Into the West

Here's the enchanting big-screen adventure about two city kids who receive a gift beyond their wildest dreams -- a magical horse. But when a rich breeder tries desperately to take the horse away from them, their only hope is to escape and become the coolest outlaws ever to ride ... INTO THE WEST! Capture the thrill of this delightful adventure and experience for yourself the feeling and joy it brought to critics and audiences everywhere! Starring Gabriel Byrne (END OF DAYS, ENEMY OF THE STATE) and Ellen Barkin (SOMEONE LIKE YOU, DROP DEAD GORGEOUS), this terrific motion picture delivers nonstop entertainment for everyone!

Set mainly in the Ireland the tourist board didn't tell you about, Into the West is the story of a "traveling" family who have given up their traditional life of roaming, and find themselves trying to make it in the gritty, violent projects of Dublin. Gabriel Byrne is excellent as Papa Reilly, a once-proud father and leader whose grief over his wife's death has turned him into a booze-sodden has-been. His two sons, Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy) and Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald), escape the projects on an apparently magical white horse, Tir Na Nog, which leads them back to the West. After being forced to steal the horse back from a wealthy and ruthless horse dealer, they are pursued across the increasingly beautiful landscape by virtually all the policemen in Ireland. The much-loved actor David Kelly (Waking Ned Devine) does a nice turn as the grandfather, and Ellen Barkin is a surprising but believable choice as an old "traveling" friend of Papa Reilly. For better or for worse--mainly better--this is not the story Disney would have told: redemptive and uplifting at the end, it's realistic to the point of ugliness on the way there, with a style of cinematography that the Magic Kingdom has never been able to stomach. The younger brother, Ossie, is supposed to be 7, but the story itself is perhaps more appropriate for somewhat older children. Entertainment Weekly's best family video for 1994. --Richard Farr