Robinson Crusoe (1997)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Directors:

Rod Hardy
George Miller

Writers (WGA):

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

Release Date:

12 June 1997 (Singapore)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure

Plot:

Robinson Crusoe flies Britain on a ship after killing his friend over the love of Mary. A fierce ocean...

Plot Keywords:

Island | Ship | Ocean | Tribe | Robinson Crusoe

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)

Also Known As:

Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (USA) (complete title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for adventure violence, and some sensuality.

Runtime:

105 min | UK:87 min | USA:91 min (dvd release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Finland:S

Filming Locations:

Papua New Guinea

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Pierce Brosnanwas asked to stay on an extra few days past the original filming schedule. He was offered more money but instead requested and was given a Porsche 911 Carrera.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the beginning of the voyage, Crusoe is wearing a wedding ring. He hasn't gotten married yet.

Quotes:

[mourning the loss of Crusoe's dog, Skipper]
Man Friday: Skipper go to Crusoe's God?
Robinson Crusoe: No. Dogs don't have mortal souls. Only men have mortal souls.
Man Friday: Too bad. Good dog.

Movie Connections:

Version of Robinson Crusoe (1970)

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