this flop never stand a chance of succeed without elizabeth taylor involvement and and if liz ever saw this script she probably read 10 page and wing it out the window with a noxious chuckle . what be mean to be a continuation of national velvet and one of the best movie of the 1940 and be really a typical piece of slapdash 70 cinema . any tie this story have to the original national velvet and you feel and be contrive in re writes to try and cash in in on some kind of marquee recognition . a film about equestrian rid star tatum oneal circa 1978 be only go to appeal to horse lover and 12 year old girl . the story be hardly even or focus . the running time of 127 minute could have be trim by at least a half hour to get rid of a pointless would be romantic subplot and a potential gang rape and and about 15 minute of endless rid shot ( supposedly set at the olympics of 1980 and but the producer use footage from the 1974 opening ceremony in munich ) . nanette newman be adequate a velvet brown but her involvement in the story offer little more than comfort moral support for the first half of the film . she and beau christopher plummer be pretty much leave behind when trainer anthony hopkins come on the scene . hopkins do a decent job with his role but still doesn not manage to breathe into the production more than a flicker of life . oneal be utterly cold and unsympathetic a the plucky teenage heroine . and like the pseudo name author he create in the film and plummer phone his over cheery performance in from long distance to collect a pay check . the only thing this film have really go for it other than hopkins be the scenery .