So, moviegoer, enjoy a good action tale, but until or unless HBO decides to divulge the actual source(s)of this allged "true story", don't believe a line or scene of it as regards the slaughter and rescue of the horses it portrays.

As for the film itself, it is very entertaining and all members of the cast do a nice job with it. I am giving it a 4 star rating for its entertainment value alone; a NO STAR rating for its apparently false claim of being "based on a true story." Good cast, nice locations, and a depiction of the "brown shoe" army that existed between the World Wars not often depicted on the screen make it enjoyable to watch.


An enjoyable movie with *some* basis on historical events   February 24, 2002
Odiseph
21 out of 24 found this review helpful

Those viewers with prior service, especially during wartime, will enjoy "In Pursuit of Honor" all the more.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was how admirably well Don Johnson carried off the roll of a battle hardened old boot. The director and writer "hollywoodized" some events and created a film which brought tears to this old sergeant's eyes. The depiction of General MacArthur is appropo; but the body of the movie is the plight of a small contingency of men against tall odds and direct orders.

Would this country ever destroy cavalry horses? We left behind "legions" of finely trained military dogs (K-9's) in Vietnam where a staple is canine flesh. The two main excuses I was told in the field were: budget cuts and the fear of spreading heartworms. There were innumerable instances which defied commonsense and ethics during the Vietnam War, errr, Conflict.

Reality check time. The era depicted in this film is a time of the United States history which has been clouded by agenda and spin. There were marches in the streets, payrolls were cut, veteran benefits were cut, pensions were cut, veterans were clubbed, millions were suffering for lack of food and housing (tons of federally stored milk, butter, and cheese were destroyed instead of being distributed to the needy), as told to me by my Grandfather who served as cavalry blacksmith during and after World War I. He later crosstrained into cooks. Either way, he said, there was no getting away from horses....:p


History...or Hollywood?   June 26, 2000
Mark Williams (Key Biscayne,Fl.)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

I too was intrigued by this "historical" film, so I did a little research also. I received this statement from the US Calvary Association:

"Unfortunately, this movie is yet another example of "Hollywood history." As far as we have been able to determine, nothing even remotely like this ever took place. The flaws in this movie, from a historical standpoint, are almost too numerous to list. The 12th Cavalry was not one of the regiments that was initially mechanized. And when the regiments were dismounted, their horses were turned in to the Remount Service, a branch of the Quartermaster Corps, where they were re-issued to other units. These remount depots were large operations, capable of handling up to 6,000 horses. They were not locations where you would send cast-off sergeants or troublesome lieutenants. As we understand it from an interview with the writer of the screenplay, the entire story is based on a tale he was told by three old sergeants when he was a boy, and even he admitted that the machine-gunning of the horses was a bit of Hollywood color added to the story. We have done research into the regiments, mechanization, even the officers mentioned and given "biographies" at the end of the movie. Nothing has been unearthed to confirm that any of the events shown in the film ever took place. In fact, all available evidence points in just the opposite direction. Both the U.S. Cavalry Association and the MacArthur Foundation wrote to HBO when this movie first came out, requesting that in light of the facts they remove the "based on a true story" statement from the movie. They never even answered our letters. So, while "In Pursuit of Honor" might be a good motion picture, it is certainly not good history. It is truly a shame that it is still being presented as such.

William Van Horn Researcher, USCMRL


Not just bad, but a lie!!!   July 27, 2008
Alexander Bielakowski (Leavenworth, KS)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Let me preface my comments by saying that I am a cavalry historian and have published a book on the U.S. Cavalry (check Amazon if you don't believe me). This movie is absolutely and completely wrong!

1) Cavalry horses were never disposed of by machine-gunning them - either they were humanely put down or sold.

2) No one ever stole cavalry horses to prevent them from being shot and then took them to Canada.

3) The U.S. Cavalry Association, an organization composed of cavalry veterans, attempted to sue the filmmakers for slander over this film. They couldn't though, because their organization had not itself been slandered.

4) There are numerous other smaller historical inaccuracies that I don't have the energy to mention, but other reviewers already have.

Don't waste your time!!!