Rating: 
Summary: My favorite movie
Review: If I had to pick a favorite movie, it would have to be this one. Lovely visuals with a simple, yet elegently profound story. Criterion added extra encoding information to improve the image quality in some scenes. Unfortunately, some DVD players (like the Sonys) do not support the entire video compression standard. Critreion takes advantage of this to improve the quality, but it causes errors in the Sony players (e.g. audio gets out of sync, glitches in the video, etc.) The Pioneer players have no problem with it. Be aware of this before buying this title.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Movie
Review: I first saw this movie when I was in the fifth grade in Australia. The movie was shown in my school auditorium to all fifth and sixth graders after which the teachers held group discussions about the movie in our respective home rooms. I remeber that the movie made a profound impact on me and I recently watched it again. All the memories came flooding back. The father who takes the children into the outback presumably to murder them, the noble savage, the frank but sensitive treatment of life and death. I would highly recommend this movie for people of all ages.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor DVD quality? - I don't think so!
Review: An excellent and thought provoking film, which is visually interesting and beautiful. Although the soundtrack sometimes reminds one of a seventies wildlife documentary, the visuals and subject matter are timeless. It is interesting that the girl in the film is highly educated and yet can not (or will not) find a way to communicate with the aboriginal boy. The young child however, in his innocence, has no trouble making himself understood. There is a strong message here that we should be able to set aside our fixed expectations and 'understanding' of the world and be open to new ideas. This is, of course, what all great cinema asks us to do.The audio commentary provided as an alternate soundtrack was both good and bad. Jenny Agutters' sections of the chat are both revealing and well delivered. The directors' contribution is quirky and I found it somewhat irritating that he did not finish his sentences. Overall, a job well done and the extra minutes restored into this version are well worth having. In reference to the previous reviewer who suggested that the DVD was of poor quality, I think one should expect a little dust/grain on a film made 30 years ago. As for the troubles that person had with lip sync. I suggest that his player may be at fault. I played the disk on my PC (creative DVD encore 5X)and saw no such problem. Consider this disc to have been given an 'all clear' on the technical side and a hearty recommendation for its content.
Rating:
Summary: There is nothing wrong with the DVD
Review: Scollay@aol.com's DVD (see the review on this page) must be a faulty copy and should be exchanged for another one. My copy looks gorgeous and the sound is just like in most other '70s movies.
Rating:
Summary: Makes you think!
Review: Great movie, the kind that really makes you think. No tidy answers, just the collision of modern civilization with age-old survival. It can be viewed as a nature film or as brilliant cinimatography. Some people (the kind that just don't get it) will find the nudity and hunting offensive. It might be, if there wasn't a real purpose. And of course, there's Jenny Agutter!
Rating:
Summary: Great film on culture shock, assimilation, disconnection
Review: I first saw this film when I was in college 30 years ago and an anthropology major. It blew me away because of the ways people adapted to extremely difficult circumstances and to very different environments than they were used to. The occasional cutting back or forward to/from "primitive" to "civilized" was mesmerizing; it symbolized what was happening to the characters. The final moments were gut wrenchers, right up to the last shot. Loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Movie - Poor DVD Quality
Review: The previous reviewer wrote: "It's a beautiful, strange film." I TOTALLY agree...it's a gem. Unfortunately, the quality of this DVD is terrible. You wonder if the film and DVD mastering equiment weren't discovered IN the outback covered with lizard droppings! Not only grainy and dusty, but after the 2nd chapter the sound and picture were totally out of sync. The lips move...the words come out 3-4 seconds later. This is the first time I've seen the film...I can't imagine that this is what the the filmaker intended. I returned the DVD, and I suggest interested buyers wait until an "all clear" message has been posted here. I'm sure all the copies are this way. Regards, Scollay END
Rating:
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: walkabout
Review: DONT LET THE OTHER REVIEWS THROW YOU> I honestly thought that the end credits were the best part of this movie. I thought that the acting was bad, the sound was horrible,there was no plot and there were quite a few tasteless scenes.I felt ripped off as the Criterion Collection usually has GOOD movies. Im sorry to say but someone goofed in picking this movie for the collection.
Rating:
Summary: The VHS is good, the DVD better
Review: If you do not have a DVD player, this is a fine addition to your collection. Otherwise, get the DVD version for the wonderful commentaries. It was great that the movie finally came out on VHS, and even better that it is now available on DVD.
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