It's heartening to know, according to Stefanie Powers, that Holden and Schroder formed such a loving bond that Schroder grew up to name his two boys William and Holden. And there's some interesing scenery here. But the dialogue is such try-hard tripe. No two guys would act the way Holden and the other geezer yell at each other. Holden mutters to himself to explain to half-wit viewers, presumably, what he's thinking even though we've already figured it out. And what's with Schroder? Is he spoiled or brain damaged. Everybody in this movie yells. Subtle as a sledgehammer and not very satisfying. That said, Holden looks surprisingly good for a guy who would soon die in real life. It's a travesty he didn't live to make better movies or to retire to his property in Africa.

I saw this movie on cable when I was a kid, and I hated it. Before he starred in "Silver Spoons", Ricky Schroeder was in two worthless movies, "The Champ" (1979) and "The Earthling" (1980). And I always say now, that before he hit big on TV, he had it rough! I mean, these two movies involved the boy's parents getting killed in a gruesome way. It's a wonder he should've considered becoming a priest instead of staying in Hollywood. Anyway, this film was passed by Oscar and for good reasons. William Holden was a grumpy old loser and Ricky Schroeder was a whiny little orphan twerp in this piece of crap. The movie is slow and boring all the way through, not to mention the plot was putrid. I don't recall the music, that's a relief. If for some reason you want adventure Australlian-style, do yourself a favor and rent a "Crocodile Dundee" movie, any of the three, instead of "The Earthling". You'll not regret it at all, mate.

The production is poor, but the performances of the actors are excellent. You can feel the drama in each sense. A newer version or DVD will be appreciated. For Spanish talking people there are no subtitles or anything like that. Also the quality of the audio is poor. I am giving the best score, because is a clean movie for all the family, to teach them that you can succeed in the worst conditions. The film shows a boy (Rick), that is over protected by the parents. They died, so he is alone. Holden sees all the tragedy, but he has a few time (who has enough?)to show him how to survive, live and be good. You must see the film, it has a life lesson, not only for parents.

A dying man finds love and compassion in his final days as he treks to his birth place accompanied by a spoiled whining child orphaned in a freak accident in the outback. The cinematogrpahy was 1st rate, the plot understated.While vacationing in the Australian Outback with his parents, American youngster Shawn Daley suffers from the loss of his parents in a freak accident, finding himself orphaned and marooned in the Australian outback. Shawn eludes a variety of insect and reptilian life before he meets Patrick Foley, a grumpy adventurer who is headed back to his parent's resting place deep in the woods. Foley grudgingly lets the boy follow along and teaches him how to live off the land. When Foley's condition worsens, Shawn discovers he has to leave Foley behind and start his journey back to civilization with his newfound skills that'll allow him to survive the return trek alone. Filmed between September and October 1979 on location in Blue Mountains and Barrington Forest, New South Wales, Australia.