Crusoe is the story of a slaver traveling to Africa to bring back a group of slaves. However when his ship goes down in a storm he’s forced to exist on a tropical island for a period of time while attempting to find a way to survive. When he encounters a group of cannibals he observes them until he sees their ritualistic sacrifice and scares them away. He helps one of them, a man he calls Lucky, to escape, but attempts to chain him up outside of his cave due to his lack of trust. Unfortunately Lucky is taken and sacrificed anyway as Crusoe finds his head near the sacrificial area. At this point he’s becoming quite lonely and is attempting to devise a way to escape the island. When he runs afoul of, and eventually befriends another native, he and the tribesman begin to build a boat. Not long after it’s finished however Crusoe notices a European ship sailing towards the island. He hides upon the ship as a stowaway, hoping to return home. By this point he’s come to understand the true meaning of freedom and liberty.
It’s an interesting film really.
10. It received mixed reviews.
Critics are notorious for keeping people that depend on them guessing as to what a movie will be like and whether or not it’s worth it.
9. The film is a different variation of Robinson Crusoe.
It’s not just different as in minor details, it’s almost a different story. Think of how little the X-Men followed the actual comic. That’s how different it is.
8. In the book he built a hut on the shore.
His first dwelling wasn’t a cave, it was a hut that he built near the beach. He then built one in the woods and alternated between them.
7. There were two cats along with the dog in the book that Crusoe rescued.
I can see why this might have been omitted, cats would have been kind of tough to train for this film.
6. In the book he finds more than one gun.
Little things like this are what tend to drive people nuts about movies that are adapted from books, but seeing as how the story was supposed to be different it’s not that big of a deal.
5. The native’s name in the book is Friday.
The native that Crusoe names is Lucky, and unfortunately Lucky does not last long as Crusoe finds his head at the sacrificial site.
4. In the movie Crusoe finally does escape the island.
In the movie he escapes by stowing away, while in the book he leaves of his own accord after 28 years on the island.
3. Crusoe went a little nutty for a while in the beginning.
He had no one to talk to, he was isolated, and there was no hope seemingly so it’s easy to assume that a person would go a little nuts.
2. The dog didn’t die right away in the book.
The dog was his constant companion and went hunting with him in the book.
1. A lot of critics thought it was trying to say a lot without as many words.
The imagery and the feeling of the movie made a lot of critics believe that Crusoe was trying to say more than its dialogue possibly could.
It’s at least worth a look.
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