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Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe

Adventure · Drama · 1997

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.

Movie details

Robinson Crusoe

“One survivor. One island. One warrior. Two men, against all odds.”

1997 Adventure · Drama 1h 32m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.0 / 10

13.4K votes

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

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.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Robinson Crusoe?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

George T. Miller · Rod Hardy

Written by

Christopher Lofton · Tracy Keenan Wynn · Christopher Canaan

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan

Robinson Crusoe

Polly Walker

Polly Walker

Mary

Ian Hart

Ian Hart

Daniel Defoe

James Frain

James Frain

Robert/Defoe's Publisher

Damian Lewis

Damian Lewis

Patrick

William Takaku

William Takaku

Man Friday

B

Ben Robertson

James/Patrick's Brother

Court is in session

Put Robinson Crusoe on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.