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.

Strange how some things stick with you for 30 years. I too remember a few things about this movie even though I am now 46. I saw it with my best friend and his mother. I remember Dirky's father dropped flyers from a plane and they read "Dirky, I love you and I will find you" A great movie I would love to see again and show my children. As a young boy I was very embarrassed that I cried in the film when my friends mum was watching. In this day and age of sex and violence it is a touching story of a fathers love for his son, I can't remember 30 years on why he was flying alone but I do remember there were a lot of very emotional scenes in the film. If it is somehow still available I would love to be able to find it.

.....in its original widescreen aspect ratio, then by all means let me know at the above e-mail addy so that I may arrange it for you. As pure, unpretentious and unassuming a micro-budget cinematic labor of love as you'll ever see. Jamie Hayes, clearly as proud and doting a parental unit as has ever shared on-screen billing with an offspring, wrote, produced and directed this loving tribute to his young son, Dirkie. The result is a unique motion picture as intimate as it is panoramic on both physical and metaphysical levels. Compelling enough at face-value with a geo-spiritual vision and tone worthy of Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout" (thus best seen in Cinemascope), what really sticks with you in the wake of having seen "Lost in the Desert" is the residual strength of its testament to the power of paternal love on both sides of the camera. Not a perfect achievement, but extraordinary nonetheless and deserving of far better than to have languished in obscurity.

I also saw this movie as a kid, and it was one of those movies that left a firm impression on you, and was one you didn't forget. The scene where he thought he was eating his dog was one of those scenes that stays with you.Its very heavy for a young audience, but I do seem to remember that later on he finds his dog, and realises he acted like a jerk. Further on, when those looking for him find the tribesman that fed him, he tells them he's 'Full of bad spirits' or something like that. I'm not sure, in this age of digital knock-em deadness, that it would hold up with a modern audience, but at the time I certainly found it an engrossing story of survival.