Plot
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...
Release Year: 1997
Rating: 5.9/10 (4,294 voted)
Director:
Rod Hardy
Stars: Pierce Brosnan, William Takaku, Polly Walker
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.
Writers: Daniel Defoe, Christopher Lofton
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
Lysette Anthony
-
Mrs. Crusoe
Tim McMullan
-
Crusoe's Second
(as Tim McMulian)
Mal Tobias
-
Patrick Connor's Second
Release Date: 12 June 1997
Filming Locations: Papua New Guinea
Technical Specs
Runtime:|
UK:
|
USA:
(dvd release)
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Filmed in 1994. Never released theatrically in the USA, nor in the UK.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
(At 0:34) The camera zooms out over the "uninhabited" island. Clearly visible are over a dozen modern beach-front houses in a row along two beach sections.
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.
User Review
It's Crusoe, go check it out!
Rating:
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...
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