Robinson Crusoe on Mars

A science fiction film that was supposed to be one of the most underrated of it's time and genre, "Robinson Crusoe on Mars" kind of disappointed me for it's lack of depth in characters and story. 

"Adam Weest! Adam Weest! Adam Weest"

The film starts on a crowded Mars Gravity Probe 1 with 2 crew members Colonel Dan McReady (Adam West) and Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper (Paul Mantee). The ship is forced to change it's course to avoid a meteor, they avoid it but instead lands on Mars with both Mcready and Draper with Mona the monkey on 3 separate pods. 

The story then focuses on Draper as we find out later that McReady dies on the crash and Mona the monkey survives, Draper must now figure out a way to stay alive on the harsh living conditions of Mars .

He must solve the problem of oxygen, food, shelter and water to stay alive long enough for him to be rescued. 

With all of his struggles on the planet he also realizes that he is not alone as he discovers a mining camp full of alien slaves, one of the slaves was able to escape and Draper was able to hide with the alien on his cave. He affectionately nicknames the slave Friday (Victor Lundin), together with Mona they must find a way to stay alive long enough to be rescued and escape the aliens that are enslaving Friday's kind. 

"Your eyes are as pretty as those 2 stars right there."

To my surprise it was not a typical Sci fi film but the movie I felt at times was eerily campy, maybe it was because Adam West reminded me of his TV Batman days or the fact that Draper made a living room out of a cave on Mars that made it ridiculous to me and also Mona the monkey. I felt that the special effects could have been utilized more sparingly despite being so dated, the spaceships also looked like the ships used on "The War of the Worlds" that the director Byron Haskin directed. I thought that the film could have been more darker and we could have seen the aliens that were controlling the ships but Haskin instead turned it into a survival story of 2 men. 

I also couldn't help to feel that it had some homosexual undertones to it, some people might say that it was more like the stranded castaway finding companion with a native ala "Robinson Crusoe" but with Friday bare chested and his long hair it kind of looked like he was the wife and Draper was the husband. It could have been better if Friday was a woman instead to make it more interesting and also difficult for Draper the man to survive with a woman and a monkey. Now if only the film makers could have created a spaceship not resembling Haskin's previous film I think that could have helped the film more. Haskins "The War of the Worlds" set the bar but with this film I felt that he took a step back.

Grade: C