

FWIW, Bill Whittliff's THE BLACK STALLION somehow managed to infuse just the right amount of myth and magic into the storytelling to keep us both close and distant at the same time, in a way that kept things balanced but enthralling. (Again, a great DP in that one, too -- Caleb Deschanel.)

This whole sappy issue is a good one for a discussion, probably worthy of its own post. My high school creative writing teacher used to hammer me whenever I got too syrupy with emotion by simply writing in the margins, "Drip." As in drippingly melodramatic. And so to this day, that's what I use when I run across a scene or moment that is too much.

For the sake of discussion, which Spielberg directed movies do people think suffer from being too sappy? And which ones show sufficient restraint in that regard?

I think Catch Me If You Can handled the issue beautifully. There's a great deal of sentiment, nostalgia, and wistfulness in that movie (I know I don't need all three words, but I'm tired and can't pick one), but it all radiates from a truthful place and never gets excessive. To my mind at least.

Go ahead and hate me if you like, but Schindler's List had cringe-inducing scenes. Way too sappy. Or should I say schmaltzy. I almost walked out during the Girl In Red scene.

And no, I'm not a cold-hearted bastard or Dick Cheney. I just think it would have been a much better movie without the over-the-top sentiment and the phony accents.

I felt the same way about Red Genia (the girl in the red coat Teddy just referred to) until I read Kenally's book. The movie is an incredibly faithful telling of what actually happened... including Schindler's watching of that little girl in red from horseback during the liquidation of the ghetto (or whatever mass chaos was going on - can't quite remember and haven't seen the movie in a while, but the girl in red element was as true to life as you get). I'm on the fence as to whether or not Spielburg should have not colored the dress in the scene. There were historical grounds for doing so, but what did it do artistically to the film?

The Color Purple never seemed to land true for me, especially given the subject matter. Always seemed a tad too glossy, and always as if we were watching the story, instead of being drawn into it.

And in terms of sappy, would have to say the most recent Indy and the Crystal Skull. Cringed quite a bit.

Certainly looks better than TIN TIN.