Robinson Crusoe is a 1997 American adventure survival drama film directed by Rod Hardy and George T. Miller, and starring Pierce Brosnan in the title role, based on Daniel Defoe's 1719 novel Robinson Crusoe.

[1][2] The film opens to a fictionalized Daniel Defoe being offered to read a castaway's autobiography.

Robinson Crusoe (Pierce Brosnan) is a Scottish gentleman with experience in the Royal Navy and the British army.

He accidentally kills his lifelong friend Patrick (Damian Lewis) in a duel over his childhood love Mary.

Patrick's brothers arrive and threaten Crusoe, but his page manages to buy time for an escape.

Crusoe joins the merchant marine transporting assorted cargoes between ports in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Crusoe resolves to acclimate himself to the island and moves inland, building a shelter and growing food.

He witnesses the native cut out the heart of a defeated enemy and calls him a savage heathen before fleeing to his shelter and preparing a defence.

He says he cannot take Crusoe to his home island because he is considered dead for being a sacrifice and he cannot go to New Britain because the Europeans enslave his people.

Miramax presold Japanese distribution rights to Shochiku along with Gary Fleder's Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Four Rooms, John Ehle's The Journey of August King and Joe Chappelle's Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers in a bulk acquisition deal.

[6] DVD Talk praised Brosnan's performance, but felt that the pacing was too fast and did not allow for proper immersion.