Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

★ 6.3 1h 50m IMDb

Sci-Fi Adventure

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.

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Cast

Paul Mantee as Commander Christopher Draper Died 2013 · San Francisco, California, USA Mantee was born Paul Marianetti in San Francisco, California. A journalism major at San Mateo Junior College, Mantee enlisted in the U.S. Navy for four years during the Korean War that made him decide...

Victor Lundin as Friday Died 2013 · Chicago, Illinois, USA Victor Lundin was an American character actor who is best remembered as appearing in the 1964 science fiction film Robinson Crusoe on Mars as the character Friday and for having later portrayed the fi...

Adam West as Colonel Dan McReady Died 2017 · Walla Walla, Washington, USA Adam West (September 19, 1928 - June 9, 2017) was an American actor best known for his lead role in the Batman (1966–68) TV series and the film of the same name. He was also known for portraying eccen...

Director Byron Haskin

Cast Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, Adam West, The Woolly Monkey

John Chard 7.5/10 Sep 06, 2014

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

drystyx 7/10 Apr 03, 2023

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.