The Horsemen

PG

Released Jul 24, 1971

1h 50m

Drama

Adventure

List

30%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

An Afghan sheik's (Jack Palance) son (Omar Sharif) tries to prove himself to his father in the grueling equestrian game of "buzkashi."

Read More

Read Less

Lance A

This movie is a great and accurate depiction of buzkachi and its importance in the Afghan culture.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/14/22

Full Review

Mike W

Jack Palance and Omar Sharif at their best. The movie was brutal even without killing and guns.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/11/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Uraz (Omar Sharif) is the son of Tursen (Jack Palance), a stable master and retired buzkashi player, a sport in which horse-mounted players attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal. He has lost his honor when he breaks his leg in a game that his father has bet all of the family's money on, which means he has to learn how to ride and play again, despite most of his leg. Based on Joseph Kessel's Les cavaliers, this was scripted by Dalton Trumbo and directed by John Frankenheimer, who loved the movie even if it wasn't a financial success. There's a lot of animal violence in this, so be warned. I mean, it's a game played with a dead animal, after all. The same game is played in Rambo III, in case you wondered. Like that movie, the Afghanistan of this film is long gone. It's a big Hollywood film about a sport and a place that I can imagine very few people were interested in, which makes me interested in it.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The Horsemen takes its rightful place, if gawkily so, among Frankenheimer's best films

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a stunning film, inspired by epic adventure and timeless conflicts!

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A bounding Exploitation Movie about a extremly violent Afghan Sport with beautiful Pictures of the Afghan Mountains

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

John Frankenheimer

Director

Omar Sharif

Uraz

Leigh Taylor-Young

Zareh

Jack Palance

Tursen

David de Keyser

Actor

Peter Jeffrey

Actor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

63%

48%

Winning

67%

57%

The Great Waldo Pepper

82%

84%

Sorcerer

83%

46%

Model Shop

100%

83%

The Swimmer

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

I refuse to believe that the dreadful Hollywood-archaic screenplay which numbs The Horsemen (Astoria) was entirely the work of Dalton Trumbo as the credits vouchsafe.

Mar 18, 2020

Full Review

Margaret Hinxman

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The result is curiously stodgy, over-reverent.

Mar 18, 2020

Full Review

David Robinson

Financial Times

For all its overlength, however, it is reasonably beguiling on its [road to] nowhere.

Mar 18, 2020

Full Review

Dilys Powell

Sunday Times (UK)

I have long admired Mr Frankenheimer's talents, but they are overlaid here by local colour (splendid photography by Claude Renoir).

Mar 18, 2020

Full Review

Tony Mastroianni

Cleveland Press

Director John Frankenheimer can't be faulted for a lack of serious purpose, just for a lack of material to fit his purpose.

Nov 19, 2018

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The location shots in Afghanistan (and some in Spain) are off-beat and stunning, and are the best reason to see this film.

Rated: C+

Dec 29, 2014

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

An Afghan sheik's (Jack Palance) son (Omar Sharif) tries to prove himself to his father in the grueling equestrian game of "buzkashi."

Director: John Frankenheimer
Screenwriter: Joseph Kessel, Dalton Trumbo
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 24, 1971, Original
Runtime: 1h 50m
Sound Mix: Mono