Byron Haskin

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Robinson Crusoe on Mars

Special-effects wunderkind and genre master Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, The Outer Limits) won a place in the hearts of fantasy-film lovers everywhere with this gorgeously designed journey into the unknown. When his spaceship crash-lands on the barren wastelands of Mars, U.S. astronaut Commander “Kit” Draper (Paul Mantee) must fight for survival, with a pet monkey seemingly his only companion. But is he alone? Shot in vast Techniscope and blazing Technicolor, Robinson Crusoe on Mars is an imaginative and beloved techni-marvel of classic science fiction.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1964
  • 110 minutes
  • Color
  • 2.35:1
  • English
  • Spine #404

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 1994 featuring screenwriter Ib Melchior, actors Paul Mantee and Victor Lundin, production designer Al Nozaki, Oscar-winning special effects designer and Robinson Crusoe on Mars historian Robert Skotak, and excerpts from a 1979 audio interview with director Byron Haskin
  • Destination: Mars, a featurette from 2007 by Michael Lennick detailing the science and dreams behind Robinson Crusoe on Mars
  • Music video for Lundin’s song “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” from 2007
  • Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos, production designs, and promotional material
  • Theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and space historian Michael Lennick, Melchior’s “Brief Yargorian Dictionary” of original alien dialect, and a list of facts about Mars from his original screenplay

    New cover by Bill Sienkiewicz

Purchase Options

BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary from 1994 featuring screenwriter Ib Melchior, actors Paul Mantee and Victor Lundin, production designer Al Nozaki, Oscar-winning special effects designer and Robinson Crusoe on Mars historian Robert Skotak, and excerpts from a 1979 audio interview with director Byron Haskin
  • Destination: Mars, a featurette from 2007 by Michael Lennick detailing the science and dreams behind Robinson Crusoe on Mars
  • Music video for Lundin’s song “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” from 2007
  • Stills gallery of behind-the-scenes photos, production designs, and promotional material
  • Theatrical trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by filmmaker and space historian Michael Lennick, Melchior’s “Brief Yargorian Dictionary” of original alien dialect, and a list of facts about Mars from his original screenplay

    New cover by Bill Sienkiewicz
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Cast
Paul Mantee
Commander Christopher “Kit” Draper
Victor Lundin
Friday
Adam West
Colonel Dan McReady
Mona
Barney, the Woolly Monkey
Credits
Director
Byron Haskin
Screenplay
Ib Melchior
Screenplay
John Higgins
Based on a story by
Daniel Defoe
Producer
Aubrey Schenck
Executive producer
Edwin F. Zabel
Director of photography
Winton C. Hoch
Art direction
Hal Pereira
Art direction
Arthur Lonergan
Production design
Al Nozaki
Assistant directors
Robert Goodstein
Assistant directors
Arthur Jacobson
Makeup supervision
Wally Westmore
Makeup artist
Bud Bashaw Jr.
Technical advisor
Edward V. Ashburn
Editing
Terry Morse
Process photography
Faciot Edouart
Special effects by
Butler-Glouner, Inc.
Special effects by
Lawrence W. Butler
Sound recording by
Harold Lewis
Sound recording by
John Wilkinson
Music
Van Cleave

Current

Al Reinert’s Top 10
Al Reinert’s Top 10

Writes Al Reinert, director of For All Mankind: “Having your film in the Criterion Collection is like marrying your daughter into an old distinguished family that intimidates and humbles you. She might feel at home there, but I am inclined to stand

Dave Filipi’s Top 10
Dave Filipi’s Top 10

Dave Filipi is the Director of Film/Video at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. He has been a fan of the Criterion Collection since the days when laserdisc was king.