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

Forbidden Planet

This really is one of the best science fiction films from the 50's. Excellent special effects for the day and a precursor of Star Trek.....Leslie Nielsens Commander Adams was almost certainly a forerunner of ' Captain james T Kirk '...' Gene Rodenberry must surely count this film as one of his major influences.....anyway...'Nielsen ' makes a fair starship commander sent to discover the fate of the ' Bellarophon ' spaceship which crashlanded on the planet Altair 5 .Incidentally typical of 50's style everything is given numbers - the year is 2200, the relief spaceshipis C57D and the crew have been sent out to re-establish contact with a colony that dissapeared 25 years ago.

Borrowing some plot and characters from Shakespeares The Tempest ,' Walter Pidgeon plays ' Dr morbius ' the sole survivor of the ship Bellaraphon ' who discovers a fantastic alien race ,the 'Krell ' ...... creatures which ruled the planet and eventuallly destoyed themselves by there own intellect.....lots of Wonderfull scenes here of the underground ' Krell ' laboratories with marvellous imagery!!! Smacking a little of some Dr Frankenstein.
'Altaira' the daughter of ' Mobious ' is played by the beautifull ' Anne Francis ' ......who could forget her!!!!Nicely adding some spice and romance into the proceedings.
Adams gradually falls in love with her.
After there camp is almost destroyed, and several men killed by some unseen monster Adams and his companion get Morbius to show them the entire underground Krell laboratories.Terrific sets and imagery here once again as Morbius finally comes to accept it is his own ID which is responsible for all the death and destruction which has somehow reactivated the Krells laboratories.

NOTES OF INTEREST
Robby the Robot went on later to appear in ' Lost in space ( TV series ) and The Invisible Boy '. He became one of the screens most lovable metal men.

The music was i believe the first all electronic soundtrack.

Director ' Fred Mcleod wilcox ' was only known really as making ' Lassie ' films.

This really is an eye popper of a film and certainly comes very highly recommended!!!!

CRYSTAL EGG

Wages Of Fear [1953]

Quite simply one of the best adventure movies ever made .This film creates unbearable tension as two truckloads carrying nitro journey along 300 miles of rough latin american terrain in order to put out an oilfield fire.It's a fantastic study of courage and endurance and really takes off when the lorrys set off on there trip...we really become involved with the four main characters along the route of there dangerous journey.

All performances are excellent and made ' Yves Montand' an international star. Particularly outstanding too is ' Charles Varnel ' who incidentally appeared in over 200 films i understand. I won't give away much else except to say the ending is completely ironic if a little predictable.

Winning top prizes at both Cannes and Berlin this really is a must see. Expertly Directed by ' Henri- George's Clouzot '...definitely his best film alongsde ' les Diaboliques ' . Excellent DVD transfer in Black & White.....no extra's apart from the original trailer....but who needs them really when you get a film as great as this!

In English and French with subtitles Direction Henri Georges Clouzot Screenplay Clouzot / Jerome Geronimi Starring Yves Montand Charles Varnel Jo Vera Clouzot Folco Lulli Peter Van Eyck

CRYSTAL EGG

Stalker ( 1979 )

Although ' Tarkovsky ' is better known for his ' Solaris ' film ( which incidentally he cited as his least favourite ) ' Stalker ' is a fascinatingly resonant film on many levels.If your one for plot you will not find much in that direction here. This is esoteric filmaking at it's best with a mix of stunning black & white/ color sequences which will linger long in the mind after the first viewing. Many may find this film difficult viewing with the very formalized compositions , detached cerebral quality ; two dimensional characters and stilted dialogue , but one cannot deny the metaphysical power evoked. There are some really masterfull moments , like the journey itself into the forbidden zone and a really fascinating long camera pan along some brackish water .

An odyssey of three men ' Stalker ' , writer and scientist , who journey out into the desolate forbidden zone in search of a room, where supposedly ones prayers are answered.

All in all a very overextended allegory on the difficulty of faith and the need for humility. It's nevertheless an highly acclaimed Russian film which is definitely worth a viewing. Of note also is the excellent soundtrack music by ' Eduard Artemiev '

Excellent DVD transfer with quite a few extra's on the double disc.


Directed by
Andrei Tarkovsky

Writing credits
Arkadi Strugatsky (novel) &
Boris Strugatsky (novel) ...

Cast:
Aleksandr Kajdanovsky .... Stalker
Alisa Frejndlikh .... Stalker's Wife
Anatoli Solonitsyn .... Writer
Nikolai Grinko .... Scientist
Natasha Abramova .... Martha, Stalker's daughter

GOOD EGG

The Time Machine {1960}

The original and widely cosidered the best adaption of ' H G Wells ' short story. Although the film does not stay true to ' Wells's ' story this is nevertheless a very entertaining and well made film with some very nice special effects, which in there day were quite innovative and unlike todays CGI ( Computer Animated Images ) do not have that horribly digitized and lifeless look . The painstaking stop motion photography being used here to great effect. Rod Taylor plays the part of our time traveller. Opening with a wonderfull section, which by the way is the only part that stays true to the story. Returning from the distant future back to his mid victorian house he tells his friends , who have been waiting impatiently for him , of his fantastic journeys into the future, much to their almost total disbelief .Even though days earlier he demonstrated a working scaled down model of the time machine which upon being activated by one of his friends, dissapeared before there very eyes and was instantly sent into the future......which rather obviously they thought was a mere conjurers trick or something. The only remnant he brings back from the future is a flower which he gives to his friend 'Filby' . 'I bet you won't find that species anywhere' , he says , offering some small proof of his story. Travelling in time through three world wars , the third one inexplicably in 1966 , the time traveller moves on to the year 802701. Here he meets the ' Eloi ' . A gentle peacefull people who rather oddly still remember the wars some 326 years earlier. He saves ' Weena ' from drowning upon his arrival and forms a very close relationship with her. Astonished at the ' Eloi's ' lack of compassion to there fellow man and almost complete unfruitfull existence, he soon discovers the ' Moorlocks '. A subhuman race with glowing eyes , green skin and a mop of white hair who live underground beneath a giant sphinx like structure who cannot bear the sight of bright light. This is the darker side of man turned cannibal who feed on the Eloi . Stealing his time machine and 'Weena' from him our hero finally confronts the 'Moorlocks ' in there underground chambers. Setting everything ablaze and freeing ' Weena ' and her people , he escapes there clutches only to find himself seperated behind the large iron door of the Sphinx. At this point which he returns to his home and friends to tell them his tale. I won't give the end away here! In ' Wells's ' story the time traveller travels to the very distant future and witnesses some very strange creatures , giant cockroaches and strange landscapes. He also travels to the past.......all this though is missing in this adaptation as are other sections. But it's still a most entertaining film though as i say and far far superior to the recent remake. Of particular note are the special FX especially when moving forward in time in his laboratory. We see a mannequin in a shop window change her style of clothes over the passing years as fashions come and go. A candle burn down and flowers open in seconds and the sun and moon race dizzyingly across the night sky with the passing of time. Also the time machine itself which is a wonderfully realized piece of victoriana , very plushly and intricately designed. Very high quality widescreen DVD transfer here. Beautifully detailed colors and photography. The extras one gets are nice too. A 48 minute documentary entitled ' The Journey Back ' is absolutely fascinating which tells of the story behind the actual ' Time Machine ' prop which was used in the film. How it was created and ended up in an ' Acme ' store with several parts missing until it was spotted and eventually lovingly restored to it's former glory . Hosted by ' Rod Taylor ' this is an excellent extra and we even get a little dramatic episode where he meets up with his old friend 'Filby'. It also has some very interesting information on the special effects by Gene Warren and Paul Barr .Other usual extras are story boards and a trailer . Definitely worth buying this DVD if your a fan of this film........even if your not! Thoroughly recommended!

CRYSTAL EGG