Robinson Crusoe on Mars

I watched this movie in the early eighties with my dad, it was on the late, late, late-night show and I could not remember the title…with that title, it doesn’t seem possible. I remembered one scene of the movie and googled it for years and 5 years ago…I finally found it. It was better than I thought it would be after watching it as an adult.

The movie was released in 1964 and the special effects were great for being what it was…a 1960s science fiction movie. There are no fake-looking monsters in rubber masks running around and the scenery looks really good. The first half is slow but it picks up well in the second half. Paul Mantee plays the lead role and he does it well. Also, you will see a young Adam West in this one. He is in it a short while.

After a slow start where our stranded astronaut has to find his way around the alien planet, things pick up with the arrival of an odd Man Friday-type who leads him out of the grasp of the aliens who descend with destruction in mind. Mantee holds the lead role together well.

For a low-budget film, this is visually stunning at times. The pre-CGI special effects occasionally fail to convince but the inventiveness of the crew makes it special in its own way.

I would recommend watching this on a slow Sunday. It’s not Star Wars by any means but a fun 60’s movie.

Here is a short description in IMDB

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

 

 

 

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

25 thoughts on “Robinson Crusoe on Mars”

    1. It is a fun movie…and a well done movie.

      I know Vic…I feel bad about doing that to my readers. It was too many. My limit is 3 a day on weekends… but it was my “spring cleaning” day. I had a couple of those posts sitting there and some weren’t strong enough to post by themselves.

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  3. I can see why you wanted to find the movie as it reminded you of a fun time you had with your dad. One of the main fun things I did with my dad was watch movies together. He would always name everyone in it and taught me a lot of old stars that way. I think I have seen this one. There was one I wanted to find for a long time because it scared me so bad as a kid I wanted to dispel the fear by seeing it as an adult. It was about Martians on Earth that were hiding out on a two-track and I remember they got some drunk guy. I actually found the movie a few years ago and wrote the title down — then lost it. Does that plot ring a bell?

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    1. NOW I want to know about that one! Can you remember about when it was filmed? I’m going to start looking. I have a weakness for this…I just gotta know.

      With this one…I remembered the monkey…yea there was a monkey in it and him and the astronaut was eating a plant that had things like sausages on it. For some reason it stuck with me. I finally found it.

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      1. Yes I remember him learning the yellow rocks gave off air and the sausage plant food. I think the movie I’m trying to find was made in the 50s or 60s. It B&W. I think there was a hangout area at the end of the 2-tracks where the young people all congregated. I remember the Martians attacked the old drunk and alcohol maybe was a clue to discovering them or alcohol hurt the Martians. Mars is in the title I think.

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      2. In this movie Lisa…the yellow rocks gave off air and and the plants have sauages like things. That is odd.
        There are slaves in this one…but in this one they are on Mars… whatever movie you saw is darn close to this one in some ways.

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      3. What I’m saying is I’ve seen your movie Robinson Crusoe on Mars and remember those things from it. The stuff about 2 tracks and Mars and a drunk the Martians kill with a title with Mars in it is the movie I’m trying to find. Sorry for mixing them both in the same comment.

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      6. I remember those days with a satellite dish. Glad you are back…
        So far the movie that keeps popping up is Invasion of the Saucer Men

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      9. I just went to youtube and watched a trailer. I think this is it! I wonder why I thought Mars was in the title. Glad you looked beyond. I’m going to watch it right now. THANK YOU for finding this. I will let you know for sure if it’s the one after I watch it (gotta see if they get a drunk guy). Those aliens scared the living **** out of me as a little kid!!!!!!!

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      10. LOL…There was a movie called “It’s Alive” that scared me to death as a kid…JUST the commercial.
        I watched the Crusoe movie last night again. Glad I was able to help…I love finding things.

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      11. Just finished watching the movie. It’s definitely the one that terrified me as a kid. I watch it now and there are a few scary spots, but most of it is funny to me now. The cell phone is a hoot.

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