What do you think about the Ruffian movie?

Question

I watched it on Saturday, and feel it was pretty decent and some of the racing scene's we done well. The acting was decent, but it was a sad movie. What are your reviews being a fan of horse racing yourself? I think the story should have been told do you? Do you think it was too much for a young kid to comprehend?

Answer 1

It told the real story of the Thoroughbred industry, where the health of the runner is too often compromised for the wrong things. It is considered by many as the tragic event that destroyed racing as a major spectator sport in this country.

I am involved in the sport as a owner of shares in runners through partnerships and I strongly feel that more of what occurs away from the pomp and splendor must be shown to the public to embarrass those who are in leadership positions to reform what they care to ignore.

It may be too much for a child to understand, but I would hope he/she would remember some things from the movie and be touched enough to revisit it some years later.

Answer 2

it was a good family movie.  the story was true, plus they tried

to inject the inside of horse racing.

Answer 3

It was a very good movie with good acting and a good story.  They showed how great Ruffian was and put it in perspective with the things that were going on at the time.  All of the horses who played Ruffian looked a lot like her (it's interesting that all the horses in the movie were colts instead of fillies).  The races looked a lot like the real ones.  There was one scene when Ruffian walked out onto the track and it looked exactly like one of the pictures I have seen of her...  like the whole picture with the sky and the track in the background and everything.  I thought was was pretty awesome...  it looked like the real thing.

I felt like I couldn't really just sit back and enjoy the movie because I knew what was going to happen...  I was prepared for something bad to happen through the entire movie.  But I feel like for someone who didn't know the story, they'd be rooting for her to win the race, then rooting for her to survive and that sort of thing.  I guess I was trying to stay distant so I wouldn't cry too much at the end.

I'm not sure whether this was a good movie for horse racing or not...  I mean the movie pretty much said that the racing industry killed Ruffian since they pushed for the match race and everything was about bringing people back to racing instead of caring about the horses.  I'm not sure if that would make people more or less likely to watch racing today.

Ruffian's story is something that should absolutely be told though...  We should celebrate great horses like her.  And movies are a great way to tell a lot of people about a horse.

I don't think it was too much for a child... but I think the kid should have the guidance of the parent.  like the parent should sit with the kid and explain what's happening...  like that's a young girl horse and how Foolish Pleasure was a young boy horse and how they were the 2 best horses of the year and how they both won a lot of races and that they're racing to see who is the best and how it's just like how the kid and the boy down the street would race to see who was better...  then the parent needs to say that Ruffian has a hurt leg and that it's really bad for a horse to have a broken leg because they can't survive without all of their legs like we can survive without an arm or leg.  and then say that the doctors are trying to fix it, but it's really hard and how Ruffian was sleeping through the surgery and how she hurt herself when she woke up because she didn't understand that she needed to be still and how she was in a race so she thought that she was still supposed to be running in the race and how she was probably scared that she couldn't move her leg...  and then that she broke her other leg too because she was scared and confused...  and how a horse really can't recover from 2 broken legs...  so she had to go to heaven.  Certainly the kid wouldn't understand all of the finer points (they wouldn't understand the time period or how the racing association needed to regain popularity) but they could watch it again when they get older and understand that.  But the kid would understand the basic story.

I'm so happy they made the Ruffian movie.  She's my favorite horse ever.  She never lost a race.  People should know about such a great horse.

Answer 4

I debated if I should watch this or not because I saw it when it originally happened.  After Rags to Riches won the Belmont, I took it as a sign from the Queen herself(Ruffian, who is buried at Belmont at the base of the NYRA flagpole) that I should.

Very well done. A bit graphic towards the end; but well handled and not played over and over.

This movie should have happened a LONG time ago.

Answer 5

I thought the movie was quite well-done, and Ruffian's story is worth sharing.  However, I thought the accident scene was very graphic, and may have been highly disturbing to sensitive or very young viewers.

Answer 6

I agree with you.It was a great movie but very sad.I also think it was a good story for racing fans to see.It might be difficult for very young children to comprehend but 9 and up should do ok.We all know sad things happen in life.

Answer 7

I didn't see the movie but I loved the mare. I saw her run several times. What a great filly.

Answer 8

well we had company over so i only watched parts of it. when they started off in the match race the tears were flowing cuz i knew what was going to happen

so then i switched it cuz i didn't wanna cry in front of ppl! im only 13, lol

but i do think that if like a 8 yr old kid watched it they wouldn't understand it because it was kinda a slow movie but it was really good i thought.

yes, i think it shouldve been told but it's cooll to see the real personation of it too, but i had my grandma tape it sense my mom/dad or me don't know how so im gonna watch it l8er plus then i have it to keep for my hole life. same w/ the Barbaro thing

well i did like the parts i watched, i like this question!

have a good week and don't get sun-burned like did!

-mel

RIP Barbaro + Ruffian!