Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Excellent, and Far Ahead of Its Time

By Joe  Nov 20, 2004

Pros: Realism and character development

Cons: (can't recall any)

Robinson Crusoe on Mars is one of those movies I recall from my early childhood. I saw it in a theater in New Jersey soon after it was released, with free movie tickets issued by a neighborhood drugstore to parents who wanted to be rid of their kids... for a summer's afternoon. What a treat. I've looked for the film ever since, in order to hope to see it again on VHS or DVD, but it appears not to be available. Once or twice I recall seeing it on TV, re-run by one of the local NYC stations, in the late 19060s or early 1970s. The scene with the astronaut holed-up in a cave on Mars, watching aurorae in the night sky of Mars (before he had met the native Martian, i think) was quite eery.Also, the scene in which the astronaut views the knowledge-base on his rocket information system, soon after his disabling crash on the planet (or was it a landing?) is quite far ahead of its time, and most impressive and memorable: he is querying the system for information on how to find water, and a recorded video of a geology training-teacher comes on the screen and lectures the viewer: his guidance on finding water is very general and probably useless, no matter on what planet it might be applied. And to sum up his little lecture, the geology teacher says, "In short, WATER IS WHERE YOU FIND IT." At that point, the astronaut looks pretty grim, but undaunted; we all know the feeling!, when we are "at sea", and even the experts seem to be of no help. This moment in the film helps to set up a feeling and sense of the astronaut really being on his own, and lost, and beyond help by others of his own culture in this strange new place. The scene is set to meet "Friday", at that point, who is his only hope.I wish I could remember more; marketers will just have to print this movie on DVD or tape so we can buy it! I hope they will do so soon.--Joe / Tucson Read more Less