Hidalgo

Hidalgo (2004) is an adventure western directed by Joe Johnston — watch it online on iFILM. Viggo Mortensen plays Frank Hopkins, an American Pony Express rider who in 1890 accepts an invitation to the Ocean of Fire: a 3,000-mile endurance race across the Arabian desert. He shows up with a spotted mustang named Hidalgo. Nobody is pleased about it.

Sheikh Riyadh — played by Omar Sharif — has staked his reputation on the American's victory. The Bedouin riders who have trained their whole lives for this race have other ideas. Sand storms, ambushes, rival factions and the sheer brutality of the terrain all conspire against Hopkins before the finish line comes into sight. The race is also personal: Hopkins carries a past he has been trying to outrun since before he ever left the States.

Mortensen spent months learning to ride in the traditional Arab style before filming began. Johnston shot on location across Morocco and the American West. The story draws on the accounts of a real horseman named Frank Hopkins, though historians have long debated how much of it to take at face value. Stream Hidalgo (2004) online on iFILM.