Robinson Crusoe

[Old_McDonald]

Hey Guys,

Just saw that Robinson Crusoe USN is coming out on DVD. Good comedy flick with Dick Van Dyke.

Anyone hear yet of Robinson Crusoe on Mars coming to DVD yet?

[JGG1701]

Is that the one with Adam West ????????

[Old_McDonald]

Yes, Adam West had a brief role. His monkey took over then.

It's the movie where they took the Martian war machines and painted them
white for a bombing run

[heiki]

Originally Posted by Old_McDonald

Yes, Adam West had a brief role. His monkey took over then.

It's the movie where they took the Martian war machines and painted them
white for a bombing run

Actually the Martian war machines do not appear in that movie. That is one of the biggest misconceptions around.

[AZbuilder]

Well heiki, they do look like modified War of the Worlds Martian War machines to me abet a bit modified in the tail and a crystal blaster assembly on the bottom.

AZbuilder
John Davis

[John O]

Originally Posted by heiki

Actually the Martian war machines do not appear in that movie. That is one of the biggest misconceptions around.

Yup, and the Ford Crown Victoria and the Mercury Grand Marquis are completely different cars, don't share a scrap of sheetmetal, no way to confuse 'em.

No, I think the bigger misconception is that the MWM and the ships seen in RCOM aren't essentially the same design just reworked a bit. Maybe they didn't use the same miniatures, but they certainly didn't bother to distinguish the designs enough from each other that this "misconception" of re-use of the MWM has persisted - and rightfully, IMHO.

John O.

[rw2516]

Don't both machines make the same sound when firing weapons? What is that sound that the WOW blasters make? Seems like it appears in other movies too.

[heiki]

Originally Posted by AZbuilder

Well heiki, they do look like modified War of the Worlds Martian War machines to me abet a bit modified in the tail and a crystal blaster assembly on the bottom.

AZbuilder
John Davis

Yes, they look like them but they were designed differently.



I have the Laser Disc of "Robinson Crusoe on Mars". It has the studio blue prints of all the ships. There were 3 types. The Mars Gravity Probe, the alien master ship, and the flying drones.



The benefit of having the Laser Disc is the commentary track which talks about the criticism of the SFX team’s designing the drones to appear manta shaped and thus confuses most people. The extras on this disc are amazing. During the release, radio stations were given song tie-ins, theaters were encouraged to have BoyScout sleep-overs. They even showed a Lunar Models resin kit of Paul Mantee.
I hope this is helpful for those who still think the props were reused.

[X15-A2]

The machines in RCOM are the same basic design as those from WOTW but they are not the same miniatures. The ones used in RCOM were carved from balsa wood while the WOTW miniatures were made of hand-formed copper. Not sure of the size of the RCOM machine miniatures but I believe that they were smaller too. They do share the same form as those from WOTW so the confusion is understandable.

[Old_McDonald]

Just curious.

is the laserdisc release in widescreen or 4.3?

[heiki]

Originally Posted by Old_McDonald

Just curious.

is the laserdisc release in widescreen or 4.3?

The laserdisc is in widescreen. The film was lovingly restored for this. The producers of the laserdisc talked about how much they thought of this film as a forgotten classic.

[AZbuilder]

I have RCOM on DVD which I picked up at last years wonderfest along with Rocketship XM and Darkstar. Too bad my copy did not have the extras that your Laserdisc has, I would love to see the blueprints of the ships and and of the MGP mothership in particular. is there any way you can get a screen cap of the blueprints and post it or e-mail it. I would like to do a scratch-build of the MGP and a kitbash of the lifeboats.

AZbuilder
John Davis

[gruffydd]

Thought this thread might refer to the old Luis Bunuel flick since Dan Herlihy just died. Anyone remember that one? When I was a kid it'd be a "double feature" on TV with Wizard of Oz around Thanksgiving. Cannibalism!