Complete credited cast: | |||
Paul Mantee | ... | Commander Christopher Draper | |
Victor Lundin | ... | Friday | |
Adam West | ... | Colonel Dan McReady | |
The Woolly Monkey | ... | Mona |
During a flight to Mars in the spaceship Mars Gravity Probe 1, Commander Christopher 'Kit' Draper and Colonel Dan McReady are forced to deviate from an asteroid and they leave their spacecraft in pods. Draper lands on the surface of the Red Planet and survives. He learns how to produce oxygen and while exploring the planet, he finds McReady dead in his crashed pod. He finds also the monkey Mona and brings the animal to the cave where he is sheltered. He learns that he can breathe the Martian air for short periods but needs also oxygen. But Mona finds water and an edible plant in the underground. .After a long period alone, Draper feels the loneliness. One day, he sees a spacecraft landing on Mars and he believes it might be the rescue team to save him. But he finds aliens working on the planet and some of them are slaves. One of them flees and stumble with Draper and he names him Friday. Now he needs to find a way to be rescued and return to Earth. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
I've got to say this movie was ahead of its time. The story is solid, and the acting first rate. Paul Mantee portrays the isolation on Mars perfectly. The back drops and special effects are superb and don't overtake the acting. I've seen it a million times, but whenever it's on AMC or Turner I have to catch some if not all of it!!