Talk:Robinson Crusoe on Mars

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One notes this film is really more an adaptation of Rex Gordon's novel No Man Friday (1956) aka First on Mars. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aajacksoniv (talk • contribs) 03:12, 1 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I have moved this here until the issue can be resolved:

The alien machines in RCoM were not the same props used in "War of the Worlds" although they were similar in general outline. The RCoM versions were smaller (about 24 inches across), made of wood and the belly contours were changed. The original "War of the Worlds" war machines were made of copper and were 48 inches from tip to tip.

I've looked around and found "sources" saying they were recycled and others that say they were new. Clarityfiend (talk) 03:07, 7 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

It seems to be that Friday speaks Nahuatl or something that sounds very similar. It would be good to confirm or discard it. --Magnvss (talk) 05:31, 31 July 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Production

Many of the Mars scenes were filmed in Death Valley National Park, California, at Zabriskie Point, Ubehebe Crater, and the Devil's Golf Course.

The alien mining ships are very similar in design to the Martian war machines in the 1953 version of The War of the Worlds. It is unclear whether they were recycled props or new models. Byron Haskin also directed the earlier film.

These ships are often confused with the aliens' space craft, but this is incorrect. Draper sees a single ship land and depart. The ships that repeatedly blast away at the planet's surface are apparently the aliens' version of mining equipment.

In Ib Melchior's original screenplay, Friday was from a planet called Yargor in the Alpha Centuri star system. Much of Friday's Yargorian dialogue was fully scripted in his "native tongue". For the film, however, Victor Lundin altered the lines to a dialect mirroring Mayan phrases and terminology. [1] For example, Friday says that Mars is called "Huehuetenango" in his language. Huehuetenango is a city in Guatemala. Ib Melchior worked on a prior science fiction film, the low budgeted Journey to the Seventh Planet.

When the aliens are seen directing the mining operations from which Friday escapes, they are wearing spacesuits similar to those worn by the astronauts in George Pal's 1950 film Destination Moon. Director Haskin and Pal collaborated on a number of science fiction films throughout the fifties and sixties. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.119.44.71 (talk) 10:14, 13 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Seriously, I have also heard that Haskin recycled the alien props from WOTW, but they are a recycled design, along with sound effects, in any respect. Not having this recognized in the article is a major omission no matter how you look at it.--69.124.113.250 (talk) 14:45, 21 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]