I was really into this until Friday showed up, then it turned into a "I gotta teach this guy some English !" type thing and I just wanted more martian exploration and survival. OH WELL.

In terms of set design and cinematography this is a world apart (haw haw), to the point where it feels anachronistic. In terms of story, this is some silly made up shit with little to really keep you interested.

No doubt dismissed sight-unseen by some as campy nonsense, this is actually a shockingly intelligent and efficient use of an archetypal story and a limited budget. Ib Melchior and John C. Higgins' script is carefully written, and Byron Haskin's direction solid; good performances by Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin, and Barney the monkey pull one through the occasional lulls. The production design and Winton C. Hoch's cinematography make wonderful use of Technicolor, and the effects hold up quite well.

VERY dated but still good tale of an astronaut stranded on the red planet

Silly but mostly entertaining sci-fi version of the classic tale, that actually sticks fairly close to the original storyline. The first half is more interesting, things get a little stupid when "Friday" shows up.

Sure it's flawed (and slightly boring in the middle), but it's good campy fun with incredible cinematography for a 60's sci-fi.

Unfortunately kinda boring.

This puts the 'T' in "Tedious."

Visually pleasing but very tiring.

I bet I'd appreciate this on an entirely different level if I read the source material, but even so it's an interesting, if very flawed film. The acting is bad, and some plot details are pretty ridiculous. This isn't a problem in the first half, as dialogue is kept to a minimum and the visuals (which are outstanding) and themes carry it along. The combination of the unknown and the expected (death) had me intrigued until later scenes, when the talking begins and it devolves into camp territory.

Excellent,A personal favourite.