this sequel,made thirty pus year after National Velvet is nowhere near as good,in my opinion.it lacks the warmth,charm and magic.it's also too long and has a melancholy feeling running throughout it.i could have done without the voice over narration,which i found irritating.i also found the music to be overly dramatic,hitting those inspirational notes at all the right moments.the original film has none of that.it was simple well told,well acted movie.one other thing i have to mention is that the main character her isn't particularly likable,or even very sympathetic.honestly,except for the final fifteen or twenty minutes ,i was bored out of my skull.for me,International Velvet is a 3/10

I enjoy this movie for apparently all the wrong reasons: 1. I couldn't bear Elizabeth Taylor who over-acted in every movie she ever made. Nannette Newman is a much better actress, as well as being (in my opinion) better looking, like-wise Tatum O'Neil.2. I always put on my video of it whenever the grand-kids come to visit. They love it and it keeps them quiet for a couple of hours, except in the middle where one of them, a horse-lover, can't watch the distressing scenes in the aircraft.3. I hate watching show jumping. These sequences are far too long in the movie, but then I can fast-forward the tape when they appear.4. Anglo-US relations can be fractious at times. Nice to see a movie where they're not. But it was pleasant to see the Brits "win" against the Yanks, even if it took a Yank to do it.5. Except for (3) above, I actually think this is a better movie than the original "National Velvet" (a film I thought was highly overrated and was somewhat implausible, and in which Elizabeth Taylor, although still young at the time, was her usual hammy self).Stick "International Velvet" in your library. If you've horse lovers in the family, it can, like "Black Beauty", come in handy at times.

Every time I hear the opening music to this movie, I start to get emotional, it brings back a period of my life when I first saw it so vividly. I read the book at around the same time (also by Brian Forbes) I just really like the themes in the film - loss and bereavement, growing up, unrequited love, finding your calling, not ever giving up, and the loyalty humans and animals can have for each other (even though I am not particularly into horses the way other people seem to think you have to be to like this film) My children loved this film just as much when I showed it to them, they "got it", although they did find the car scene and the aeroplane scene harrowing. I think it is a fantastic film and it makes me feel about 13 again. And I defy anyone not to weep at the end when orphaned Sarah asks Scott to meet "my parents"!

I think I was about 10 when I first saw this film. I loved every minute of it and always felt that the ending was a bit rushed, because if the subject matter is sappy, then the sappiness must go on so that it produces real thick syrup -- like Sarah Brown having a baby "a new Olympic gold-medallist hopeful" and so forth. Well, with that ending "twist" they would have needed to have someone older to play Tatum O'Neal's part in the end and obviously that was not to be.. anyway, just my 2cents.But back to the review.. I think I've seen the film numerous times during the past 14 years or so and it's always good. I like the riding parts (great to spot famous Eventers) I've had the biggest crush on Christopher Plummer ever since I saw the Sound of Music (way before this) and I had an Anthony Hopkins period as well. So actor-wise this film is PERFECT! Oh, and I think the film shows the blood, sweat and tears what you need in order to be the best. Great film.And yeah, Sarah Brown is not English or British, she's American whose come to live with her auntie and auntie's man in England.