Could you Survive?
 Mar 16th, 2008
(Mar 21st, 2008)
Advantages:
Excellent Performance, Appreciate the Small things in life
Disadvantages:
A little too slow, but not a major problem
Recommendable:
Yes
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
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  Leigh36295
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Can someone tell me where I can request a product?. I've tried doing what it says on the Help sectio...
Member since:26.07.2007
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Review rated by 31 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
Castaway - DVD
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Released: 2001
Running Time Approx: 143 mins
Certificate: 12.
Disk 1: Main Featurette This film stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, A Fed-Ex manager who's proffesional and personal life is run by the clock. After a dinner with his friends and partner, he is sent away to work over christmas, and has to go to Malaysia on a business trip. Shortly before leaving, he has a brief encounter with his girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt), who gives him a gift of a photograph of her inside a watch. He then boards the plane and everything in his rushed to-the-minute life is going to plan. Then the pilot tells him to put on his seatbelt, because they are about to hit slight turbulance. So he does as he is told, but then the plane starts shaking and the onboard lights start flashing on and off. His watch falls from his seat, and not wanting to loose a gifl from his girlfriend he leaves his seat to find it. He then gets it but there is a loud thump to the plane and the steward bangs is head and suffers really bad bleading. So one of the pilots give Noland a life raft. And tell him to use it when they are in the water. Shortly after
the planes windshield smashes and the water floods in. Noland starts swimming to safety, but the water current begins to drag him under, So he pulls the cord on the life raft which drags him straight to the waters surface, where he climbs onto the raft and looks at the surroundings and the planes wreckage in the distance.
He wakes up on a strange island, and quickly realises that he is alone and no longer has the comforts of everyday life, and must fend for himself if he is to survive. He learns, after a little hard work, how to open cocunuts and drink the milk inside, so as not to dehydrate. He tries fishing, with a spear and dagger, which doesn't work out. And he makes a SOS sign in the sand, but after climbing a high hill he sees that the sign is very hard to spot. Later he finds some Fed-Ex packages that he was deliveing and decides to open them to see if theres anything inside to aid his survival. In them he finds some iceblades which he uses to cut open the fruit on the island to get drinks, And a Wilson ball. Which he just discards at first. Then later when he is trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, he slips and cuts his hand, and out of frustration he pics up The Wilson ball, and throws down the beach. But then he notices the blood from his hand has left a print all the ball, which looks like a face. And due to the make of the ball, he names it Wilson, and starts talking to it, to keep some of his sanity. Then we see him 4 years later, where he as learned very well how to survive, and now knows how to catch fish with a spear, predict the weather by a self made calendar, and collection rain into cocunuts to drink from. When piece of the plane washes up on shore, Chuck decides to make a raft from the wood on the island, and use the plane debris, as a sail. He gets to work and shortly after attempts to leave the island. I will not say what happens, or if he makes it off the island. But there are mixed emotions along the way with very sad and also very happy moments.
Tom Hanks is a amazing actor in this film, taking up about 90% of the screen time to himself, but still making the film thoroughly entertaining. The way he goes from a rushed worker, to a scared plane crash victim and then to a man who almost accepts his fate to be on the island forever who has learnt to live and survive there.
The scene with the plane crashing is a very poweful scene and tom hanks potrays this excellently, with the look of fear on his face, but also the look of disbelief as he doesn't know what is happening. The dedication with him making this film is also extremely good, with him loosing 50 pounds, to play the part of Noland 4 years after being on the island. The way the story is written is also extremely good, with the viewer actually feeling how he feels about the ball, and feeling emotionally attached to it, even tho it is only a ball. But this ball plays a huge role in the movie, and shows the mental state that Noland is truely in.
I think that this is one of those storys that tell people to be happy with what we have, we take freshwater, and food whenever we want it to granted, and dont truely appreciate it. But if we were stuck on a island with limited supply of each of these, we would see life in a whole different way.
Conclusion. Overall it's an excellent film, truely deserving 4 out of 5. I'd have given it 5 but it seems to drag a little, but is still completely entertaining throughout.
Disk 2: Special Features.
Making of Featurette: This is very interesting to watch, with interview with cast and crew and behind the scenes footage of them making the movie.
Surival Guide: Suvival Expert teach the screenwrites about many different way to survive on a deserted island. This is extremely interesting, and would help out alot, in the unlikely event that it happened to you.
Special Effects: This explains about the many special effect used in the film, although while watching you don't even notice that it uses them, which is a very good thing. There are also interviews with Tom Hanks, and the usual Special Features such as trailers and story boards.
This disk adds extra to the film and makes you appreciate it much more, which is a very good thing so it deserves 4 out of 5 also. (Also Posted on dooyoo)
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21.03.2008 18:45
Great review, Love Cast Away one of Hank's very best performances :o) Debs x
19.03.2008 16:43
Great review - and another fab performance from Tom Hanks - he does play some good roles. Paula
16.03.2008 23:20
You're right, Tom Hanks is amazing in this film; there aren't many actors that could pull off almost an entire film of just him and a plastic ball and make it so watchable! Lexy