Back home

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

151 votes

Stranded on Mars with only a monkey as a companion, an astronaut must figure out how to find oxygen, water, and food and companionship on the lifeless planet.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1964-06-01

Runtime: 110 mins

Director: Byron Haskin

Spoken language: English

Genres: Science Fiction, Adventure

Original title: Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Production Companies: Aubrey Schenck Productions, Paramount Pictures

Production Countries: United States of America

Cast

Commander Christopher Draper

Paul Mantee

Friday

Victor Lundin

Colonel Dan McReady

Adam West

Mona

The Woolly Monkey

Reviews

drystyx

Batman dies. But he dies early in this film, so that isn't a spoiler. This is one of those "think piece sci-fi" films from the sixties and seventies. It's sort of a sister piece to films like "Silent Running", "The Andromeda Strain", and a few others that go more into psychology than action. Still, there is action, or at least the semblance of action due to smart writing and directing. An astronaut finds himself alone on Mars after Batman dies. Okay, it isn't Batman, but it is Adam West. We're wondering if he is imagining the strange things going on, or if they're real. And there are strange things happening. And those "strange things" get wilder and wilder and more sinister, but is this a dying man's last dream? Or is it real? We're left with believing it is real.

2023-04-03

John Chard

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) The title does the film no favours at all because it kind of reeks of daft Z movie origins, in fact if I hadn't looked up some research on the film prior to viewing it, I would have expected a comedy! This is an interesting variant on the much loved Daniel Defoe story about Robinson Crusoe, only as the title suggests, this is set on Mars. Whilst orbiting Mars, Commander Kit Draper is forced to eject and is stranded on Mars with only his wits and Mona the monkey for company. Here he has to source all the basic ingredients to stay alive, but he finds that mans need for companionship can trouble the mind greatly, and not only that, he finds that he is not alone after all, and the visitors that turn up are not exactly of the friendly kind.. This is a very solid and intelligent sci-fi picture, dealing with isolation and the will to stay alive, Robinson Crusoe On Mars is very much a film that relies on story over style, that it succeeds is with much credit to Paul Mantee as the lonesome Draper, carrying the film for two thirds on his own (except for the wonderful Mona Monkey of course), he infuses emotion and credibility in abundance to lift the film way above average. 7.5/10

2014-09-06

Recommendations

3.5

Mission Galactica: The Cylon Attack

1979-08-09

A compilation of Battlestar Galactica episodes 10–12 and 21, with alternate footage. Running low on

Robinson Crusoe

1997-06-11

Robinson Crusoe flees Britain on a ship after killing his friend over the love of Mary. A fierce oce

Jen Ni Estas

Mars IV

2016-08-29

2053. Four astronauts, assisted by a robot, are on a two-year mission in an subterranean base on Mar

3.3

2010

1984-12-06

While planet Earth poises on the brink of nuclear self-destruction, a team of Russian and American s

3.1

Deep Impact

1998-05-08

A seven-mile-wide space rock is hurtling toward Earth, threatening to obliterate the planet. Now, it

Not Alone: The Incident

2023-10-07

In the first installment of Not Alone, following a failed mission that results in the death of her p

Aelita: Queen of Mars

1924-09-24

A young man travels to Mars in a rocket ship, where he leads a popular uprising against the ruling g

2.9

Red Planet

2000-11-10

Astronauts search for solutions to save a dying Earth by searching on Mars, only to have the mission

Lawrence of Arabia

1962-12-11

During World War I, English officer Thomas Edward 'T.E.' Lawrence sets out to unite and lead the div

3.4

Spaceballs

1987-06-24

When the nefarious Dark Helmet hatches a plan to snatch Princess Vespa and steal her planet's air, s

3.8

Spartacus

1960-10-13

The rebellious Thracian Spartacus, born and raised a slave, is sold to Gladiator trainer Batiatus. A

3.5

Sunshine

2007-04-05

Fifty years into the future, the sun is dying, and Earth is threatened by arctic temperatures. A tea

Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars

2017-08-21

Federation trooper Johnny Rico is ordered to work with a group of new recruits on a satellite statio

3.1

Beneath the Planet of the Apes

1970-04-23

The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission lands on the planet of the apes, and uncovers

2.6

Stranded

2001-09-24

A team of astronauts on the first mission to Mars crashes onto the surface, losing contact with Eart

2.8

I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

1957-11-23

Professor Frankenstein creates a teenager from an accident victim, who gets angry when he learns he

3.2

Space Cowboys

2000-08-04

Frank Corvin, ‘Hawk’ Hawkins, Jerry O'Neill and ‘Tank’ Sullivan were hotdog members of Project Daeda

3.1

The Astronaut Farmer

2007-02-23

Texan Charles Farmer left the Air Force as a young man to save the family ranch when his dad died. L

3.4

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

1970-10-29

When a bored Sherlock eagerly takes the case of Gabrielle Valladon following an attempt on her life,