This is one of the saddest and, in my opinion, most important father/son stories ever made. I wish they would put this out either on DVD and on ultraviolet for streaming so that everyone could buy a copy to watch. Total tear-jerker! SO GET IT DONE!!Huckleberry and Rip Torn as well as the others (Hackman and the ET hid (: were) awesome. The locations are wonderful; the cultural view is compelling too.The story could not have been written any better. I can't NOT cry every time I watched this movie as a kid. Please put this out there, cause I don't want to pay the 100 plus dollars for a VHS from amazon.Only one left if anyone can spend that much. Let alone own a VHS player.This movie is too good, too important to remain unavailable!

Two young brothers, motherless and now relying on their workaholic father, try becoming closer to their only surviving parent while stationed in Tunisia. Director Jerry Schatzberg, working from an incredibly dull screenplay by Barra Grant, via Florence Montgomery's novel, never shakes the lead out, and the picture seems stillborn as a result. Henry Thomas, one of the most intuitive child actors of this era, doesn't match up well with Gene Hackman; the two are supposed to be estranged, but there's no connection between them at the finale, either. A depressing experience, with the curious location not helping matters. * from ****

I saw this movie on its release in 1984. I had much the same relationship with my Dad as the boy in this story, so it touched a raw nerve. When you have an experience like this boy, and you can closely identify with him the storyline takes an on an extremely emotional roller-coaster ride, and needless to say I broke down at the end of the film. I have just connected to the internet and I have been searching for this film for the past 20 years. Now I finally have a copy and I'm going to watch it with my wife and Daughter. Needless to say I have a very close relationship with them because I made sure things with my kids would be different. I never got close to my Dad.

I have been enjoying this film for 20 years and it makes me cry buckets every time.....but in a good way - the feeling of release is immense.Gene Hackman's performance is superb but it's Henry Thomas who is the star; forget E.T., this is real acting. While I admit that the plot-line of two young children losing their mother is depressing, it is sadly a fact of life and I think the film more than adequately portrays the sudden devastating impact on the both the surviving parent and the children. Moreover, it shows the lesson to be learned by all workaholic fathers at how important a hands-on role is to their children and themselves. As an English nanny, I have seen and experienced the sadness all too often. Women - watch and weep. Men - watch, weep and learn! This film should be on DVD NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!