While on a scientific mission in the orbit of Mars, an earth
spacecraft flies low in order to avoid hitting a meteor. But in doing so, the
ship gets caught in the gravity of the Red Planet. With no choice but to eject,
Commander Christopher "Kit" Draper (Paul Mantee) gets separated from his fellow
astronaut, Colonel Dan Mac Ready (Adam West, in a pre-Batman role) when he lands
on the surface of Mars. As the title of the film indicates, Draper leads a
Robinson Crusoe-like existence as he struggles to survive on the harsh terrain
of Mars, which is depicted as having too thin an atmosphere for him to breathe
comfortably.
But thanks to his dogged determination, a strong will to survive, and some
new-found scientific discoveries, Draper doesn’t just scrape by, he manages to
thrive pretty well by himself. Yet it’s not long before Draper realizes that
he’s not alone on this red ball of rock. Released in 1964, Robinson Crusoe On
Mars has obviously not dated very well--especially in its depiction of the
climate on the Red Planet. But the film is so well done, so engrossing, that
this nitpick doesn’t really matter. It’s an imaginative, fun movie to watch that
essentially serves as a science fiction update of Daniel Defoe’s classic novel.
Long unavailable on home video, RCOM has not only been finally released on DVD,
but by one of the more classier companies around: The Criterion Collection. The
special features include a great documentary called Destination Mars, which
talks about what the Red Planet is really like, compared to the depiction of it
in the film. Surprisingly, the filmmakers went to great pains to keep to the
science of the day, making RCOM scientifically accurate…at least for 1964.
There’s also production designs, and "script excerpts", which show a radically
different version of the film that screenwriter Ib Melchior originally written.
There’s even a music video of "Robinson Crusoe On Mars," a song that actor
Victor Lundin (Friday) wrote and performed at science fiction conventions.
There’s also a commentary, originally recorded in 1994, by some of the cast and
crew. In addition to the fun stuff on the DVD, there’s also a booklet with an
essay by writer/director Michael Lennick, which talks about the making of the
film and its impact. There’s a small section of fun Mars facts at the end of the
booklet, as well as a translation of several key words of the alien language
that Friday speaks. Although Robinson Crusoe On Mars may no longer be up to date,
it’s still a classic SF film that’s very enjoyable.
--SF
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