2. Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Just saw this one today thanks to Netflix. It was the Criterion Collection DVD version and was a darn clean cut.
Oddly I can't remember if I had seen it before so I went into it today with a clear mind. The effects are of course dated but the basic story line holds up.
After watching it the odd thought occurred to me that there are similarities between it and 1985's
Enemy Mine with Louis Gossett, Jr. & Dennis Quaid. Now, before you say I'm crazy, both movies involve a space ship pilot stranded on a seemingly uninhabited planet with harsh environments. The planets in both are rich in minerals and attract miners who use slave labor. The stranded pilot, in the course of spending a considerable amount of time on the barren planet, bonds with a member of the race that that is being used for slave labor. The pilot beats all odds and is rescued.
Now, of course, there are some major plot elements in the latter that is not in the former, but
Robinson Crusoe on Mars is a pretty basic story line. In a sense, it is almost like somebody took the basic plot and gave it an updated treatment to come up with
Enemy Mine.
Now with that aside,
Robinson Crusoe was a pretty good movie and I can see why it would go on some fans 'Best Of' lists. Seeing Adam West in his pre-
Batman days is always interesting because West, like William Shatner, was a serious actor who played in a number of roles but was forever identified as a particular character that they never were able to break out of again.