Robinson Crusoe on Mars Movie Review

When the orbital ship Mars Gravity Probe 1 is forced to make an emergency landing on the planet's surface, Com. Draper (Paul Mantee) faces the immediate problems of limited supplies of air, water, and food. “Hard” science purists may not approve of the solutions he finds but that's not a problem. This adaptation of Daniel Defoe's novel is more about loneliness anyway. And despite the film's age, it has a remarkably contemporary look. One of the key props is a prototype camcorder, and Draper is often dressed in baggy pants, high-topped boots, T-shirt, and what appears to be a gimme cap. To create a believable alien world, director Byron Haskin combined sets and models with well-chosen Death Valley locations. Some elements are a bit campy now and the title may sound like it belongs on a kidflick, but the film is still a lot of fun to watch. The laserdisc version preserves the original widescreen ratio and contains extra material.

1964 109m/C Adam West, Vic Lundin, Paul Mantee; D: Byron Haskin; W: Ib Melchior, John C. Higgins; C: Winton C. Hoch; M: Nathan Van Cleave. LV IME