Walkabout - Criterion Collection (1971)

A stunning experience

The combination of Nicolas Roeg's vision, John Barry's resonantly beautiful soundtrack and Jenny Agutter's wonderfully sincere performance combine to impress a stunning, not to be forgotten experience. The last scene in the apartment with Agutter's character lost in remembrance and then the words of A.E. Housman's 'A Shropshire Lad' Poem XL place the film in perfect context--'The happy highways where I went and cannot come again'. Savor this experience. June 6, 2008

Disappointed after reading great reviews

This movie got great reviews so I looked forward to watching it. I'm an Aussie living overseas so like to watch as many Aussie movies as I can, and almost always enjoy them. This was the exception. There were just too many parts of the movie where the story line didn't make a lot of sense. Then there was all the 70's "artsy" stuff which was a turn off. I will keep it in my collection but probably won't watch it again. April 1, 2008

A meditative experiance

Many people are only capable of understanding big-budget typical hollywood movies that have a nice, tight, familiar plot structure and end with a nice resolution. If you are one of those people, you will hate Walkabout. If you believe that film is a legitimate form of high-art as opposed to mindless entertainment, then you can appreciate films that allow it's immages to speak to your sub-conscious without characters explaing everything in detail. Those people who fall into the latter category will appreciate Walkabout as I did. Roger Ebert considers this one of the "great films". February 25, 2008

Bad Bad Bad

I bought this thinking this would be an exciting aventure story - it was neither exciting nor an adventure story. Most of the time was spent trying to figure out what was happening - kind of goofy. This was a great disappointment and waste of money. February 8, 2008

What a great gift !!!

My brother-in-law gave me a copy of this and I thought "Hmm, this looks cute." Well, this movie is just awesome. There are terrific performances by all the young actors, including a young Jenny Agutter. Two city kids (sister and her younger brother) are stranded in the Australian Outback by a pretty horrific (and graphic) event. They then begin a trek back to civilization, but unfortunately, they don't know where civilization is. They meet up with a young Aborigine who joins them or lets them join him and the lines between civilization and the wilderness become blurred. After watching this film, I was just awe struck. In fact, I suggested showing this to a youth group we are involved with and was told no because of all the nudity. What nudity? I didn't see any. Well, there is but it is so in line with the story that I didn't even notice it until the second viewing and then I was looking for what I had missed the first time. That's how great the story was in this film. True, it may be slow sometimes and will not be to everyone's taste, but this is one where you should give it a try. You might not like it but there's a good chance that you might think it's one of the best films you've ever seen. Either way, you will be talking about it after it's done. November 2, 2007

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