Robinson Crusoe on Mars

After trying to avoid a meteor, a spaceship is sucked into Mars' gravitational pull, forcing the astronauts to eject inside a small capsule, Draper (Paul Mantee) first, and his co-pilot (a small part by Adam West) second. Draper is unable to find his co-worker once he lands, but does find the test monkey Mona.

Draper spends the first day huddling in front of a fire instead of doing much of anything constructive to remedy his situation or find his co-pilot. As the days wear on, with the help of the monkey, he finds an oxygen source, water and food. He also discovers the wreckage of the capsule and that his co-pilot is dead.



The main spaceship continues orbiting Mars but instructions from Draper aren't working for an automated landing.  He tries to combat his isolation by doing such nonsensical things as making bagpipes, as well as taking walks. He is astonished to find a shallow grave with bones, which he deduces is a murder victim.

One night he spies another ship in the distance that has landed. He thinks it is a rescue vehicle but it seems hostile, firing onto the planet surface. Draper takes some surreptitious video and realizes they are mining ships blasting for materials, not realizing he is there. During the blasting, he encounters a native, who wears a bracelet similar to one on the skeleton in the shallow grave. They escape back to Draper's cave.

The video reveals that the new guy, and others, are some sort of slave labor for the mining ship. Draper names him Friday (Victor Lundin) and threatens him to toe the line or he'll return him to the slave colony (nice guy, what a hero for our story).

The film makes Draper to be the superior being, teaching Friday English, having more technical knowledge, but the way Draper treats Friday, to me he seems like a jerk, like all those imperialist explorers of old that took over a native land and its people (and I guess still do in many countries). It's not until Friday saves Draper that they start becoming more equal.  Then there is a convenient rescue just when things are at their worst.

The special effects look middle grade and something more for Saturday morning kids shows, although some bits are better than others. The space science is definitely lacking, although the film calls itself scientifically accurate, which I guess it was at the time it was made. This is more an adventure tale than scifi, although it makes an effort to use space and science concepts.  Curiously this is part of the Criterion Collection of films, but I don't exactly see what qualities they saw in this film to make it part of the collection.

The film improves as it goes along, especially if you overlook the cheesiness of the science. The abrupt rescue ending could have been drawn out more for drama.