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The Martians in the film Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) look near identical to those in War of the Worlds (1953).

Was this a deliberate story element, an artifact of production such a cost-saving (they have the same director), or something else?

1953:

1953

1964:

1964

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  • do you have example pictures?
    – HorusKol
    Jun 7, 2013 at 13:00
  • 3
    It's called "convergent evolution" in biology. There's only so many ways you can design a smartphone...err an alien delta wing.
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Jun 7, 2013 at 13:58

3 Answers 3

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18

According to the IMDB:

The Martian spacecraft are left-overs from The War of the Worlds. Director Byron Haskin was involved in both projects, although George Pal is often given sole credit for the earlier classic.

Props in Hollywood are often stored and repurposed in other movies after getting a new skin.

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    How big are these model props?
    – johntait.org
    Jun 9, 2013 at 22:53
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In the appendix of Kenneth Von Gunden and Stuart H. Stock's TWENTY ALL-TIME GREAT SCIENCE FICTION FILMS, it is noted that:

"According to (Al) Nozaki, it's possible that DRAWINGS based on the War Machines from WAR OF THE WORLDS were used for the spaceships in RCOM rather than three-dimensional models."

This idea is borne out by the staccato motion of the ships, and the fact that every shot of the RCOM ships is from the very same angle, and zoomed in or out to appear to move.

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Designer Albert Nozaki constructed three miniatures closely resembling the "Martian war machines" he had made previously for Haskin for "The War of the Worlds" (1953). The original Martian machines from "The War of the Worlds" were donated to a copper drive and melted down.

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  • This would be way more interesting if you could also provide sources.
    – Möoz
    Mar 19, 2018 at 3:38
  • Albert Nozaki was one of the art directors on Robinson Crusoe on Mars and was the primary art director on The War of the Worlds. Watch the documentary "The Sky Is Falling - The Making of The War of the Worlds." It is stated there that the original ships were melted down (about 18 minutes into the documentary).
    – Dustin
    Mar 23, 2018 at 2:43

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