Rating: 
Summary: Poor treatment of a classic
Review: "National Velvet" is a wonderful movie, for all ages. Frankly, I'd consider it one of the best "sports" movies ever made. Sadly, Warner Brothers DVD release leaves a lot to be desired. The picture frequently goes out of focus, and the disc is bare-bones....not even the trailer [promised on the DVD jacket] is included. With Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney still around, you would have thought they'd have either interviewed them, or gotten a commentary track from them for this classic. It would be worth the price to get a "special edition" release. Until then, I guess we're stuck with this sorry disk.
Rating:
Summary: Poor treatment of a classic
Review: "National Velvet" is a wonderful movie, for all ages. Frankly, I'd consider it one of the best "sports" movies ever made. Sadly, Warner Brothers DVD release leaves a lot to be desired. The picture frequently goes out of focus, and the disc is bare-bones....not even the trailer [promised on the DVD jacket] is included. With Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney still around, you would have thought they'd have either interviewed them, or gotten a commentary track from them for this classic. It would be worth the price to get a "special edition" release. Until then, I guess we're stuck with this sorry disk.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie for girls who jump horses!
Review: Although not terribly like the book (also excellent) is still a fantastic movie and the VHS is excellently restored. Velvet is just like her character in the book and the actors are good. The Pie is a beautiful horse and Miss Ada is old but charming. This starts out slow, but gets more exciting as the racing scence nears. The horse in THE BOOK was a piebald (black and white pinto) but in the movie is a chestnut TB. Four stars because it isn't like the book and it starts out slow, but it also gets exciting, has wonderful horses, good race footage, and is excellently restored.
Rating: 
Summary: A timeless classic
Review: Beautiful British tomboy Velvet Brown (Elizabeth Taylor) wins a Thoroughbred called The Pirate (played by King Charles; Since King Charles was a chestnut Thoroughbred, and not a Piebald as portrayed in the novel, his nickname "The Pi" came to stand for The Pirate in place of The Piebald) in the local lottery and, inspired by her ex-jockey friend Mi (Mickey Rooney), trains for the prestigious Grand National Steeplechase. Just two small obstacles stand in Velvet's way: She cannot afford the entry fee, and female jockeys are not allowed to compete. Based on the book by Enid Bagnold (which also quite good -- this DVD and the novel would make a nice gift for any horse lovers on your list).
Staci Layne Wilson
Author of Staci's Guide to Animal Movies
Rating:
Summary: Not to be missed
Review: Clarence Brown was one of those accomplished American directors who never seemed to get the credit he deserved. This project is certainly his masterpiece. It's usually hyped as a children's picture but it works at all age levels: the apotheosis of the "family" movie. Mickey Rooney delivers the best performance of his amazing career; he should be next on the "lifetime achievment" list of the American movie academy. Brown also extracted equally compelling performances from Elizabeth Taylor, Donald Crisp and Anne Revere; in fact the entire cast. Taylor is a young English girl transported by her love of hayburners and her pure happiness is the central theme of the movie, a subject you don't see treated much anymore. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: 12yr old Elizabeth Taylor is "Velvet" ,now on DVD in color!
Review: Enid Bagnold's novel, "National Velvet" was a delightful book and now can be enjoyed in this 1945 Full Screen Color Classic Family Film. This film has a fantastic ensemble cast. (Mickey Rooney as Mi Taylor a drifter (jockey) looking to restore his riding confidence. Anne Revere (Oscar winning performance)as Velvet's endearing mother. Angela Lansbury as Velvet's older sister. And 12 year old Elizabeth Taylor as Velvet Brown in her first starring role that made her a star.) Summary: Obsessed young girl Velvet Brown dreams of owning this prize wild horse (Pi), racing him in the Grand National Steeplechase which has a 100 pound sterling entry fee & oh yes only male jockeys are permitted to ride. All she ever talks about is horses. Only supporter is her mother who encourages her to reach for the stars. Through fate, the movies, and a great upbeat family storyline gets the horse Pi (won it in a lottery), with Mi trains the horse, enters the Grand National (gets 100 pounds entry fee from mother), & disguised as a boy wins the race!!!! What a great story and totally enjoyable experience for the viewers to cheer about. Add this valuable family classic to your DVD library today. This is a keeper. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: READ IT!!
Review: I first read this in a book for a school and i absolutely loved it. then i saw the video and i thought the book couldn't get any better but actually seeing and hearing everything it was so much better. I have read the book over and over again because i just love it so much and this book is so awesome and i wouldnt usually say that about any book cept the saddle club cuz i H8 readin! but this book has got me hooked on reading and now i read for fun as well as for skool :)!!!
Rating:
Summary: Better Than I Remembered ...
Review: I hadn't seen this flick since I was a kid, and it turns out it's even better now. Elizabeth Tylor said her mother worked hard to get her an audition for this (the studio thought she was too grown-up looking as a little girl), and it had been her (Liz's) favorite book. She came through with an unforgettable performance - including touches modern kids will appreciate, like the retainer she's supposed to wear but keeps slipping out of her mouth when her parents can't see. Brilliant color photography of the British (?) countryside, plenty of horse-focused action and suspense, a family filled with well-developed characters. Nearly perfect and lots more interesting for most kids, I'd bet, than the cartoons we usually provide. By the way, Mickey Rooney's character, a borderline orphan at a turning point in his life, rises to the occasion to be like a fine older brother to Velvet. For her part, she finds in him a real friend. This is one of the great, nearly overlooked films that kids and adults should see. (And by the way, I think my nephew will enjoy this as much as my niece.)
Rating: 
Summary: THIS IS A GREAT MOVIE
Review: I HAVE LOVED THIS MOVIE EVER SINCE I WAS A LITTLE GIRL. I LOVE THE WAY IT PORTRAYS A YOUNG GIRLS LOVE AND PASSION FOR HORSES. SHE OBSESSED AND WANTS A HORSE OF HER VERY OWN. WHEN SHE IS FINALLY GIVEN A HORSE SHE DECIDES TO TRAIN HIM FOR THE GRAND NATIONAL THE GREATEST STEEPLECHASE IN THE WORLD. SHE IS DETERMINED TO TO HAVE HER HORSE (THE PIE) AND HERSELF WIN AND BE THE VERY BEST THEY CAN. HER MOTHER KNEW THAT SHE COULD BEAT ALL ODDS AND BECOME THE FIRST FEMALE JOCKEY TO EVEN RIDE IN ANY RACE. SO SHE SUPPORTES HER THROUGH THE TRAINING AND SPENDS ALL THE MONEY NEEDED TO HELP HER DAUGHTER SUCCEED. VELVET RIDES THE PIE TO WIN THE GRAND NATIONAL AND THEY ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Technicolor Film About a Girl's Dream
Review: I love both the book of NATIONAL VELVET and this film, which makes small changes to the book, but the theme and joy remain the same. Sickly Velvet Brown wins a fractious horse in a lottery and she and ex-jockey Mi Taylor train the horse to race in England's most famous steeplechase, the Grand National, a grueling race with frightening jumps. Velvet's family--her wise mother, excitable father, lovelorn older sister, telltale other sister, and mischievous little brother are all entertaining in their own right--some of the best scenes in the movie are between Anne Revere as Mrs. Brown and Donald Crisp as Mr. Brown. All this in glorious Technicolor recreating an English village of the 1920s. A must-have. Read the book as well--there is another sister in the story, more horse incidents, and it's not "translated" for American sensibilities like Harry Potter, so you get a real feel for English life and dialect at the time.
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