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Walkabout

Play trailer Walkabout PG 1971 1h 35m Adventure Play Trailer Watchlist
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86% Tomatometer 43 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist (John Meillon) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter) and 6-year-old son (Lucien John) into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Indigenous Australian boy (David Gulpilil) who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
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Walkabout

Walkabout

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Critics Consensus

With its harrowingly beautiful depiction of the Australian Outback and spare narrative of culture clash, Walkabout is a peculiar survival epic.

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Critics Reviews

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Derek Malcolm Guardian There is always this feeling that Roeg, the cameraman for Fahrenheit 451 and Far from the Madding Crowd has a positive and original talent bursting to be developed. It's just a case of what that talent is going to find to say. Feb 11, 2020 Full Review David Robinson Financial Times Roeg's training as a cinematographer brings both advantages and hazards. Feb 11, 2020 Full Review Gavin Millar Sight & Sound What makes the film triumph over this literalness is another kind of intensity which one feels, since it's a filmmaker's, is all Roeg's. Feb 11, 2020 Full Review Tom Hutchinson Radio Times Roeg successfully conjures up a tale that is as dazzling as the shimmering landscape against which it is set. Rated: 5/5 Nov 13, 2024 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy One of cinema’s great mood pieces, a complex, multilayered work that relies as much on its visuals and sound schemes as on plot and characterization. Rated: 4/4 Sep 16, 2023 Full Review Peter Martin ScreenAnarchy Somehow both timeless and yet distinctly a film that could only have been made in its time, Walkabout captures strange, captivating beauty and the memory of a world gone by, reassembled for our viewing pleasure. Sep 13, 2023 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Guayabito Bro, this movie is garbashhhh Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 07/04/23 Full Review Shioka O A pure 1970s gem dealing with the cultural complex in Australia. The director did cinematography as well and the result is superb than its context. I like the way to depict the small lives in desert... as if the two main character. Highly graphical, the director carefully placed the symbolic elements within the frame. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 04/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Not for the Marvel crowd. Slow and powerful. This, along with Don't Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth make up the trio of films that made Roeg one of the best filmmakers of the 1970s... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review david b Some beautiful shots, but at times I feel that the film's art is detrimental to its plot (and our subsequent viewing pleasure). Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review dave s Nicholas Roeg's Walkabout is a good movie that feels like it should have been great. A teenage girl and her young brother find themselves lost in the Australian outback, an inhospitable land filled with danger. When found by an Aboriginal boy conducting a rite of passage, they form a unique bond that ensures their survival but ultimately leads to tragedy. It's a film laden with important messages, beautifully shot and featuring strong performances from the young cast, especially Jenny Agutter in the lead role. However, Roeg's inconsistent and pretentious direction can be maddening at times. Whether it's unnecessary freeze frames, quick zooms, the inclusion of pointless scenes (the research team in the desert, for example), jarring juxtapositions, or a myriad of other issues, what should have been a cinematic classic is simply an intriguing and thought-provoking diversion. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review William L Yes, there are probably a thousand "man has lost touch with nature" films out there, to the point where even James Cameron co-opted the premise basically just to fill up empty space in the exlusively-visual glitterbomb that was Avatar. It's become safe and easily approachable territory, but that doesn't mean that films of that design are necessarily unoriginal or uninteresting, and Walkabout is solid proof of that. Shot with the intent to immerse the viewer in the landscape, Roeg isn't shy about introducing an environment that is equal parts beautiful and brutal, with an eye for capturing the diversity of color and forms of life in what many would assume to be a barren landscape, while also presenting death as an inalienable component of the cycle of existence. Characters find solace in some of the simple pleasures even after being threatened with death themselves, both by the effects of maddeningly disconnected modern society (a father who goes off despite presenting a 'resepctable' demeanor) and by the environment itself, though as their Aboriginal companion reveals the latter is more a result of their own inexperience and isolation. Yes, some of the scenes are a bit obvious in their "refrigerators bad, trees good" themes, but overall Roeg delivers a coming of age story with social commentary that is safely above the simplicity of idyllic content like a teenage girl painting with all the colors of the wind. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/21/21 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

Jeremiah Johnson 91% 89% Jeremiah Johnson Watchlist Burn! 80% 80% Burn! Watchlist Emperor of the North 63% 84% Emperor of the North Watchlist Dark of the Sun 67% 75% Dark of the Sun Watchlist Robin and Marian 73% 53% Robin and Marian Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Under the pretense of having a picnic, a geologist (John Meillon) takes his teenage daughter (Jenny Agutter) and 6-year-old son (Lucien John) into the Australian outback and attempts to shoot them. When he fails, he turns the gun on himself, and the two city-bred children must contend with harsh wilderness alone. They are saved by a chance encounter with an Indigenous Australian boy (David Gulpilil) who shows them how to survive, and in the process underscores the disharmony between nature and modern life.
Director
Nicolas Roeg
Producer
Si Litvinoff
Screenwriter
Edward Bond
Production Co
Max L. Raab Productions, Si Litvinoff Film Production
Rating
PG
Genre
Adventure
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Jul 21, 2009
Runtime
1h 35m
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