Awesome Music: The orchestral soundtrack by Hans Zimmer. "Homeland" and "The Long Road Back" are awesome, but "Run Free" takes the cake, being, essentially, the pure awesome of every incredible horse race ever run distilled into musical form. And if you're okay with Bryan Adams, "You Can't Take Me" is a rousing anthem for freedom.
When the bald eagle soars over Spirit as he is dragged away, you can really see the despair in its eyes.
Some of the songs in other languages are awesome. A popular language that appeals to some people is Japanese.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The film was designed to be "tradigital", with an even blend of hand-drawn animation and CGI. Barring some moments of CG, it looks amazing.
The chase sequences are all awesome, with incredible backgrounds and choreography, but the crowner is that final leap for freedom.
A miniature Moment of Awesome comes in the Sound the Bugle scene. Spirit is having a Heroic BSoD because everything is seemingly lost - Rain, Little Creek, and any chance of ever seeing his home and his herd again. He's staring listlessly out the window, reminiscing over what he's lost. All this is potential Tear Jerker material, but the awesome comes when he ultimately remembers who he is and what he's fighting for. That look of determination that creeps back into his face is what makes the whole movie, because it shows that he really is a spirit thatcannotbe broken.
And the song that's playing in the background fits the moment perfectly, because just as it happens, the lyrics shift to:
Then from on high, somewhere in the distance
There's a voice that calls, "Remember who you are"
If you lose yourself, your courage soon will follow
So be strong tonight, remember who you are
You're a soldier now, fighting in a battle
To be free once more, that's worth fighting for
Spirit throwing off all his would-be riders in one long montage of failures is awesome for him, and then, as he finishes by charging at the men surrounding the corral (and they jump away even though the fence is between them), it becomes awesome for the Colonel as he stands totally unflinching as Spirit lunges at him. It is worth noting that the colonel actually is in danger there, as his face is within biting distance if Spirit chose to attack him properly. He just stands there and exchanges Death Glares with Spirit.
Also Truth in Television. One of the surest ways of warding off a charging animal is not moving or showing any fear. The Colonel knew exactly what he was doing.
One for the the Colonel, who proves that Authority Equals Asskicking when he manages to do a better job than all his men combined at taming Spirit and almost manages to break him. Of course, it becomes a Moment of Awesome for Spirit when he manages to muster up enough determination to continue fighting and defeats the Colonel by taking him by surprise.
Spirit and Little Creek see the Cavalry approach holding guns. Little Creek urges Spirit to gallop away. Seeing Little Creek barely dodge several bullets, Spirit runs back to Little Creek and scoops him up on his back. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.
Of course, the climactic "jump across the canyon" scene. It's so badass, the Colonel is left thoroughly humbled. The nods of mutual acknowledgement that he and Spirit exchange are awesome in their own right, as well.
Little Creek coming out of nowhere and jumping the Colonel when he was about to shoot Spirit. This is awesome itself and it sets up the epic leap of Spirit and Little Creek over the massive canyon.
The fight with the cougar at the beginning of the movie. Not only does it serve as a bit of Foreshadowing as to how "wild" Spirit will be when being ridden by the soldiers (he bucks around with the cougar on his back, and nearly crushes it), but the music during that scene is just another case of Awesome Music.
" takes the cake, being, essentially, the pure awesome of every incredible horse race ever run distilled into musical form. And if you're okay with Bryan Adams, "You Can't Take Me" is a rousing anthem for freedom.
