From director Steven Spielberg comes “War Horse,” an epic adventure for audiences of all ages. Set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War, “War Horse” begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure. “War Horse” is one of the great stories of friendship and war— a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful international theatrical hit that is arriving on Broadway next year. It now comes to screen in an epic adaptation by one of the great directors in film history.

It's clear that Spielberg intended War Horse to be an epic, but in reality it's a top notch melodrama, just missing the mark to be ranked a true epic. It is surprising how much drama and emotion Spielberg managed to milk out of the story of a horse, and the film features excellent cinematography from Spielberg's regular partner in crime, Janusz Kaminski, which is worth the price of admission alone. Throw in some pretty well done action set pieces, and decent performances all round (including the horses), and War Horse is pretty much a choice pick as a family film.

As the source novel tells the tale from the perspective of the horse Joey, it's impossible to maintain the same narrative structure in a live action movie. As such, the story is told through the various human characters that come into contact with Joey. However, this presents a problem in that there are many supporting characters in the film that are impossible to be very emotionally attached to, given the short screen times of each. And despite the best efforts from Spielberg, it's not easy to foster an emotional connection with a horse. This is exacerbated by newcomer Jeremy Irvine's performance - as the actor with the most screen time, he unfortunately comes across as a rather flat foil to Joey.

However, War Horse shines in its depiction of World War I, and although the battle scenes are much more sanitized than Spielberg's own Saving Private Ryan, they are still very effective. Spielberg plays up the uniqueness of this war, where the ways of the old and the new come together and coexists uneasily, although in Spielbergian fashion he does come across as being a little too heavy handed at times. Ignore the overt melodramatic cues (both visually and aurally), and what remains is still a pretty absorbing film, despite a running length of close to two and a half hours.

I say with some sadness in my eyes that Steven Spielberg and John Williams are old men now. Time is not on their side, but their ingenious talents remain, and their fruitful collaboration on film over nearly four decades remains unsurpassed. War Horse, one of the best films of 2011, is a testament to that collaboration. Both are back in fine form with a film and score reminiscent of their earlier works. Drawing heavy influences from E.T. The Extra Terrestrial (1982), War Horse is a film as musically rich and beautifully shot as any in the Spielberg canon of great films.

The film begins in 1912 in Dartmoor, England, with Albert (Jeremy Irvine), whose drunkard of a father foolishly bids for an inexperienced and seemingly weak horse at the local auction. Albert trains the horse that he calls Joey to plough the fields. But a chronic lack of money to pay for their rent leads Albert's father to sell Joey to the cavalry, who are preparing for war with the Germans in what is now known as World War I. Albert and Joey are separated. Years later, Albert enlists to fight in the war in the hope that he will see Joey again.

Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, War Horse is a story tailor-made for Spielberg, who with Williams, work our tear ducts with aplomb in this highly sentimental tale of loss and reunion, and the suffering and hardship in between as the result of the great war. Spielberg is the undisputed master of emotional manipulation, and I say that as a compliment because he manipulates us with a childlike innocence rarely seen in Hollywood cinema. He knows why we go to the movies, and why we continue to watch his films. He occasionally disappoints with the odd dud, but War Horse is no doubt excellent.

This simple yet touching tale of a boy and his horse features more than decent performances from the supporting cast and Irvine, who makes his screen debut. Much is said about Irvine's flat acting, but I beg to differ. His chemistry with Joey, while not entirely outstanding, is enough to be convincing, and more importantly, naturalistic. The film's episodic nature, as Joey falls under the hands of British and German soldiers, and in a quiet, lovely sequence, finding itself with a little French girl and her protective grandfather, prolongs  the film's runtime. But while the film feels lengthy, it never feels too long because, like E.T., we want to be with Joey as long as we can.

Amid the misty eyes and soulful glances, War Horse is also a staggering technical feat as Spielberg recreates trench warfare of WWI, with homage to classics such as All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and Kubrick's Paths of Glory (1957), while drawing some of his experiences from shooting Saving Private Ryan (1998). Eschewing the documentarian, hand-held camera look of the latter, the battles in War Horse are largely visualized with wide, panning and tracking shots from a stable camera, yet remain ultra-realistic because of its sound mixing and editing. However, rest assured this is not a violent film, and is perfectly comfortable for family viewing.

Speaking of homages, the master director fittingly concludes his film with a heartfelt tribute to the classic American Western, a cinematic love letter to John Ford. In the entirely silent epilogue, accompanied by Williams' heart-tugging score, we struggle to hold back our tears as we believe, not for the first time, in the magic of Steven Spielberg.