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Robinson Crusoe (50th Anniversary Edition)

Dan O'Herlihy (Actor), Jaime Fernndez (II) (Actor), Luis Buuel (Director) Rated:
NR
Format: DVD
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 116 ratings
IMDb6.7/10.0
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DVD
September 14, 2004
50th Anniversary Edition
1
—
$28.83 $17.99
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Robinson Crusoe — —
Format Color, Multiple Formats, NTSC, Full Screen, Dolby
Contributor Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernndez (II), Chel Lpez, Jos Chvez, Emilio Garibay, Luis Buuel, Felipe de Alba See more
Language English, Spanish
Runtime 1 hour and 30 minutes
Color Color / Black & White

Product Description

Product Description

Daniel Defoe's British sailor is shipwrecked for 28 years with cannibals, and his man Friday. Directed by Luis Bunuel.

Amazon.com

The most surreal aspect of this adaptation of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe is how faithful Surrealist director Luis Bunuel is to the original book! Which is not to say it's sluggish or literary--Bunuel recreates the story with lush scenery and vivid images, as if he himself were discovering the tropical island along with the Englishman shipwrecked in 1659. Crusoe (Daniel O'Herlihy, later to appear in RoboCop) spends 28 years building a home and struggling to maintain his sanity; only a friendship formed with a former cannibal whom he dubs Friday (Jaime Fernandez) breaks his isolation. Bunuel (Un Chien Andalou, Belle De Jour, That Obscure Object of Desire) hews scrupulously to even the most colonial aspects of the original material. Crusoe's original expedition set out to trade slaves, and when Crusoe first meets Friday, he introduces himself as "Master" and comments, "How pleasant it was once more to have a servant." But moments of puckish humor--such as a theological debate in which Friday questions the emotional stability of God--reveal that Bunuel was hardly blind to these issues. Bunuel's sharp eye results in a straightforward but superb version of the classic adventure story. The dvd has a small handful of extras, including an extensive audio interview with O'Herlihy (who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance), in which he reminisces about Orson Welles and reveals that though the movie is in English, Bunuel never spoke it and O'Herlihy had to learn Spanish so he could take direction. --Bret Fetzer

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 0.7 x 5.4 inches; 2.72 ounces
  • Director ‏ : ‎ Luis Buuel
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Color, Multiple Formats, NTSC, Full Screen, Dolby
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 30 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ September 14, 2004
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Dan O'Herlihy, Jaime Fernndez (II), Felipe de Alba, Chel Lpez, Jos Chvez
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ VCI Entertainment
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0002F6BJC
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 116 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
116 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Zorgen
    5.0 out of 5 stars Robinson Crusoe, a true classic.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    I've read the original story by Daniel Defoe over and over again throughout the years, I never understood why RC kept saying throughout the story how miserable he was, it made no sense, he was living in paradise, it's the modern world that is horrible.
    I enjoyed the movie quite a bit but it needed to be longer to show more of what RC went through to setup his island utopia. This older movie of RC is definitely the best but to properly portray the life of RC the movie would need to be 4 hours long.
    12 people found this helpful
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  • tc wyder
    5.0 out of 5 stars the original castaway
    Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    as old as this movie is,{50 years young} its still a very notable story of a man whose restlessness strands him on a deserted
    island. the storyline has many facets to it. crusoe struggles with the elements and also with his own desperation of escaping his loneliness which is slowly eating away his sanity. it shows mans truimph against all odds.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • William E. Bondar Jr.
    5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining...
    Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2012
    Verified Purchase
    Greetings All, I remember seeing this a long time ago and I wanted to add this to my collection. The movie is a great version of Robinson Crusoe and stays pretty true to the book. Acting is great and the rest of the cast fits right in! Copy is good, sound and clearness good. Cheers! William
    6 people found this helpful
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  • W. G. McCaslen
    4.0 out of 5 stars Needs Remastered Blu-ray Release
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Dvd arrived very quickly and in great condition. Full screen, okay print, English subtitles, 89+min., several extras. Hard to find, expensive 65+ year old movie needs a remastered blu-ray release. At a reasonable price. Although I consider this version the best, it's not by much. Dan O'Herlihy does a fine job as Crusoe. Other versions have been good, too. This one is well worth a watch.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • William Bilyeu
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite movies
    Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    I saw this movie on television many years ago. It is one of the best versions of the Robinson Crusoe.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Michelle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good movie.
    Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Movie followed the story line very accurately! The acting was definitely in the style of the time it was made, but it followed the book rather than going off into wild side stories as another version I watched did. Enjoyable.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Steward H.
    3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Video (Film/Picture) Quality
    Reviewed in the United States on August 6, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    We appreciated that someone had remastered this old classic. The video (film picture) quality was disappointing, but this is not the fault of the seller or remasterer, as the original probably was not of the highest video quality. The dvd was shipped very promptly.
    5 people found this helpful
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  • Ronald Adams
    5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST CRUSOE FILM OF ALL TIME
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    The definitive version of the classic story of castaway Robinson Crusoe and reformed cannibal Friday as they work together to return to civilization. Dan O'Herlihy earned his Oscar nomination for Best Actor in Luis Bunuel's adventure classic.
    8 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Grant Alexander Emery Radke
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on December 3, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    What a journey!
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  • Sylvia
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good movie
    Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    If you don't mind old movies, this one is great. I got it for my two boys. We read the book and then wanted to see a movie. There were many different versions to pick from. This one is the oldest one but it follows the details of the book quite faithfully. We enjoyed the movie.
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  • Julian Hughes
    4.0 out of 5 stars Superb and faithful telling, quite bad transfer to DVD.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 16, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I think this is the best film of the Robinson Crusoe story by a very long way. It's the most faithful to the original story and the character's inner life. It brilliantly illustrates his formidable character and also the fundamental conflicts between what he believes about the world, his own and other people's nature, his beliefs and received wisdom, and the contrast with what he actually experiences and does and understands.

    The DVD itself is a bit disappointing. I had previously seen an illicit xvid rip of an older version and this modern "50th Anniversary Edition" DVD is hardly better than a rather ancient and not very well executed amateur encode from another era. At least it's legal I suppose. This film deserves a genuine restoration and high quality transfer to blu-ray and DVD but it's probably never going to happen.
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  • mary
    2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on August 26, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    bored the kids,wouldn't watch it
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