Robinson Crusoe (1997) Reviews

• Terrible Book adaptation. But not a bad movie.

  Lady_Targaryen2006-10-19

  If you watch ''Robinson Crusoe '', expecting it to be an adaptation of the novel written by Daniel Defoe, forget it, because you are really going to hate it. As a book adaptation, this movie sucks, since many facts were changed, and others, included in the movie, never existed. The character Mary and the fact that Crusoe was not in love when he went to the sea, Crusoe spending less then 5 years on the island( when he stayed almost 30 years)Friday being killed on the island ( when he went to Europe with Robinson), Robinson being a lord (when he was never a lord) and so on, are just a few to mention. But as a movie,without thinking about the book,we can consider it good, with beautiful scenarios and a nice plot. It all starts, when Robinson Crusoe needs to stay away from Britain, since he killed his friend over the love of Mary, a woman he knows since they are kids. Robinson and Mary are in love, but they cannot marry until Robinson stay away from Britain for a while, to the locals forget about his acts. So Robinson takes a ship and starts traveling to many places, until an ocean storm wrecks his ship, and leaves him alone on a desert island. Needing to know how to survive on that place and also trying to go home, Crusoe stays alone for years, until the day he saves a native man from being sacrificed, whom he calls '' Friday''. They start a friendship, and they both learn many things,specially Crusoe, who learns how to respect other cultures and religions besides his own. Ps: ''Cast Away'', the movie where Tom Hanks is alone on an island, have many things in common with this movie,including the fact that both men let their women behind and needs to find ways to survive alone on a desert island. Probably if you enjoy ''Robinson', you are going to like ''Cast''as well(And Vice versa). Ps2: READ the book. It is REALLY good and considered one of the most widely published books in history.

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• It's Crusoe, go check it out!

  KrisRagnarsson2003-02-07

  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

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• Until civilization intrudes

  bkoganbing2013-08-03

  Although this is far from a faithful adaption of Daniel Defoe's classic novel from the 18th century, this version of Robinson Crusoe holds up fairly well and captures what that polemic writer was trying to say about cultures and how they clash. A number of assumptions about what his character Crusoe had about the superiority of his civilization are shattered. Two men from totally different worlds manage to communicate and establish a friendship. To be sure it is one of necessity as Crusoe is cut off from his world and Friday, the cannibal he befriends is exiled from his tribe. Still they do get along until civilization intrudes. Pierce Brosnan is in the title role and aborigine actor William Takaku plays Friday. Defoe himself is written into the film as he is given a purported journal written by Crusoe and as he reads it Brosnan narrates the story. Defoe is played by Ian Hart and Defoe as political polemicist as well as novelist had some advanced views considering the time he lived in. Brosnan and Takaku do very well in their roles. It's a good story with moral if not plot intact.

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• Average rendition freely based on the known novel by Daniel Defoe , well starred by Pierce Brosnan

  ma-cortes2018-08-17

  A mediocre adaptation stars Pierce Brosnan: Robinson Crusoe , telling the well-known story of how a Brit becomes stranded on a desert island . As Robinson escaping from England aboard a ship , after killing a man .Then , a wreckage happens and Robinson washes at a mysterious island .There he frees a native , William Takaku , who is nicknamed Friday . So-so recounting about the classy castaway novel with the loner Robinson who meets his pal Friday , retelling their adventures and unfortunes . While sticking some incidents close to original tale , others are utterly fictious. Being narrated under his point of view . The picture has nothing to do with the classic original by Daniel Defoe , taking freely parts here and there ; but where are the thrills and chills? . The movie relies heavily on the relationship between Robinson and Friday , charting the peculiar treatment the native receives of the civilized man ; as Robinson teaches English language to the escaped native until evil slave traders spoil the fun . Pierce Brosnan gives a passable acting as the distressed castaway stranded on a deserted island and he tries to civilize the proud native Friday . It boasts a good secondary cast with very brief interventions from notorious secondary actors such as Polly Walker , Ian Hart , Damian Lewis and James Frain. The motion picture produced by Robert Halmi and was regularly directed by George Miller : The man from snowy river , Zeus and Roxanna , Aviator , Neverending story 2 , and by Rod Hardy , a Tv usual filmmaker : Mentalist , Librarians , Supernatural , Covert affairs , Mental , Doll house , X files and occassionally for cinema : December boys , Two for Texas , Over the hill, Thrist. Other retelling of this prestigious novel are the following ones : silent version 1927 narrated by Don Carney . Mr Robinson Crusoe 1932 with Douglas Fairbanks . Robinson Crusoe of mystery island 1936 by Max Wright . Robinson Crusoe by Luis Buñuel with Dan O'Herlihy .Sci-fi interpretation of Defoe classic titled Robinson Crusoe on Mars , 1964 , by Byron Haskin with Adam West . British rendition titled Man Friday 1975 by Jack Gold with Peter 0'Toole , Richard Roundtree .Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger 1972 by Rene Cardona with Hugo Stiglitz . Castaway by Nicolas Roeg with Oliver Reed . Robinson Crusoe TV series 2008 with Philip Winchester , Sam Neill

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• Unimpressive

  br2brown2002-03-10

  At the risk of repeating what others have already written, this movie is not the same "Robinson Crusoe" that Daniel Dafoe wrote. While some might question whether this matters, I think it is fair, at the very least, to complain that it falsely presents itself as being something it isn't. I rented this movie to see an adaptation of Dafoe's novel, which this isn't. Lest I leave the impression that the film's "artistic license" is my only complaint, though, I should mention that this isn't a very good movie by any measure. I guess they tried to punch up the book by adding romance, conflict, and action scenes that could best be described as a curious mix of the A Team and MacGyver. Suffice to say, there are better ways for viewers to spend their time and money. 3 out of 10.

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