Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Gary The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

lifesoboring I was blown away by this movie. During certain scenes I was yelling at the screen. And you know it's a darn good movie if it has you doing that. It was incredibly touching. I was cheering for the boy very hard, hoping that he would survive and be rescued. All the skillful survival stuff he did was amazing for an eight-year-old However, it makes me doubt that, in real life, a boy that age would be as smart and resourceful as Dirkie is. The dangers and the incidents that happen to him (and his faithful tiny dog) keep you riveted to the screen. This is a movie where you care about the characters (the boy and his dog) as much as you possibly could care about any movie characters. The dog is a very important character; the movie would not have been the same without him. Just a couple of days prior to watching Lost in the Desert, I watched Storm Boy, which is similar, and which I also rated 10 stars. It's also a boy/father/pet, family story. Storm Boy is not a life or death survival story, but it also conveys a lot of emotion. If you watch that one you will see the similarities, which is interesting. Old Yeller seems to be in the same vein as these movies too, and in some ways, Born Free. And(it just occurred to me), Walkabout.

pol-ster This is more of an IMDb support group for adults who suffered severe trauma in their childhood than a review centre. I saw this film when I was 5 in the cinema, and have never ever forgotten it. It was a trailer movie to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad in 1974, which I didn't recall at all until I looked it up on Wiki today. For a children's movie it manages to tap into every single fear a child could have, think Jaws for swimmers, The Descent for pot-holers, Lost in the desert for impressionable kids. Where to start? First of all the fear of being LOST. Not just lost, but lost in the Kalahari Desert, with the kid repeating "My Dad will find me, he loves me..." I got lost in a shopping centre when I was 4, that was pretty bad. There's the plane crash, dead uncle, endlessly walking in circles, rampaging stalking hyaena, the cute dog, dead puppies, temporary blindness from a snake, scorpion bite, dehydration, starvation, near death, and the horrible realisation the kid may have eaten his bar-b-qued dog(my sympathies to the poster on here who spent his whole life believing this happened). I've just re watched part of this film online with my boyfriend wiping away my tears while I was mumbling the words "the dog, the dog...!" I'm 43 for Gods sake. It would have been more appropriate to have shown The Exorcist before The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. I look forward to re-watching this again in full some time soon, will definitely be an exorcism.

greeniez I have searched for years for a reference to this film. I saw it when I was a very small girl and I have ALWAYS remembered it! I too remember the bushmen eating (or so we thought) the little boy's dog. The dog was a female and she had puppies which all died - I remember the boy putting them in his pocket - the dog's name was 'Lolly'. I also remember the boy finding the pilot's body and his father dropping leaflets all over the desert telling him that he was looking for him.I literally sobbed and sobbed! No other film in my whole lifetime has stayed with me like this one. I can't remember the the movie - which was the main feature - that my parents had originally taken me to see, but this movie, which was on before the main feature has stayed with me and I have never forgotten it. I am 39 years old and my parents STILL laugh about how they had to tell me to stop shouting out and crying in the movie theater! The boy was eventually rescued by his Dad. Not a dry eye in the house! I am so happy to have found a reference to it, and that others remember it as I do! I would dearly love to see it again.

svanheer As a boy of 10 I first watched this movie, but due to modern DVD technology I had another opportunity recently. Firstly, I was amazed how quickly the story became prominent, without the use of fancy computer generated scenes, as so often in movies today. A great story by a great storyteller! The only other movie that had such an enduring effect after wards is Steven Spielberg's classic Duel (1971). Having been privileged to visit the Namib many years later just reinforced the harshness of the desert as we flew over the miles of red sand. This is a classic and deserve special recognition. Often we tend to see old movies as just that, however this movie is a precious reminder of the late sixties and a world of escapism, but where a reality check encourages the viewer to regard each day as special.