Product Details

• Actors: Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Embry, Jack Thompson, Sarel Bok, Robert John Burke
• Directors: Mikael Salomon
• Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh, Laurens Van der Post, Robert Caswell, Sally Robinson
• Producers: Elaine Sperber, Eva Monley, Frank Marshall
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Buena Vista Home Ent
• VHS Release Date: April 15, 1997
• Run Time: 108 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302900190
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #227,064 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In this 1993 Disney adventure, Reese Witherspoon and Ethan Embry are two young survivors of an African massacre. She is the daughter of a game warden; he is a sulky teen visiting his dad. When poachers do in the adults, the kids hotfoot it across the Kalahari Desert, aided by Witherspoon's young bushman pal (Sarel Bok). They have to cross about 1,000 miles of forbidding territory, all the while chased by nogoodnik Jack Thompson. The kids face down danger, have a few excessively cute escapades, and learn about their capacity for survival--and goodness. The highlights of the film are the lush cinematography and exotic locales of Zimbabwe and Namibia. Though this is a Disney production, it is too violent and intense for young children. It is based on the books A Story Like the Wind and A Far Off Place, by Laurens Van der Post. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Story of Courage, Hope and Love, January 24, 2004

By 

Gary Selikow (Great Kush) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Far-Off Place (Paperback)

A Far Off Place is the sequel to the bestseller by Laurens Van der Post, 'A Story Like The Wind'. Hunters Drift is a farm in Matabeleland (today part of Zimbabwe)

It is the home of Pierre Paul Joubert known affectionately by all who live there as 'Ouwa', where European, Matabele and Bushmen live in harmony with each other , and with the great flora and fauna of Africa.
This is before the forces of destruction and death, Marxist terrorists, massacre the whole population of Hunter's Drift , as they carve a path of blood through Southern Africa.
The only survivors are Ouwa's teenage son, Francois, Nonnie, the young daughter of a colonial governor and his Portuguese wife, both murdered by the terrorists and Francois' beloved hunting dog, Hintza. They are joined by a young Bushman, Xhabbo, and his wife, Nuin Tarra.

The four young people and brave dog , must pass through bush and desert , to safety , while pursued by the cold-blooded killers.

'A Far Off Place' is a heartwarming story of love hope and courage, and of survival against overwhelming odds. It is about the fine balance between all living creatures.
Not least it highlights the death and suffering caused so many times by those forces of evil that hide behind the slogans of revolution and 'Liberation'.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!!, December 1, 2003

By 

Carolyntbj (Greensboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Far-Off Place (Paperback)

I read A Far Off Place while on a trip to Africa. Wow! I'm hooked on Vander Post! I read A Far off Place before I read A Story Like the Wind. A Far Off Place moves faster - the first book sort of sets the story up and gets the characters ready. Also try Flamingo Feather by Laurens Van Der Post.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A shining star, January 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Far-Off Place (Paperback)

After seeing the movie years ago I finally came across book. I loved the movie, but the book even more. It was articulate, passionate, and though provoking. Van der Post expresses the emotions and actions of the characters so vividly it is as if you are there witnessing them. I read this before "A Story of the Wind" and did not have a problem understanding (although the movie background did help). A must read for all ages.