Summary

Survival expert Les Stroud finds numerous inaccuracies in the 2004 Western, Hidalgo, which stars The Lord of the Rings’ Aragorn actor, Viggo Mortensen. Stroud analyzes a quicksand scene from the film, pointing out that quicksand is generally not present in the middle of the desert away from water, and that it’s thicker than depicted. Hidalgo earned mixed reviews from critics and underwhelmed at the box office, but Mortensen’s performance and some thrilling race sequences make it a worthwhile watch.

Hidalgo, a Western starring Lord of the Rings actor Viggo Mortensen, is found to feature a number of inaccuracies by a survival expert. Released in 2004, director Joe Johnston’s Hidalgo features Mortensen, who is best known for playing Aragorn in Peter Jackson’s epic fantasy trilogy, as an American cowboy who takes part in a grueling horse race across the Arabian Desert. The film was ultimately a disappointment both critically and commercially, despite some standout action sequences.

In a recent video for Insider, Survivorman Les Stroud breaks down a scene in Hidalgo, with Mortensen’s cowboy, Frank Hopkins, encountering a fellow racer trapped in quicksand.

The survival expert reveals that there’s actually quite a lot that the scene gets wrong, awarding the film a low accuracy grade. Check out Stroud’s explanation below:

“I’m not really certain they got it right at all and the reason for that is quicksand primarily exists at riverbeds, estuaries, close to the ocean. This particular scene is set right in the middle of the desert where everything is completely bone dry and yet he just drops into it kind of magically.
“That stuff is so thick, you’re not just lifting your arm up saying, ‘Oh, let me die. Just leave me here.’ That’s not happening, not when he was already up to his neck and just barely sort of breathing.
“Even to pull somebody else out requires a lot of leverage. In this case, he had a horse, so he had the leverage.
“I’d give this scene about a three out of 10. It’s the wrong ecosystem. His portrayal of being stuck in the sand was a little too over the top.”

Related: Viggo Mortensen’s 10 Highest-Grossing, According To Box Office Mojo

How Was Hidalgo Received?

First portraying Aragorn in 2001 in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Mortensen would bid farewell to the character in 2003’s critically-acclaimed trilogy-capper The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Hidalgo marks Mortensen’s first role since concluding Aragorn’s story, and the film was ultimately a bit of a letdown.

The Rotten Tomatoes critics score for the film sits at 46%, suggesting that reviews skewed somewhat negative. Audience reception to Hidalgo seems to be much more positive, however, with the film’s audience score sitting at 64%. While the movie was praised for its cinematography, the story was criticized for not really breaking any new ground, with a number of subplots also detracting from the thrill of the actual race.

Hidalgo had a production budget of $100 million but only brought in about $108 million at the worldwide box office, meaning it very likely didn’t break even. Despite the lackluster reception, Hidalgo remains an entertaining watch, with Mortensen alone being reason enough to revisit the film or check it out for the first time. While there may not be a lot of storytelling risks, the movie features some thrilling racing sequences, and it represents an interesting change of pace for Mortensen after The Lord of the Rings.

Source: Insider