I finally sat down and watched Robinson Crusoe on Mars. I had seen clips and read about it while studying film special effects, but I don’t think I had ever seen the entire film before. It was fun and enjoyable, though clearly made in a different era. The pacing is quite slow, and the main plot doesn’t begin until about the one-hour mark.
The effects look dated by today’s standards, but we shouldn’t judge them—or the pacing—by modern expectations. The effects display creativity and imagination on a grand scale. It was shot against the stark backdrop of Death Valley and directed by Byron Haskin (The War of the Worlds, From the Earth to the Moon, The Naked Jungle).
As GMs, we can take away the lesson that survival is a passive goal, and players need more active objectives for their characters. It’s free with ads on YouTube.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars – Free on YouTube
More from the Red Planet
Mars has been living in the popular imagination for a long time. Here are some more movies or reviews involving the Red Planet.