Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Robinson Crusoe on Mars’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​Sometimes you need to take a second and look back on what has been done before your time. I love to do this with movies since there were so many good ones that came out that can never be replaced in cinema. Seeing how special effects have changed over the years has to be what you notice most about these films, since now almost everything is done by computers, but back then, all they had were models and pictures that could make you believe you were on a different world. 

Commander Kit Draper and Colonel Dan McReady have found themselves in orbit around the red planet of Mars and everything seems to be going fine for their mission. But looks may be deceiving when a meteor comes barreling towards their ship and they are forced to deviate off course.  With only a limited amount of fuel, McReady tries to maneuver them safely around the planet, but the ship gets caught in the atmosphere. Knowing that they will crash and die on the planet if they stay in the ship, both men are forced to eject to the surface and try to find a way to survive until they can be found. 

Crash landing in his pod, Draper finds that the air on the planet is breathable for a time but will need to rely on his oxygen tanks to keep him alive. Falling back on basic survival training, Draper needs to find a place to call home for the duration, but the planet does not seem to want him there. Being able to locate a cave where he can set up operation, Draper needs to find a way to make a fire to stay warm in the unforgiving nights and noticing that some of the rocks on the surface seem to catch fire, he is able to utilize them for a time. But there are more important things that he needs to focus on as he has to ration his food, water and oxygen to stay alive as long as he can. 

Needing to find McReady, Draper finds his partner dead in a crash, but all is not lost as the monkey that was traveling with them is still okay. Taking Mona back to the cave, Draper knows that time is running out as his oxygen has been depleted and the low levels in Mars’ air will not support him. He passes out, only to find that the burning rocks have another quality about them as they can produce oxygen in a small area. Being able to contain this in his tanks, Draper will now need to find out where to get food and water from and noticing that Mona is not drinking his rationed water, she must have found another source on the planet. Finding an oasis that even has food, Draper finds that they planet is not as bad as he had expected, but with items that can sustain life, he has still not found anyone else living there, but takes precautions to ensure his safety when he finds a skeleton in the Martian soil. 

Talk about a huge change in science fiction movies over the years. It was much easier back in the day to land on an alien planet and find a way to survive in the elements than it is today. With life sustaining elements on the red planet, I really liked how Draper was able to put them all together to survive and make it look like anyone could do it. The madness that Draper falls into without human contact had to be the best part of the movie, since you get to see him deteriorate so quickly and start to hallucinate that others are around him. But the highlight has to come when he sees his first UFO and how his excitement turns into fear when he sees that the other race on the planet is not looking to make friends, but to control visitors at any cost necessary. It’s fun to look back and see how the older movies compare to what we see in theaters these days.  While the graphics are nowhere as close to passable as what CGI can bring to the screen, the storytelling actually serves a purpose.  

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