Robinson Crusoe 1954 ENG ESP 100% XviD Restored

Robinson Crusoe (1954): Adventure, Shipwrecked, Pirates, Cannibals.



Video Codec : XviD 100% Quality, Insane/Unlimited, LEM, Lanczosmtplus

Frame Size ...........: 576x432 (4x3)

Video FPS ............: 23.976fps

Burn Tested? .........: No. (Insane uses Qpel, so, uh, good luck....)



Audio: English, Spanish: 96kbps ABR Lame MP3 mono.

Subtitles: English, French, Portuguese-Brazillian, Hungarian.



Extras:

* Post-Restoration Retro-Trailer

* David Del Valle 1985 interview with Dan O'Herlihy



Source: NTSC Restoration DVD.



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IMDB review: One of Bunuel's finest..., 5 October 1999

10/10 Author: Dave Godin (Dave G) from Sheffield, England



Of the many great films Luis Bunuel was involved with, ROBINSON CRUSOE is

perhaps his most neglected, but in my view, it is one of his very best movies.


Defoe's story of an emissary of white, Christian civilisation suddenly alone in


the universe and having to fend for himself, is a wonderful metaphor from which


to explore the human condition and spirit, thrust into a world in which, if

there is a God, he is seemingly powerless to help or intervene.



As Crusoe returns to his roots, he becomes more and more at one with Nature

and his own nature, until the yearned for contact with a fellow human being,

provokes fear and terror when it appears likely to happen. But, although his

own fear means that his initial treatment of Friday is harsh and cruel, the

enslavement of a fellow human being enables Crusoe to see how depraving and

corrupting such vile practices are, and eventually he and Friday become friends


and comrades, but only when Crusoe realises he must give Friday total and

unconditional freedom.



The film contains some of Bunuel's most potent cinema: the feverish dream

sequence where Crusoe's father chides him for his adventurous, and, therefore,


"wayward" spirit; the scene where he is so desperate to hear another human voice


he goes to the Valley of the Echo and shouts a Psalm, and then walks in despair


into the sea until his torch is extinguished by the waves; and the final scene


where, leaving the island at last with Friday, he looks back for the last time,


and hears the ghostly echo of his faithful, but long since dead dog Rex barking.




Shot in Pathécolor, some of the scenes are beautiful, whilst others could be

improved upon, but the sheer drama and intellectual engagement it provides

overcome such minor technical faults, and the whole is wonderfully enhanced by


a first-rate score by Anthony Collins and Luis Breton. Dan O'Herlihy as Crusoe


carries the entire film, and was quite rightly nominated as "Best Actor" for

this role at the 1954 Academy Awards. It is perhaps Bunuel at his most laid-back


and subtle, but, believe me, watched in the right frame of mind, (which means


forgetting all your preconceptions about the well-known story), it packs as much


punch as any of his films. A rare and beautiful gem well-worth searching out.