Ever since classic stories such as Black Beauty and the Black Stallion, people have been in love with horses and the majestic grace they bring. Director Steven Spielberg must have felt it was time for a return to that age when bringing the Broadway smash War Horse, the instant classic of a horse drawn into the combat of World War I and the people he encounters, to the big screen. In an age where wholesome, classic films are a rarity, it’s good to know that epics like this come along and remind us why we enjoy watching movies in the first place.

Fellow reviewer Chris Pandolfi raved when he saw the film theatrically last December, and here's a snippet of what he felt about one of the year's best pictures. Check out his full review by clicking HERE:

"I’m not interested in an argument over how implausible the story is. For a few minutes, I found myself trying to logically analyze a climactic scene in which Joey is freed from a tangled mass of barbed wire; the circumstances, not to mention the opposing ideologies of Joey’s saviors, would make such a thing next to impossible. But then I came to my senses – this is a movie that works on the emotions, not the brain. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We tend to be a bit caviler with genre labels like buddy film and love story, which is a shame because, in doing so, they eventually lose their power. War Horse is the most profound kind of buddy film and love story, and it makes absolutely no difference that one character is human while the other is not. It’s a celebration of the bonds we make – and hopefully, of the bonds we share for the rest of our lives."

War Horse is indeed an epic adventure, one that manages to be just as grand in the comfort of home on Blu-ray. The video transfer is so clean and vivid, you’d swear you can see into the soul of the horse anytime the film captures a close up of its eyes. The 7.1 DTS-HD audio does a fantastic job picking up all of the dialogue and wartime sounds throughout, making for a perfect mix with the awesome visuals.

With an epic like this, there has to be some pretty awesome special features to accompany it. They kick off with “War Horse: The Journey Home”, which gathers the cast and crew together as they talk about the making of the film, while “An Extra’s Point of View” gives us a peek into the life of an extra that worked every day on the set. One of the features that sticks out the most is the hour-long “A Filmmaking Journey” that literally covers nearly every aspect on what went into making the film. “Editing & Scoring” goes into Spielberg’s relationship with editor Michael Kahn and legendary composer John Williams, which alone makes the fan inside me all giddy.

Last, but far from least, are “The Sounds Of War Horse”, where sound designer Gary Rydstrom is given credit for his work, and “Through The Producer’s Lens” has producer Kathleen Kennedy showing off some of the photos on set while the movie was being filmed.

War Horse harkens back to the days when movies truly were something special, where the saga of a horse drafted into war and the lives it impacts is anything but sentimental. Steven Spielberg is in rare form here, recalling his earliest classics while reminding us how movie magic is formed when great acting, storytelling, visuals and the music of John Williams come together just right. There's hours of extra features on this expanded Blu-ray release, which help give insight into the monumental task of bringing this timeless epic to the big screen. Be sure to make a space in your Blu-ray ranch for War Horse, as you’ll be glad it galloped its way into your collection and, more importantly, into your heart.