I do not know much about the real Hidalgo but this movie would make me want to find out more. Because it is hollywood, I was not surprised as were so many of the reviewers to see a good deal of artistic license taken with this movie. Usually the facts are greater than the fiction or more boring. In this case I would not be to surprised to find the former rather than the latter. In any event, this movie was a great break from reality and reminded me of Raiders or some of the cliff hanger adventures of old. I do not think that Muslims were treated badly in this movie, in fact just the opposite; I think Omar Sherif's character has a regalness and a curiosity reminiscent of Sean Connery's character in The Wind and The Lion; by the way these are both great classically trained actors in roles as strong Muslim leaders. The bad guys are bad of course, and the good guys are good! This is not reality, it's a movie!