Set in the late 19th Century, Hidalgo celebrates the spirit of the mustang, of the four-legged and the two-legged variety.  It is a highly fictionalized account of cowboy and endurance racer Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) competing in the Arab 3000-mile 'Ocean of Fire' race with his mustang Hidalgo.

The movie takes its time getting to the race in order to make sure we understand our heroes.  Hopkins, at the time of the challenge, is a usually-drunk stunt rider for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.  What he's hiding is his half-Sioux heritage, and the glimpses we get of that era's treatment of the Indians (including the massacre at Wounded Knee) make it clear why.   His full-blooded Indian friends who take part in the show are presented to the audience as bloodthirsty savages, and the wild mustang herds are going to be wiped out by the U.S. Army.  For both Hopkins and his horse, the conventional wisdom is that their time has passed. 

Hopkins and Hidalgo have competed in and won many American long-distance races, and Buffalo Bill advertises them as the greatest endurance racing team in the world.  That offends the Arabs, who send a representative to demand that the show stop making that claim -- or prove it. 

That's how an 'impure' mustang and his rider wind up entered in a race previously only open to the most pure-bred of the Arabian stock.   Their very presence in the lineup deeply offends many of their rivals. 

The race is not called 'The Ocean of Fire' for nothing.  It covers some of the most hostile terrain on earth.  And it's not just the elements that Frank and Hidalgo have to contend with.  There's a lot at stake in this race, and some men will kill to win it.   More than endurance will be tested, and Frank's skills with six-shooter and lariat will come in handy, as will the fact that Hidalgo is a trained circus horse. 

The race is sponsored by wealthy Sheikh Riyadh (Omar Sharif), a man with an obsessive pride in his Arabian horses' bloodlines that go back hundreds of years, and also with a consuming interest in the Wild West. 

Despite the hyper-masculinity of the setting, two women play prominent roles in Frank's race.  The ultra-elegant Lady Anne Davenport (Louise Lombard) wants him to lose.  She has her own horse and rider entered in the race, and if her team wins, she'll gain breeding rights for her Arabian horses with Sheikh Riyadh's stock.  While Lady Anne seems cool and collected, later we learn the despicable lengths she will go to in order to win. 

Riyadh's only surviving child, 'lowly daughter' Jazira (Zuliekha Robinson), badly wants Frank to win.  If Prince Bin Al Reeh (Said Taghmaoui) wins, she'll become his newest wife, "little more than a slave".   Jazira wants Bin Al Reeh to lose, and having been exposed to her father's Wild West obsession, she sees cowboy Frank as her best chance.

Jazira sneaks into Frank's tent and gives him camel butter, telling him that consuming it will provide strength for both himself and his horse over the worst part of the course. 

But Jazira is caught in Frank's tent, and that's big trouble for both of them.  Jazira is going to be flogged, and Frank, um, gelded.  So the raid by Riyadh's brigand nephew comes at an opportune moment. 

The brigands kidnap Jazira and plan to trade her for Riyadh's most prized horse.  (Now that I think about it, it says a lot about the relative value placed on the womenfolk and the horses, that it's easier to steal the Sheik's daughter than to steal his horse!) 

Riyadh is an old softie where his daughter is concerned, and tells Frank that if he can recover her, all will be forgiven.

The rescue of Jazira is sheer, classic action-adventure.  And we're just halfway through the race.   Plenty more where that came from. 

And since it's been twelve paragraphs since I mentioned it, to repeat - it stars Viggo Mortensen.

{NOTE for DVD viewing:   There are several scenes in this movie with rather lengthy conversations that are not in English.   I don't know how this was presented in theaters but on the DVD, these scenes are not subtitled.  Turn on closed captioning, and you'll get the translation.  There's important information in these conversations.}

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