Danger on Dartmoor (1980) User Reviews

Nice little children's adventure film

[ErinW14235 · 7/10 · 26 May 2020]

I suspended my disbelief and enjoyed this film for what it was - an adventure story for children. It's the sort of thing I would have loved watching as a child with my grandparents, and had we not all been in lockdown I would happily have watched it with my young nieces & nephews.

Agreed, some of the acting wasn't brilliant (with the notable exception of Barry Foster) and nor was the plot. But I love rural Devon, and I love the innocence and simplicity of that time, the era of my own childhood, and so this provided a welcome bit of escapism.

Pleasant enough children's fim

[Marlburian · 6/10 · 21 May 2020]

Digdilem ably sums it up in their review. I watched DoD because I knew Dartmoor and was pleased to recognise various locations. The three child actors were adequate. (The two lads went on to have short acting careers;this appears to have been the girl's only appearance.)

The dog was very good!

I immediately recognised Patricia Hayes in one of her trademark characterisations and initially wondered if that really was Barry Foster in a lightweight production. It was, and at a time when he was immediately recognisable by many on the big and small screen, not least as Van de Valk. Perhaps he took part as a favour to the producer, not that a few days in Devon would have been much hardship.

I'm glad that I watched it.

Nice scenery, story not so much.

[digdilem · 6/10 · 30 March 2020]

Worth watching for an unromanticised view on Dartmoor in 1980 (not much has changed!) and a classic Police Land Rover Series 3 and Cortina but...

The story is fairly week and predictable, and the ending wraps things up in one convenient 2 minute scene. None of the actors stand out in delivering great performances. Fairly typical 1980s direction and camera work.

But view this for what it is - a lightweight children's TV Film shot on what must have been a tiny budget, and it's fine.

Highly likeable CFF adventure

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 10 July 2020]

DANGER ON DARTMOOR is another Enid Blyton style adventure from the Children's Film Foundation stable, reminding me a little of the one I watched last week, GHOST OF MONK'S ISLAND. Once again there's a group of kids fending for themselves and a convict on the loose, although the setting is desolate moorland rather than a desolate island. This film's the better of the two, shorter and more to the point, and it has a casting director who throws in token roles for old movie stalwarts like Sam Kydd and Michael Ripper. The presence of a heroic dog adds immeasurably to the fun, as does FRENZY's Barry Foster as the convict; his acting is typically excellent making all of his scenes a lot of fun. Check out this film's 'cutting edge' technology in the form of a school calculator, possibly the most dated plot element of any of these CFF productions.

Disappointing CFF film

[malcolmgsw · 5/10 · 7 April 2020]

This film seems to borrow a number of elements from the Sherlock Holmes story.Bowling dog,treacherous mires,escaped convict.Unfortunately it is very unexceptional story.The child actors aren't very good.There are brief appearances by Sam Kydd and Michael Ripper and Barry Foster p lays the escaped convict.