Robinson Crusoe (1997)

Robinson Crusoe flees Britain on a ship after killing his friend over the love of Mary. A fierce ocean storm wrecks his ship and leaves him stranded by himself on an uncharted island. Left ... See full summary »

Directors:

Rod Hardy, George Miller

Writers:

Daniel Defoe (novel), Christopher Lofton (screenplay),

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, William Takaku, Polly Walker

Cast

Credited cast:
Pierce Brosnan	...	Robinson Crusoe
William Takaku	...	Man Friday
Polly Walker	...	Mary McGregor
Ian Hart	...	Daniel Defoe
James Frain	...	Robert / Defoe's Publisher
Damian Lewis	...	Patrick Connor
Ben Robertson	...	James / Patrick's Brother
Martin Grace	...	Captain Braga
Sean Brosnan	...	Cabin Boy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lysette Anthony	...	Mrs. Crusoe
Tim McMullan	...	Crusoe's Second (as Tim McMulian)
Mal Tobias	...	Patrick Connor's Second

Storyline

Robinson Crusoe flees Britain on a ship after killing his friend over the love of Mary. A fierce ocean storm wrecks his ship and leaves him stranded by himself on an uncharted island. Left to fend for himself, Crusoe seeks out a tentative survival on the island, until he meets Friday, a tribesman whom he saves from being sacrificed. Initially, Crusoe is thrilled to finally have a friend, but he has to defend himself against the tribe who uses the island to sacrifice tribesman to their gods. During time their relationship changes from master-slave to a mutual respected friendship despite their difference in culture and religion.

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Plot Keywords:

island | ship | tribe | stranded | ocean | 

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Genres:

Drama | Adventure

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence, and some sensuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 June 1997 (Singapore)

Also Known As:

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe

Filming Locations:

Papua New Guinea

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax Films, RHI Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 91 min (dvd release)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The day before production started on this film, 8 June 1994, Pierce Brosnan was being introduced to the press as the new James Bond at the Regent Hotel in London. He was already sporting his Robinson Crusoe beard.

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Goofs

When Robinson is building his shelter or tree house, a close-up shot shows a nail being driven into wood. Modern in appearance and shape, the nail looks like a galvanized nail bought at a modern hardware store.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Daniel Defoe: I am a journalist Robert, I assure you. I have very little interest in your flights of fancy.
Robert: You Daniel Defoe are a writer. It's your destiny as such to bring this remarkable man's story, a story of intense struggle, extraordinary friendship, and undying love to the world.

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Connections

Version of Little Robinson Crusoe (1924)

User Reviews

It's Crusoe, go check it out!

Pierce Brosnan is a tough man to watch these days. Wherever he goes you can't help but hear the chanting of "Bond...Bond...Bond..." in the back of your head. It's really a curse, as the man is really a great actor.

Which is what makes this movie better than I thought it would be, because for the duration of this film I never once thought of good ol' James. Here, Brosnan has the difficult task of portraying a character even more famous than Bond and it must be said he does so with elegance. A job well done!

The story is well known to everybody, therefore I will not dwell on it. I will say, however, that it was fun to see how the liberty was taken here, as the movie somewhat fantasizes about how Daniel Defoe might have come up with the story about Robinson Crusoe. He's presented with a travel journal of a wayward seaman (Crusoe), and upon reading it (which is the narrative of the film) decides that he wants to write a book about the whole thing.

What this does is this allows the filmmakers a little liberty in changing a few dots in the well-known story of Crusoe. It somewhat protects them from being blamed for any changes that might have been made, because they can say "look, this is what actually happened and if you've read otherwise it's because Defoe changed it!"

Which is of course bollocks, as it is Defoe's NOVEL, but it works like a charm here.

It's tough to nail down a flaw here. Sure, with a bit more money & time they could have done this movie better. And it was weird seeing William Takaga in the guise of Friday making a few simple errors (like saying 'food' the American-way while Brosnan's been saying it in Scottish accent all the time, as in 'fu-ud' and not 'food'). But on the whole the movie worked and you believed it, which is no small feat.

I'd recommend that anybody interested in seeing a movie adaptation of this world-known novel check this movie out. It's certainly worth seeing, even though it may be far from breathtaking. Surely one day somebody will come along and do the book more justice but until then, you can't go wrong with Brosnan...

3/5