Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Country: USA
Director: Byron Haskin
Production Co: Criterion Collection,Paramount Pictures,Paramount
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 6.5/10
Length: 109 mins

Storyline

During a flight to Mars in the spaceship Mars Gravity Probe 1, Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are forced to deviate from an asteroid and they leave their spacecraft in pods. Draper lands on the surface of the Red Planet and survives. He learns how to produce oxygen and while exploring the planet, he finds McReady dead in his crashed pod. He finds also the monkey Mona and brings the animal to the cave where he is sheltered. He learns that he can breathe the Martian air for short periods but needs also oxygen. But Mona finds water and an edible plant in the underground. .After a long period alone, Draper feels the loneliness. One day, he sees a spacecraft landing on Mars and he believes it might be the rescue team to save him. But he finds aliens working on the planet and some of them are slaves. One of them flees and stumble with Draper and he names him Friday. Now he needs to find a way to be rescued and return to Earth.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Keywords

stranded, mars the planet, monkey, forced labor, human animal relationship, oxygen, alien, slave, spaceship, astronaut, rock, revolver, pistol, crystal, burial, tape recorder, falling over a cliff, starting a fire, american flag, video camera

Short Review

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 Earth" with The Martian.