Im not the first person to notice that andy weirs novel is, in essence, robinson crusoe on mars. Robinson crusoe on mars 1964 the criterion collection. Jul 7, 2019 one of my favorite all time science fiction movies ever since seeing it as a boy. Although some of the matte paintings representing the weird martian landscapes arent very convincing, the film s look is remarkably consistent, with almost undetectable rearscreen effects. Strangelove, we knew very little about the red planet that couldnt be inferred by the telescopically accompanied eye, and so it is with a sense of retrospective camp goodness that we grant the film its hellfireconsumed martian landscapes. By and large, genre critics praised the scifi film upon its original theatrical release and soon after, as well. Although its pretty amazing cinema gave us star wars just years later, and after all these years its still so timeless that robinson crusoe on mars looks prehistoric alongside it. Robinson crusoe on mars soundtrack from 1964, composed by nathan van cleave. Even more remarkable, for the majority of the film, robinson crusoe on mars is a oneman show. In robinson crusoe on mars, kip draper is marooned on the planet mars, rather than on an island. See more ideas about robinson crusoe on mars, robinson crusoe and science fiction. Robinson crusoe on mars is almost unsurpassed in its scientific accuracyfor 1964. Robinson crusoe on mars original theatrical trailer youtube. Mars, a new 20minute documentary exploring our fascination with the red planet.
Robinson crusoe on mars 1964 letterboxd social film. Byron haskin, nathan van cleave, irvin talbot, and fred steiner. Byron haskins robinson crusoe on mars on criterion. It was released on dvd for the first time as a special edition from the criterion collection on september 18, 2007. Mar 01, 2011 robinson crusoe on mars soundtrack from 1964, composed by nathan van cleave.
It was directed by byron haskin conquest of space and featured stunning martian vistas designed by art directors arthur lonegan, hal pereira. I like this film very much, and paul mantee is great in the lead. This 1964 hollywood sciencefiction film was released a year before nasas mariner 4 spacecraft took the first closeup images of the planet mars. My thinking, in terms of pairing them, was the byron haskin connection. This film is an adaption of daniel defoes classic tale of a sailor stranded on a deserted island. Dated, but fun movie mostly with just 1 character 2 if you count the monkey. Byron haskin directed from a script by ib melchior.
This 1964 hollywood sciencefiction film was released a year before nasas mariner 4. Robinson crusoe on mars goes to another world to deliver familiar moral lessons. Robinson crusoe on mars 1964 feature video dailymotion. A us astronaut finds himself stranded alone on mars, until an alien slave from a nearby planet arrives. Draper must learn to survive in this hostile environment fighting thirst, hunger, and even hostile aliens, if he expects to see home again. While the plot is very lowenergy, the film s quaint effects and. See more ideas about robinson crusoe on mars, robinson crusoe and mars. Clearly, the main problem with robinson crusoe on mars is that the makers of this film tried too hard to maintain the look, rather than the spirit, of defoe character. With paul mantee, victor lundin, adam west, the woolly monkey. So it was quite surprising to view the 1964 film robinson crusoe on mars for the first time in decades and find that it scores most highly for its verisimilitude.
A futuristic retelling of daniel defoes classic story, robinson crusoe on mars has gained a beloved cult reputation ever since its debut in the. Robinson crusoe on mars 1964 robinson crusoe on mars. Specialeffects 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. One 1964 film, however, stands apart from the others, both. Draper, colonel dan mcready adam west, and a test monkey look as if they are going to collide with a meteor. Oct 17, 2007 clearly, the main problem with robinson crusoe on mars is that the makers of this film tried too hard to maintain the look, rather than the spirit, of defoe character. A lot of the fun of 1950s scifi is in their tackiness people being menaced by silly looking space monsters, that sort of thing. It runs just over 4minutes, and is comprised solely of clips from the film. Oct 09, 2014 scifi drama 1964 110 minutes color commander kit draper, and colonel dan mcready, are orbiting mars in an exploratory surveyor.
Although it is a thoughtful and surprisingly nonexploitative movie, the title robinson crusoe on mars might conjure up unholy echoes of crosspollinated genre. There really is a film called robinson crusoe on mars. Mars, which compares the science seen in the film with what was known about mars in 1964 and what is known today. Robinson crusoe on mars is a 1964 independently made american science fiction film in technicolor and techniscope, produced by aubrey schenck, directed.
Robinson crusoe on mars criterion collection dvd 1964. Robinson crusoe on mars is a 1964 science fiction film that adapted the classic novel robinson crusoe to an in space. He has no humans to keep him company, but rather an animal companion like the captains dog. Paramount could have thrown robinson crusoe on mars in with war of the worlds.
Victor lundin played the rescued companion of crusoe figure commander christopher draper paul mantee, who dubs him friday in reference to the novel. We know mars isnt really like this, but just pretend it takes place on a planet in another solar system. While the mars depicted in the film is inaccurate as we. Certainly one of the great literary classics it has a few times since the birth of moving pictures been told on celluloid. While robinson crusoe on mars is more a kitsch curio than a classic movie, there is much entertainment to be had comparing this 1964 story of a lone astronaut pitted against all. A malfunction forces them to eject with only draper and a monkey, named mona, surviving. So, naturally, i have a rather soft spot in my heart for the film itself. Stranded on mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food on the lifeless planet. Jasons rating of the film robinson crusoe on mars jason an at least halfway serious contribution to postwar scifi pax americana, the trend already well established, much of robin crusoe on mars was shot on location in death. Following an american astronaut who has crash landed on the red planet, the plot provides a simple survival story before introducing more characters and getting more interesting. I have enjoyed this movie since i was a kid and saw it on tv in the late 1960s and 70s. Robinson crusoe on mars, released in 1964, is not a movie that i would guess anyone has seen, but on a sunday afternoon, it was the only interesting thing on tv.
The alien slavers substitute for the novels cannibals, and of course, crusoes friday is a onetoone corollary with drapers alien friend. Man friday, a 1975 british film, retold the story from man fridays point of view. Indifferent distribution was blamed, but its also likely that the public preferred to. Victor lundin wrote a song titled robinson crusoe on mars, and a new music video for that song was created specifically for this dvd release. The book robinson crusoe was written by daniel defoe back in 1719. It was directed by byron haskin, produced by aubrey schenck and starred paul mantee, victor lundin and adam west. Criterions disc of robinson crusoe on mars offers an exceptionally good transfer, allowing us to appreciate the fine effects work originally done in the 2perf techniscope process. Apr 27, 2017 the book robinson crusoe was written by daniel defoe back in 1719. Shot in vast techniscope and blazing technicolor, robinson crusoe on mars is an imaginative and beloved technimarvel of classic science fiction. George pal and byron haskins robinson crusoe on mars 1964 is fifty years old in 2014 and remains beloved by the generation that grew up with it. The 1964 film robinson crusoe on mars recasts the robinson crusoe story as a space adventure.
Spun from daniel defoes tale of the titular character, this scifi story involves a spaceship commander, chris draper paul mantee in a similar situation to the original robinson crusoe but. Admittedly, if every film merely dwelled on those issues, wed quickly grow tired of it, but it works extremely well here. Another weird thing is how abruptly it ends, as if haskin simply ran out of time or money or theyd started shooting before the ending was written and just did. Robinson crusoe on mars is a 1964 independently made american science fiction film in technicolor and techniscope, produced by aubrey schenck, directed by byron haskin, that stars paul mantee, victor lundin, and adam west. Robinson crusoe on mars didnt click with film audiences. In robinson crusoe on mars, they never stop being central to the plot. Awesome western desert outdoor shoots and a young batman is costar. Almost every critique ive ever read of the film acknowledges the polished look of the martian scenes. Robinson crusoe on mars is a film directed by byron haskin with paul mantee, victor lundin, adam west. Robinson crusoe on mars 1964 is a spectacular and for its time fairly realistic science fiction adventure about an astronaut paul mantee who must survived on mars after his space ship crashes into the planet.
Robinson crusoe on mars wikimili, the free encyclopedia. Paul mantee, a busy tv actor, works hard carrying almost all the dialog as marooned astronaut christopher draper, our robinson crusoe. Given the scarcity of information then available, the filmmakers did a remarkable job of representing some of the conditions on our nearest planetary neighbor, nearly a year before. Robinson crusoe on mars had byron haskin waited a year to shoot 1964s robinson crusoe on mars, it might have been a very different film or gotten scrapped altogether. Specialeffects wunderkind and genre master byron haskin the war of the worlds, the outer limits won a place in the hearts of fantasyfilm. Despite laudable efforts from all concerned, the film didnt click with audiences. Robinson crusoe on mars maveric universe wiki fandom. Come on, if warnermgm is going to put the invisible boy on the special edition of forbidden planet, paramount could have thrown robinson crusoe on mars in with war of the worlds. But robinson crusoe on mars was made by byron haskin who had made war of the worlds ten years earlier, a 1950s scifi film that took itself very seriously and robinson crusoe on mars does much the same. It was directed by byron haskin conquest of space and featured stunning martian vistas designed by art directors arthur lonegan, hal pereira and al nozaki the war of the worlds. The premise is that a lone human survivor of a spaceship crash, an astronaut is stranded on mars with only a monkey who happened to be traveling with the humans. Scifi drama 1964 110 minutes color commander kit draper, and colonel dan mcready, are orbiting mars in an exploratory surveyor. Other bonus features include a new documentary, destination. Adam wests ghostly reappearance was a great scene, too.
Byron haskins robinson crusoe on mars on criterion slant. Though by no means a genre classic, robinson crusoe on mars is a watchable, sometimes fun science fiction film. Go to the internet movie database laserdisc database buy posters from buy posters from moviegoods buy this soundtrack from search ebay for robinson crusoe on mars. Indifferent distribution was blamed, but its also probable that the public preferred to see their astronauts on the 6 oclock news. Jan 11, 2011 in preparing his heavily illustrated first draft of the screenplay for robinson crusoe on mars, a film he intended to direct, melchior was clearly seeking a middle ground. Ib melchiors original script adapted daniel defoes classic novel robinson crusoe for the spacerace age, populating it with armadillolike martian beasts and threefingered. In this version, crusoe is an astronaut who crashlands on the seeminglyabandoned planet of mars. While robinson crusoe on mars is more a kitsch curio than a classic movie, there is much entertainment to be had comparing this 1964 story of a lone astronaut pitted against all odds beyond this. It was released on dvd for the first time as a special edition from the criterion collection on. Even recent, expensive films, like red planet, dont measure.