rotten eggs

Robinson Crusoe On Mars
( 1964 )



Robinson Crusoe on mars is a very sadly underrated Sci Fi film gem which takes Daniel Defoes island castaway story out into outer space.Unbelievably the whole thing works splendidly ( don't let the title put you off! ) thanks to director Byron Haskin keeping true to the original story while improving the script and making everything scientifically plausable.The death Valley locations are substituted for Mars and makefor an excellent backdrop to the whole film.

Mars Gravity Probe One is diverted en mission to orbit Mars when they are forced to change course due to a massive meteor obstructing their flight path. Manned by Naval Commander Kit Draper ( Paul Mantee ) ; Colonel Dan Macready ( Adam West of Batman fame! ) and Mona the ( experimental) Monkey, both men eject in separate pods to land on Mars. Draper and Mona survive but unfortunately Macready is found dead in his pod.

Much like the Defoe story Draper has to find shelter , water, food and most importantly in this case, oxygen to stay alive. After almost dying of suffocation in a cave Draper stumbles across the secret of the rocks which when burned like coal, emit bursts of oxygen. With some ingenuity Draper manages to replenish his oxygen tanks, find water and food.He continues to survive. Eventually loneliness takes a hold of Draper and almost drives him crazy,until one day he discovers some footprints and a skeletal hand with a strange bracelet attached.Panic stricken Draper retires to his cave until one night a strange interplanetary vehicle is spotted. Apparently on some sort of mining expedition the ship lands with a bunch of alien man like slaves being kept hostage by other, even more stranger looking aliens.One of the slaves escapes and is found by Draper who takes him back to his cave and eventually names him Friday ( played by Vic Ludin ) who incidentally overcomes the oxygen problem by taking pills. In time their realtionship begins to grow. Detected by the alien ship which is intent on their destruction they are forced to flee. The bracelet which Friday wears on his wrist being some sort of homing device which is eventually removed. What ensues is a perilous trek to avoid the aliens, crawling through subterranean passages and lava filled precipices and back to the surface, finally arriving at the polar ice cap where they are eventually lfted by a rescue ship!

Robinson Crusoe On Mars is a Wonderfull Sci Fi film and definitely one of my favourites of all time. A decidedly intelligent film for the sixties with very appealing and believable performances.Some of the content may seem a little dated today and the monkey scenes a tad silly but on the whole this is a very fine and sadly neglected Sci Fi film. Worth checking out if you get the chance but is as yet unavailable on DVD i think!

CRYSTAL EGG