The Black Stallion (Criterion Collection)

This remarkable adaptation of Walter Farley's classic children's novel by Carroll Ballard (Fly Away Home), in which an American boy is rescued after a shipwreck off the coast of North Africa by a seemingly untamable wild horse - is a cinematic tour de force. From the crystalline shores of a deserted island in the Arabian Sea to the green grass and dusty roads of 1930s suburban New York, Ballard and director of photography Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff) create a film of consistent visual invention and purity, also featuring a winning supporting performance by Mickey Rooney (National Velvet) as a retired jockey and a gorgeous score by Carmine Coppola (The Godfather Part II).