Eric Stevenson
Well, this isn't technically an adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, because Robinson Crusoe isn't even the character's name! In fact, we actually hear the word "Robinson Crusoe" being said at one point! As in, it's the name of a novel in universe! Still, this movie is a lot better than you would think. Judging from the title, I thought it would be pretty dumb. I expected it to have a lot of goofy looking aliens, given on par with 1960's effects.Instead, we actually got none of that but instead a faithful retelling of the classic tale! It's never campy or anything. Speaking of camp, I didn't even recognize Adam West in this movie and may he rest in space. The monkey is very entertaining here. I checked that he had a tail and is indeed a monkey! The colors are very nice and so is the character Friday. ***
rogeramills
Well worth re-visiting in full HD if you have the chance. This film is a great work of art. It works like an unofficial sequel to War of the Worlds. Enemy Mine stole much from this film. Such a delight! Shot originally in Death Valley, the skies were a stark blue so they were able to change the color to a pinkish red in the edit room. They got a lot right with the science in this one
grizzledgeezer
I saw "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" at the age of 17 in 1964, and yesterday morning on Movies!. I remain impressed.It's remarkable in its attempt to tell a scientifically plausible and emotionally honest story. The errors are due mostly to a lack of knowledge, not willful rejection of facts. The engineering is interesting, too, with the astronaut's various contraptions being perfectly reasonable, even by modern standards. *One cannot say enough about the monkey's performance. It's the best animal performance I've seen in any movie or TV show. Mona's behavior seems absolutely spontaneous and natural, not coaxed or coerced.Byron Haskins (who also directed "War of the Worlds" for Paramount) did not have any recognizable directorial style. This blandness works well here, as it lends a slightly "documentary" quality."Robinson Crusoe on Mars" is one of those rare science-fiction films that avoids straying into fantasy. Unless you insist that a film have an explosion or disemboweling every few minutes, you'll not only like it, but appreciate it.PS: The reviewer whose review is titled "Terrible Experience!" simply doesn't understand that our hard knowledge of Mars was nowhere nearly as advanced 52 years ago as it was today. Its errors weren't ones "children would have laughed at". It wasn't known that the polar caps were CO2, not water ice, and that the atmosphere was so thin as to be immediately unbreatheable (etc, etc, etc). To hold it up against "2001" and find it wanting is (at the least) unfair. No reviewer has commented on the thematically similar "Enemy Mine", which is inferior to "Robinson Crusoe on Mars".* It's assumed all video recording would be in B&W, and the producers actually went to the expense of showing the recordings in B&W (rather than in color, which would have been cheaper).
inspectors71
Okay, don't even bother with the science in this wonderful little sci-fi retelling of Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe. It's just too out there.With that said, and my reiteration that Robinson Crusoe on Mars is wonderful, sit back with this fanciful, fun, and suspenseful story of an American astronaut marooned on Mars, battling to stay alive, and getting in the middle of slave-holding aliens. You guessed it. Friday is an escaped mining slave who provides the Terran the motivation to continue on, to defeat the Martian elements and the search parties looking for the slave.I remember seeing this movie when I was about 8. I fell asleep. It was boring. Strangely enough, RCOM isn't really a kid's movie, but it is a movie that patient children can intellectually access.I think the two things I liked the best about this flick were the slow and careful establishment of Paul Mantee's astronaut, Kit Draper, as a character we care about, and we want to see him survive. When he is confronted with this strange alien escapee, he doesn't trust him (in fact, he warns him repeatedly about stepping out of line). Through adversity, the two men from different planets begin to trust each other. That was very satisfying.The other part of RCOM that impressed me was the art direction, the graphics and visuals. Shot in Death Valley, the sky is a superimposed matte that gives the planet a (duh) extraterrestrial look. Great matte paintings, imaginative landscapes, and the alien ships that swoop in at about Warp 7 and start shooting, all make for a visual delight for somebody who can see past the lack of CGI, and mutter OMG.I caught the movie on Netflix. If you can find it, I would strongly recommend this dandy little space thriller!
AD
