Robinson Crusoe on Mars

[Robert M. Blevins]

'Robinson Crusoe on Mars' was produced in 1964 and starred Paul Mantee, Adam West and Vic Lundun (sic) as 'Friday.'

Even today, it stands up pretty well among the cult sci-fi films. The location shooting bears a strong resemblance to actual Pathfinder and Mars Rover photographs today. On the original movie posters there is a sort-of disclaimer:

'This film is SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE. It is only one step ahead of present reality!'

The special effects and technology used in the film are solid and reasonably believable, even looking at it more than forty years later. Mantee and West (pre-Batman) play two astronauts orbiting the Red Planet. A meteorite forces them out of orbit and they plow into the Martian atmosphere, forcing them to abandon to the surface in two small landing craft.

They land in separate locations. Mantee survives, West is killed during his own landing. The story follows the basic plot line from the original Robinson Crusoe from there. (No big surprise)

The most famous line from the film is when Mantee, after living alone for some time, shouts down into an empty canyon: "Hey...Mr. Echo! Go to hell!"

I recommend this film if you have not seen it previously. It avoids the usual cheesy stuff in the script and the effects are great for the time. [img]/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img]
I attached a jpeg image of the original 1964 movie poster. I have the actual one posted up in my office.










"Don't give up reaching for the stars...
just build yourself a bigger ladder."

[erazmus]

Robert,
I remember this one. The only really cheezy thing in it is the title.
Mike

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