Rating: 
Summary: An intertesting film, just plain different
Review: This is an interesting film and one of the more unusual mainstream films I have seen. Despite the full frontal nudity (obviously non-sexual nudity) It is an overall good film. A young woman and her little brother are abandoned in the Australian outback by their father who has committed suicide. The two encounter an young aborigine man who is on 'walkabout' a ritual where individuals are sent out to see if they can survive on their own. He eventually leads them back to a populated area. The original music score by John Barry is superb and sounds very similar to the music he did in the earlier James Bond films. The Criterion collection DVD has an excellent audio commentary by director Nick Roeg and leading actress Jenny Agutter who was in the film. Jenny Agutter is also well known for her role in the film Logan's Run. This movie
Rating: 
Summary: ANOTHER LITTLE GEM FROM CRITERION
Review: Second movie of director Nicolas Roeg, WALKABOUT is a rather pessimistic description of the cultural gaps created by our civilization. In order to illustrate his ideas, Roeg and writer Edward Bond imagine the encounter between two young australians lost in the outback and an aborigenes who will help them to come back to a more civilized world. This encounter which could have produced a lifelong friendship will end in a dramatic manner. Because cultural differences are far more powerful than love or the desire to understand each other. Simple story, simple theme but universal. Breath-taking cinematography, admirable young actors and a light poetic touch are sufficient reasons to see at least once WALKABOUT. It is also really amazing to observe how Nicolas Roeg has been able to convert this trip in the wilderness in a symbolic sexual initiation in the heart of a Nature that can only show the way to these young adults. Terrific video transfer and above-average extra-features. A DVD for the child in you.
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Summary: Phenomenal ---- except for sound quality
Review: If you regard nature as a transcendant realm that clearly trumps the fragmented, modern world, this film will move you. Visually, it is sumptuous, floating from normal perspectives of the three main characters, to extreme closeups of all manner of crawling creatures, to surrealistically vast panoramas, to jaw-dropping telephotos of sun rises. The performance of the little boy is so good in this film, it seems almost impossible that he was acting. The fluid athleticism of the aborigine also seemed to be entirely unscripted. The musical score itself is one of the most beautiful I have ever heard. There is, however, one significant deficiency with this DVD (Walkabout - Criterion Collection): the quality of the sound itself is poor. This is not too noticeable with environmental sounds, but if you are a purist regarding sound quality, this shortcoming becomes very noticeable with some of the dialogue, and especially with the music. The poor sound quality is perhaps most noticeable with the blended music and narration of the profoundly moving poem at the end of the film. I've seen this film in the theatre several times since it first came out in the early 1970's and the sound quality in that pre-DVD venue and format was, ironically, clearly superior to the sound quality of the DVD.
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Summary: This movie makes us feel the loss of Eden again.
Review: This is a very "artsy" movie about a young woman and her little brother who are orphaned in the Australian Outback by their father, who has lost his mind. They are rescued by an Aborigine on his walkabout. It is when they leave the idyllic setting and encounter civilization again that tragedy strikes. The aborigine, who is a mystic, can't communicate with the woman, who is a rationalist (and an unconscious snob). I admire the movie for not overly sentimentalizing the case- there are flies in Eden, and they eat lizards and kangaroo tails burned in a fire. But at the same time, without getting preachy, Roeg shows us how alienated from nature we are in civilization. The movie has a deliberate pace, so it's best to approach it with a patient mind. I don't think there's a wasted second in it, but it is totally unlike the MTV-influenced movies coming out today. It's a beautiful, strange film. END
Rating:
Summary: Coming of age in the outback of Australia
Review: A very unusual film for its time, Walkabout combines many themes in what is ostensibly a tale of survival in the Australian outback. I suppose it was a bit too racy for American audiences as Roeg focuses lovingly on a young nubile Jenny Augutter but that would be missing the point of this movie which contrasts the sterile life of a young British girl and boy with an Aborigine man-child. The film depicts the initial bleakness of the Australian desert which the two children find themselves thrust into after the father mysteriously chooses to commit suicide, but eventually shows the immense diversity of the outback as the young Aborigine leads the lost children back to civilization. Roeg uses a variety of cinematic techniques to paste together his poetic vision, ultimately developing the sexual tension between Agutter and the Aborigine, culminating in a fateful courting ritual which Agutter appears oblivious too. However, the star of the movie is the little boy, Luc Roeg, who forms a very special bond with the Aborigine. The film may be too much to handle for small children, but it is ideal for teenagers, as it will give them a very different experience from the run-of-the-mill teen movies that proliferate in the video stores. Don't fret over the R rating, as the nudity is fleeting and treated in a very respectful way. In Britain, the rating is 12 for young teenagers.
Rating:
Summary: Superb film that transends time
Review: This is a wonderful film about survival, love, tragedy and loss. Jenny Agutter, sensuous and delectable in her role as "the white girl" (The Railway Children) and her young brother played by Luc Roeg are alone and lost in the Australian outback. Rescued by David Gulpilil (The Last Wave, Crocodile Dundee, Rabbit Proof Fence) an Aborigine on walkabout they manage to survive with his help and support. However tragedy is looming in the distance, for despite everything Gulpilil has done for the children he can never enter "their" civilized "white" world, and though Jenny is fond of him she is unable to reciprocate his love and his suicide is a tragic consequence of their relationship.
This is a film about differences that can never be bridged. Black and White are forever condemned to inhabit different worlds, but the irony here is that without the Aborigine Agutter and Roeg would never have survived in the Outback alone.
I especially liked the ending when Agutter, now married to a boring white man, reminisces the past, slowly becoming aware of what she lost because of her prejudice and unyielding nature. Superb photography, a slow but elegant plot helps this film maintain its momentum from beginning to end. This is a wonderful film that has been lovingly restored to its original format. Available both on DVD and video, this is a film of exceptional beauty that will appeal especially to those with an eye for the unusual.
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Summary: Walk around this! If it looks like a bad movie . . .
Review: Father takes son and daughter out in the middle of the desert. For some reason that the viewer need not know, he tries to kill them. He fails. Sets fire to the car. Kills himself. The kids are stranded. So far, seems like a bad movie, right? You know, get the kids there in the middle of the desert, somehow, no matter how plausible the situation. Why not have a giant kangaroo abduct them from their home and abandon them there? I should have stopped the movie right then and there. Anyway, they find an aborigine (the only credible contribution this film has to offer; a documentary following him around without those annoying caucasians would have been much more interesting), walkabout, and swim nekkid with him at the end of the movie. Obvious symbolism here and there. Little meaningful dialogue. Blah, blah, boring! The acting is forced and amateurish. I hated this movie. And this is what gets me: read all of the positive reviews for this and you would think that this is a must see, great motion picture. If you're feeling depressed, stay away from this. Instead watch the B-52s "Roam" video. It's uplifting, light, has a similar theme, and is just as meaningful.
Rating:
Summary: Good for Anyone Who Has Had a Transition
Review: My life has been unusual. I recommend this film for anyone who has been through an experience that they cannot fully (even if they want to) share with other people.
I thought that the last scene of the girl now grown up and washing dishes, was a perfect contrast to her life on the walkabout. Obviously, it struck a chord.
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Summary: The antecedents of the new wave in Australian film
Review: If it is hard for you to picture the 1970s with 21st century hindsight, watch this movie. An Australian white teenage girl and her younger brother who find themselves lost in the desert are eventually saved by an Aboriginal youth who is journeying through the outback as part of his ritualistic passage to manhood. The film abounds with simplistic clichés of gender roles, primitive innocence, the clash of modern urban civilization with so-called traditional cultures, and pseudo nostalgic yearnings for a simpler existence. In the end, the trek through the harsh outback becomes reduced to little more than a vigorous summer vacation. None of this undermines this movie as a worthwhile period piece, but if you have not seen it before, it might strike you as quaintly dated. We meet David Gulpilil in his youth - he is the same aboriginal actor who stars as an aging Aboriginal tracker in the more recent 2003 Australian movie Rabbit Proof Fence (another movie I have also reviewed on this website).
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, haunting film
Review: Wow- What a movie! After having viewed this film several times, I have come to the conclusion that it's probably one of the best films ever- I am a bit biased, though, because I'm a certifiable sucker for art that deals with the limitations of civilization when confronted with something more powerful (i.e. nature)- At any rate, I decided this was such a great movie when, five days after first seeing the movie, I was still thinking about some of the scenes, specifically the scene near the end w/ Agutter and the aborigine- Unlike some people I know, I don't find the film to be overwhelmingly pessimistic- I think the scenes in the middle, with the three of them swimming and whatnot, are really what the film is about: finding transcendence, and that the possibility of that still exists- One of my favorite aspects of "Walkabout" is that, in my opinion, it doesn't pander or overexplain, although it goes a little heavy on the ferocious greatness of nature shots, almost to the point of being didactic- But, thankfully, after finishing the film, I did not feel like I had been preached to for an hour and a half, as I did with some other supposedly "great" movies I've watched
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