Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) works for FedEx as a systems engineer, travelling the world at a moments notice, sorting out the companies distribution problems. His life is ruled by the clock, as he always has to be going somewhere to meet the company's deadlines, leaving his poor girlfriend behind. Chuck's hectic life soon comes to an abrupt halt when a FedEx cargo plane that he is travelling on crashes at sea, leaving him washed up on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere. With only the clothes he is wearing, and a few washed up packages from the crash, he has to learn how to survive. After 4 years of being stranded on the island, fate offers him an opportunity to return to civilization.
This is one of the few films which I have purchased purely down to who was starring in it, and I am glad I did. Hanks puts in his best performance since Philadelphia, not only because for 90% of the film he is the only person in it, but also his ability to realistically convey so many different emotions. Although the plot is very simple and some what predictable, it is all the little sub-stories which make the film so engrossing. Cast Away is a very powerful film which shows man's dependencies on modern life but when these things are removed his natural survival instinct is shown.
The star of Cast Away is Tom Hanks (Philadelphia)
who puts in a virtuoso performance as Chuck Noland, the man stranded on the remote island. Hanks lost an amazing fifty pounds during the filming of Cast Away to make his appearance after 4 years more realistic. The film really demonstrates what a talented actor Hanks is as he convincingly demonstrates feelings such as despair, anger, pain to name just a few. As he goes on his journey of survival we see some very powerful yet simple scenes, such as when he creates fire for the first time, or when he has to deal with a nasty dental problem (ouch). The next most important character in the film is Wilson, a volley ball. Okay, so a volley ball is not an actor, but Wilson is such an important part of the film, as Chuck turns the ball into a face and turns him into a character who he talks too. Wilson actually takes on the character of Chuck's conscience as shown in the lines from Chuck:
Chuck: [talking to a volleyball] I know you, I know you!...
Interestingly, they actually wrote dialogue for Wilson which was spoken by a crew member to assist Hanks in creating a realistic conversation with the ball.
The real supporting cast only appear in the opening and closing scenes of the film and includes the likes of Helen Hunt (What Women Want) and Nick Searcy (Runaway Jury). Although they don't appear on screen for long, the performances from the supporting cast are very good and help to create the character of Chuck both before and after being stranded.
The film is directed by Robert Zemeckis who also worked with Hanks on Forrest Gump. It seems to me that when these two get together they manage to pull out a bit of magic from each other. Although Zemeckis has created a very choppy movie, this actually helps as it stops it from being to drawn out and ultimately boring. The film is actually set over 4 years, so it had to be created in the choppy manner so that it showed the important bits from each year, rather than concentrating on just one part of it. Another amazing fact is that for the duration of the film whilst Nolan is stranded on the island, there is no soundtrack, you don't notice this to start with.
= The Cast =======
Tom Hanks .... Chuck Noland Wilson the Volleyball .... Itself Nick Searcy .... Stan Helen Hunt .... Kelly Frears
*****************************======= Bonus Material =============
On the first disc is the film and also an audio commentary from the director and other crew members which tells you a lot of interesting facts about how certain scenes were created.
On the second disc you get several features.
First one is the making of feature which is always useful as it does explain everything through behind the scene footage and interviews with the cast and crew.
The second feature is a look at how you would go about surviving on an uninhabited island, which features the screen writer being taught by survival experts how to do this.
Next is a feature which takes us around the beautiful island where a lot of the film was shot, very nice location.
Next is a humorous feature on Wilson the volley ball, mildly amusing.
Then there is a feature on the special effects in the film which is quite interesting as you don't necessarily realise the effects when you are watching the film.
Last main feature is an interview with Tom Hanks on American TV show which allows you to see another side of Hanks.
There are also plenty of extra items on the disc such as story boards, illustrations and trailers which all add value.
All in all it is a very good collection of bonus material.
*****************************======================= The Message & Christian View Point =============================
What this film shows is man's ability to overcome any problems that they may face. But what also shows is man's reliance on the creature comforts of life and when these things are stripped away, you learn to appreciate things a lot more. It's a good lesson for all of us to just sit back and appreciate how blessed we all are.
Some people may feel that this film is over long and self indulgent, personally I feel that it is a very good film which has a great message and is also a very enjoyable watch. The film is a mixture of drama, action and at times is very sad and sentimental. Fans of Hanks will love this but it will also appeal to drama fans. Personally I feel that Hanks may have been over shadowed by new movie star Wilson.
Cast Away is available on Amazon for only £6.97.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1999 - Drama - Director: Dick Maas - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: William Hurt, Jennifer Tilly, Denis Leary, Michael Chiklis, Francesca Brown
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Cast Awayreunites star Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis in their first collaboration ... more
since the heavy-handed sentimentality ofForrest Gump. Thankfully, this time their film's life-affirming message is delivered with more subtlety, attributable bot...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Cast Awayreunites star Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis in their first collaboration ... more
since the heavy-handed sentimentality ofForrest Gump. Thankfully, this time their film's life-affirming message is delivered with more subtlety, attributable bot...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Cast Awayreunites star Tom Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis in their first collaboration ... more
since the heavy-handed sentimentality ofForrest Gump. Thankfully, this time their film's life-affirming message is delivered with more subtlety, attributable bot...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Tom Hanks is Chuck Noland a man in a hurry. His job for Federal Express has him traveling ... more
the world on a moments notice exhorting the company's employees to speed things up--"never turn your back on the clock." When he's suddenly called away for busi...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Advantages: brilliant acting, great special effects, tonnes of special features, cheap Disadvantages: feels as if special effects are prioty over acting, storyline wasn't as good
![Cast Away (2 Disc Set) [DVD] [2001]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78548822.jpg "Cast Away (2 Disc Set) [DVD] [2001]")
![Cast Away [DVD] [2001]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/80615837.jpg "Cast Away [DVD] [2001]")
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