Search - Robinson Crusoe [50th Anniversary Edition] on DVD

Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1953 DVD Release: 09/14/2004 Format: DVD Audio Tracks: English, Spanish Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 30 mins Studio: Vci Video Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Adventure, Adventure Drama

Exiled from his Spanish homeland, director Luis Bunuel set up shop in Mexico. Here he made his only American-financed film, The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe. This is a reasonably reliable version of the Daniel Defoe's novel about a 17th century shipwreck victim (Dan O'Herlihy) and his "Man Friday" (James Fernandez). Bunuel cannot resist tossing in his occasional barbs against the smugness of Society--though not so many as to scare away customers. The director's long-standing distaste with the church is discreetly manifested in a few brief scenes wherein Crusoe's faith in God wavers. Magnificently photographed in Pathecolor, Adventures of Robinson Crusoe was released in Mexico two years before its American distribution. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dan O'Herlihy - Robinson Crusoe
Jaime Fernandez - Friday
Felipe de Alba - Capt. Oberzo
Chel Lopez - Bosun
José Chavez - Pirate

Luis Buñuel's The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (released in America as Robinson Crusoe) was probably his best-known movie in America, thanks to its being in English and also having been shown extensively on local television throughout the 1960s. It was long sought after by various video companies and has now surfaced on DVD from VCI Entertainment, who have done a pretty good job of loading it up with extras. Nonetheless, the movie itself is probably going to be the biggest treat here; it disappeared from the airwaves after the 1960s, meaning that most people who saw it on the small screen probably never realized that it was shot in color. The latter is nicely represented here, given the limits of Pathe Color, the process that was used. The image is bright and nicely saturated, and the storm sequence that opens the action in the movie is suitably ominous. Watching the movie anew, one realizes how its star, Dan O'Herlihy, earned his pay and then some, starting with the shipwreck scene. The color tones vary somewhat, as would be expected in a movie of this vintage shot in Pathe Color that has not had a full-blown restoration, but it's nothing too jarring or any kind of a problem, and the audio is nice and loud and sharp, giving good play not only to O'Herlihy's finely nuanced narration and dialogue, but also to Anthony Collins' excellent score. The chaptering is reasonably generous at a dozen markers outlining the major plot elements, and the disc has been given some fairly generous bonus features. Beyond biographies of the director and star, an optional Spanish-language track (the movie was released in Mexico almost two years before it came out in America), and a poster and lobby card art, plus trailers for this and two other movies, we get an extended audio interview (accompanied by stills) with O'Herlihy, conducted by David Del Valle in 1985. It's a bit noisy but highly informative, O'Herlihy being a gifted raconteur and a highly informative speaker, ranging freely across his whole career (including its accidental beginnings), and it gives a fascinating account not only of the making of this movie, but also of the making of Orson Welles' Macbeth. The disc opens on a very easy to use main menu that goes several layers deep and is very easy to exit or re-enter. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide