Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Juana what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

lmnash This is a good, enjoyable and fairly accurate depiction of the eventing world, with plenty of good riding action (shot with real event riders, not stunt actors) - a perfect movie for riding fans. Yes, it is set in a world of fairly wealthy people with posh accents, but that is the context of the film. You don't find many ethnic minority people from housing estates, with cockney accents, competing in top level eventing (even now).Fans of the book National Velvet will spot lots of inconsistencies (The Pie isn't piebald and the dates are wrong). If viewed as a completely separate film in it's own right, though, then the interactions between the heroine and her 'adoptive' parents are very genuine. Even so, the plot is incidental to the riding and so some parts are a bit weak, but that won't bother any horse fans. And to the various reviewers who commented on the heroine being played by an American actor - they obviously haven't actually seen the film because the heroine is American.

electromom My daughter and I laughed almost every time Tatum O'Neal opened her mouth. On the other hand, Anthony Hopkins was brilliant, as he is in everything he does. I wish they would have casted Elizabeth Taylor in the role of Aunt Velvet Brown. I couldn't believe how they had Velvet living with a guy - unmarried - a guy who had a hangup about marriage. The whole domestic set up is so 70's cliche! I'm glad we borrowed this movie from the library and didn't waste money renting it.

filmbuff1970 This is an americans idea of England. All Posh Voices and not a poor person in sight.This is a different world to the slum housing,Ethnic minorites dont get a look in.instead the cast mostly do a Prince Charles Voice.Real England does not get a look in.Rubbish most foul.1 out of 10

moonspinner55 Tatum O'Neal was the #3 box-office star the year before this was released. Although "Nickelodeon" did nothing for her, "The Bad News Bears" was a smash and much of the credit went to her. By the time this film wrapped, Tatum had grown up (too fast and too soon) and nobody wanted to see her with a faux English accent riding a horse. Orphaned American girl comes to stay with her aunt in England, who once was a famous horserider when she was a child. Belated follow-up to Elizabeth Taylor's girlhood triumph "National Velvet" has an excellent supporting cast: Nanette Newman is solid in Taylor's former role, now a grown woman living with wily Christopher Plummer, who is perfect; Anthony Hopkins is also superb as a stern taskmaster. Only O'Neal disappoints--odd considering the director was Bryan Forbes, who usually excels with younger actors. Forbes' film is also too long, with character conflicts and sketchy romantic interludes colorlessly handled. Tatum is much more convincing playing Sarah in her older teen years than playing her as a schoolgirl (O'Neal obviously had no schoolgirl experience to draw upon, thereby leaving her in alien territory). Not a wash-out exactly, but not the heart-tugging, tear-jerking family film it was intended to be. ** from ****