History YMMV / WarHorse

** One production, during a war scene, in dim lighting, the puppeteers ''fling off'' their horse to create the effect of a carcass violently hitting the ground as the puppeteers, dressed accordingly to the time period, take their place a individual corpses of soldiers.

* XMeetsY: BlackBeauty meets AllQuietOnTheWesternFront.

** AccidentalNightmareFuel: In the movie, after Joey finishes getting tangled up in barbed wire and he is lying on the muddy ground, there is a lightning flash and for a single frightening moment, you can see what appears to be a SlasherSmile on his face. It's really a normal horse expression, but it still looks rather scary.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The puppetry. After about 15 minutes you forget those horses aren't real. And that's not even getting into the amazing scenery or war effects.

** The scene after the British cavalry charge the German camp and the heavy guns open up. All these horses are charging right past the guns, you don't see a single rider on any of them, and as sad as it is all you can do is start laughing about what incredible shots those Germans are. Must be horse lovers. (Note: Horses are huge targets compared to the men riding them, and a dead horse=a wounded and/or ineffective cavalryman.)

** Watch that scene again. And the next one. A few hundred cavalrymen on their horses are in the charge. Maybe two dozen riderless horses run past the guns. Now, here's the scary part. If guns shot the horse, what are the odds the rider will survive to the enemy lines? In fact, the very next scene shows both horses and people lying dead and strewn all over the field and away from machineguns. See nightmare fuel bellow.

* MoralEventHorizon: The German soldiers crossed it when they [[spoiler:kill Gunther and Michael for [[DisproportionateRetribution leaving their side to flee to Italy]] ]].

** {{Averted}} in the film with a [[spoiler:GoryDiscretionShot - all we see is a blaze of slow-motion gunfire from the German guns, and then no more Captain Loki.]]

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: In the movie, after Joey finishes getting tangled up in barbed wire and he is lying on the muddy ground, there is a lightning flash and for a single frightening moment, you can see what appears to be a SlasherSmile on his face. It's really a normal horse expression, but it still looks rather scary.

* NightmareFuel: The war scenes, the gas attack in the German Trenches, and the horses jumping over the German Lines in the forest without their riders during the [[spoiler: failed British cavalry charge.]]

* MoralEventHorizon: The German soldiers crossed it when they [[spoiler:kill Joey and Michael for [[DisproportionateRetribution leaving their side to flee to Italy]] ]].

** {{Averted}} in the film with a [[spoiler:GoryDiscretionShot - all we see is a blaze of slow-motion gunfire from the German guns, and then no more Capt. Loki.]]

* HoYay: Joey and Topthorn develop a very close friendship which involves intimate physical contact.

* NightmareFuel: The war scenes, the gas attack in the German Trenches, and the horses jumping over the trenches without their riders during the [[spoiler: failed cavalry charge.]]

* NightmareFuel: The war scenes.

* NoYay: Albert's devotion to Joey is implicitly compared to the love Taylor has for his girlfriend. [[{{Equus}} Not to mention the puppetry calls to mind another play about a boy devoted to horses...]]

* FelonyMisdemeanor: Fridrich is continually appalled by the way the army treats prized horses, until his superior calls him out for caring more about the horses than about the millions of people dying around them.

* VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The puppetry. After about 15 minutes you forget those horses aren't real. And that's not even getting into the amazing scenery or war effects.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotHeinous: Fridrich is continually appalled by the way the army treats prized horses, until his superior calls him out for caring more about the horses than about the millions of people dying around them.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The war scenes.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "Year Turns Round Again"
** And we have John Williams for the film version. What do you expect?
* {{Narm}}: Some of the more dramatic scenes are a bit overwrought, and [[spoiler: Nicholl's death]] can be downright goofy-looking
** Averted in the film with a [[spoiler: GoryDiscretionShot - all we see is a blaze of slow-motion gunfire from the German guns, and then no more Capt. Loki.]]
* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The war scenes

* TearJerker: THE WHOLE THING