Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection
by Byron Haskin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Adam West, Paul Mantee, The Wooley Monkey, Victor LundinDirector: Byron Haskin
Brand: IMAGE ENT.
Cinematographer: Winton C. Hoch
Editor: Terry O. Morse
Producer: Aubrey Schenck
Producer: Edwin F. Zabel
Writer: Daniel Defoe
Writer: Ib Melchior
Writer: John C. Higgins
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 110 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-18
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Criterion Collection
Product features:
- Special-effects wunderkind and genre master Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, The Outer Limits) won a place in the hearts of fantasy-film lovers everywhere with this gorgeously designed journey into the unknown. When his spaceship crash-lands on the barren wastelands of Mars, U.S. astronaut Commander "Kit" Draper (Paul Mantee) must fight for survival, with a pet monkey seemingly his onl
Movie Reviews of Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Slightly Goofy Misfire
Summary: 3 Stars
This sci-fi excursion starts strong, with a shipwrecked astronaut struggling to survive alone on the face of a barren planet. With limited food, water and oxygen, he must find a way to live. These kinds of films are a button monkey's wet dream, with lots of blinking lights and inexplicable dials and gauges. The science is suspect, as evidenced by the scene where the astronaut, low on oxygen, sucks on a pressurized tank like it was a Big Gulp, rocks that release oxygen when warmed up and underground grottos teeming with sausage plants (seriously). The film falls apart towards the end, however, with the introduction of the unnecessary and uninteresting aliens and Friday, reenvisioned as an interstellar slave to the aliens. Bright Technicolor sets and an adorable monkey astronaut help to keep the film entertaining.
Summary of Robinson Crusoe on Mars - Criterion Collection
Special-effects wunderkind and genre master Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, The Outer Limits) won a place in the hearts of fantasy-film lovers everywhere with this gorgeously designed journey into the unknown. When his spaceship crash-lands on the barren wastelands of Mars, U.S. astronaut Commander "Kit" Draper (Paul Mantee) must fight for survival, with a pet monkey seemingly his only companion. But is he alone? Shot in vast Techniscope and blazing Technicolor, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is an imaginative and beloved techni-marvel of classic science fiction.Although it is a thoughtful and surprisingly nonexploitative movie, the title Robinson Crusoe on Mars might conjure up unholy echoes of cross-pollinated genre movies such as Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter or Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. Well, don't worry. This 1964 space epic is in fact an adaptation of the classic Daniel Defoe novel, and it plays fair by logic and science. After his spaceship crash-lands on Mars, astronaut Paul Mantee must figure out how to survive on the hostile planet (shot mostly in Death Valley), aided only by a monkey from his ship. Director Byron (The War of the Worlds) Haskin's sober approach brings a refreshing emphasis to issues of survival--how many space travel movies have you seen where the traveler tests the air of a distant planet and discovers that, by George, he can breathe just fine? Not this one. Mantee's desperate methods of tracking his air flow and experimenting with methods of breathing are painstakingly explored, and seem like exactly the kind of problems a real planetary voyager would encounter. The second half of the picture cleverly blends Defoe's plot with sci-fi conventions, and the movie never does "dumb down."
The Criterion Collection's DVD of Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a handsome treatment of a minor classic. A commentary track stitches together comments from a variety of participants, including Mantee, Haskin (in a 1979 interview), and original screenwriter Ib Melchior (disagreements between Haskin and Melchoir are included). A featurette, Destination--Mars gives some of the "science fact" behind the movie, and excerpts from Melchoir's original treatment show suggest changes made. And a "music video" puts movie clips alongside a song written and performed by co-star Victor Lundin, a number he developed for his appearances at sci-fi conventions. --Robert Horton
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