International Velvet (1978)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

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.

I absolutely love this movie, I cry every time...maybe because as a girl, I always wanted to ride in the Olympics, I don't know. Of course it isn't the same as the original, (another movie I love), but it's set in a completely different time...The riding sequences were great, the references to the original were good, and overall, the acting was pretty good. Christopher Plummer was a surprise, and I loved Anthony Hopkins in his part as the taskmaster coach! I own the video, and have shown it to my young daughters...they love it too!A piece of fluff definitely, but for a girl who had a dream...it's awesome!

Hmmmm. Perhaps this is an American ethnocintric movie since all we did was pay for it and produce it. However, I have heard so many rotten "American" accents from Brits that it is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black. As far as the accents being "posh", one would have supposed the BRIT director would have caught a one class accent and acted appropriately. I guess his ears are class deaf too. Sarah did however, come to England as a young teenager or late preteen from Arizona (in the USA, don't cha know?), so even though her speech would hold some of the English accent, it would not have been appropriate for her accent to be totally "posh English", since people tend to keep at least part of their original accent, especially when they are as old as Sarah when they move.For those on both sides of the pond, in Britian, the accent is equated to your amount of education and/or socioeconomic rank in society. In the US, the accent generally relates to the area of the country in which you were raised. It may be altered a bit by education at a higher level than high school, or moving and staying for a good length of time in different parts of the country but is not considered an indicator of much besides your roots.All that having been said, the part of the film devoted to Sarah growing up (for example, having little idea where the money came from to being judgmental about its source, then realizing how selfish she's been) and her three day training with Anthony Hopkins, the team, and the sacrifices one makes for the team all are very true to form.I was a bit taken aback by the viciousness of the town boys chasing Sarah and Arizona Pie. Here in the US (at least at the time this movie was made), throwing things and/or hitting the car horn to startle the horse would be more usual if one felt the need to be a jerk, and the horse and rider wouldn't be followed. Unfortunately, the boys were killed in an accident of their own making before they could be civilized.I, for one, watched this movie for the horse aspects, not Tatum O'Neal, although I was surprised to see she didn't remain the same throughout the film, but learned and grew as a person. I guess that Oscar she got was earned. Since much of the eventing footage was from actual 3 day events, hopefully the German rider or horse weren't seriously injured in their fall since it was not done for amusement purposes.If you like horses, or eventing and movies in which characters change and grow, watch this movie (boring Sunday afternoon optional). If you like Tatum but are indifferent to horses or vice versa, your call, but I would say no. If you enjoy spills and thrills and killing, well, this movie will have little for you except the boys chasing Sarah and Arizona being burned to death when their car overturned while chasing Sarah. She does take a fall in that scene too, so all is not lost for those of you who are amused by that sort of thing.All in all, an entertaining (but not violent) movie for the right audience.

Luckily, horse lovers, particularly girls, will sit through two hours of B-Grade acting and weak plots for fifteen minutes of footage of showjumping. National Velvet, in which a little girl called Velvet Brown wins the grand national, was set in the 1920s.....in International Velvet, the now adult Velvet has reached 40 years of age.....International Velvet should be set in the 1950s. Instead, somehow it is the 70s, Velvet is in a defacto relationship with big hair and flared jeans and the link is at best tenuous. Would have been great if Elizabeth Taylor had played the adult Velvet at a realistic age, since she played Velvet in the original that made her a star.... Whatever, the horses are beautiful, the footage of cross country events and the birth of a foal is wonderful.....so girls like my pony-mad daughter won't notice the glaring inconsistencies, extraneous characters that serve no purpose, or the soap operatic sentimentality and nauseating 70s soundtrack. Great acting by Tatum O'Neal and Anthony Hopkins....although he would probably prefer to forget it!

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