MovieChat Forums > The Black Stallion (1979) Discussion > Sinking boat scene

Sinking boat scene

posted 15 years ago by dracula_27
7 replies | jump to latest

Watching this movie last night after god knows how long I found the scene where after Alec and the Black dive off the boat into the ocean quite a scene!

Does anyone know how this was filmed? It is incredibly well done and just so realistic but then I think it’s a giant ship sinking and you have a horse and a kid at its rear trying to survive... the DVD format brings it to life so well also.

You also notice the horse used nearly drowning at one point but I’m so curious if anyone knows how this scene was shot? Its looks like live action but such a scene would have been so hard and risky to do...

[–] sanman25 15 years ago

From the trivia section:

There is a scene after The Black has jumped overboard and Alec is in the water yelling for help and The Black is swimming towards him. Suddenly the horse begins to tip over, his head plunges underwater and he starts to thrash in the water and his hooves are pawing in the air. This was an accident due to the guide wires being used to control the horse. Too much force was applied on the turn and the horse went under, a serious cause for alarm on the set. To everyone's relief, the horse righted himself and popped up out of the water just fine.

[–] dracula_27 15 years ago

Thanks sanmanm wow sounds like it would have been quite difficult to do. You can diffinetly spot this moment in, esspecially in DVD format. Still hard to see how guid wires were used in the water and the full ship in the vback ground. Interesting stuff!

[–] TVFreak1010 11 years ago

Technically, it wasn't a "full" ship, just the back end on a gimble and track mechanism in a water tank to make it sink.

However, despite the "controlled conditions" of a sound stage, it was still a tough shoot with everything going on, including a live animal, a child actor, a fake rain storm, fire effects and a full scale mockup of the back end of a sinking ship.

[–] CoriSCapnSkip (2755) 7 years ago

Thanks for explaining that! I wondered about it, especially following all the fuss about the water scene in "A Dog's Purpose," where the animal was in much less peril.

[–] haruuj 15 years ago

The music sounded familiar but I cannot recall what it is!

[–] stevenscottoddballz 14 years ago

It's making me BONKERS! What IS the music?

Eight divided by one-half equals four squared!

[–] 11 years ago

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