Cast Away is a sort of Tom Hanks does Robison Crusoe one-man show. In the course of the film we see him lose weight, grow a beard and dreadlocks and become best friends with a volleyball called Wilson.
THE CAST
Tom Hanks-Chuck Noland
Helen Hunt-Kelly Frears
Nick Searcy -Stan
Chris ... Read review
Crusoe's experience would have preferred the island of theErotic Castaway. As the show is introduced we learn that this is reallyErotic Survivor, which immediately explains the set-up. Eight sexually (and personally) frustrated people are split into two "tribes" on adeserted island. They're given three saucy challenges to compete against each other for a grand prize of $20! The challenges include a Relay Race with a phallic toy, the licking of cream and gooey mud wrestling. What makes this most obviously a sexy spoof of the US showSurvivor(as opposed to the UK's cold catastrophe on the Scottish isle of Taransay), are the explicitly frank confessions to camera. Redhead (it ain't natural!) Esmeralda and dark-haired Darian are the most extrovert in what they say and do. When push comes to shove in the nudie scenes, they're clearly having the best time. There are no moments rediscovering fire or constructing makeshift shelters. Instead this is all about poking fun (and fun poking) at a TV hit that wished it could get away with as much as this film does.On the DVD:Erotic Castawayis in 4:3 and Dolby Stereo--but picture and sound quality aren't really top priority here. The extras are slight: a gallery of 15 stills spotlights the best moments, while a 10-minute documentary of raw footage shows cast and crew endlessly cracking up in between takes.--Paul Tonks
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Action/Adventure - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Jack Ging, Marla Heasley, Lance Legault, Melinda Culea, Mr T, Dwight Schultz, Dirk Benedict, George Peppard, Carl Franklin
A review by Mauri on Castaway DVD February 18th, 2002
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Loved it
Story
Good
Characters / Performances
Outstanding
Special Effects
Good
Soundtrack
Average
Advantages:
Good story, Good performances
Disadvantages:
none really
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Cast Away is a sort of Tom Hanks does Robison Crusoe one-man show. In the course of the film we see him lose weight, grow a beard and dreadlocks and become best friends with a volleyball called Wilson.
THE CAST
Tom Hanks-Chuck Noland Helen Hunt-Kelly Frears Nick Searcy -Stan Chris Noth-Jerry Lovett Lari White-Bettina Peterson
Directed by Robert Zemeckis Written by William Broyles Jr.
Rated (PG) duration 143min
THE PLOT
This is a modern take on the Robinson Crusoe tale. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland a highly motivated Fed-ex executive who is constantly travelling around the world sometimes to the detriment of his friends and family. At the start the film is set around Christmas in 1995. Chuck has spent time with his fiancée Kelly and they have just exchanges presents before he has to leave on a business trip. At the airport they say their goodbyes but before he leaves he promises Kelly to be back by New Year’s Eve. The Fed Ex plane he is on runs in to a ferocious storm and develops engine trouble eventually crashing in to the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles away from its plotted course. Everyone on board is killed apart from Chuck who manages to survive by clinging on to an emergency life raft. After days of drifting he is washed ashore a desert island with only the dingy, the clothes he is wearing and some washed up fed ex parcels from the planes wreckage to help him survive. He soon realises that rescue is very unlikely and we follow Chuck has he comes to term with his situations and eventually begins to cope with survival on the island. One of the parcels he finds contains a volleyball, which he uses as a companion by painting a face on it and calling it ‘Wilson’ after the manufacturers. Wilson becomes his only source of company and unlikely as it may sound a relationship develops between them. Four years go by until by accident an opportunity for escape from the island presents itself. I don’t think it would spoil the story too much to say that he does eventually manage to go back home, that is never really in doubt. However the audience like Chuck don’t know what has happened there during his absence and presumed death, so the real attraction of the last third of the film is to find out how Chuck will cope with his return to civilisation and if he can pick up his life from where he left off.
BACKGROUND AND THEMES
Tom Hanks is one of the most successful actors of recent years. He was first nominated for an academy award for his 1988 film ‘Big’ where he played the part of a child trapped in an adult body. Although he didn’t win the award he was successful in 1993 with his portrayal of a man dying of AIDS in the film Philadelphia (1993). This marked a slight change in career as he tended from now on to take more serious roles rather than making the comedies or romantic comedies he used to make earlier in his career. A year after his Oscar for Philadelphia he won another for Forrest Gump (1994) and became only the second actor to win back-to-back academy award. He also received nominations for Apollo 13 (1995) and this film five years later.
Hanks’s appeal lies in his ordinariness in both looks and manner. More than any other actor he is the everyman figure, audiences identify with him and sympathise with his characters. These attributes are very important in a film such as Cast Away where ultimately it is Hanks performance that has to carry the film. Cast Away reunites him with the director Robert Zemeckis who directed Hanks in Forrest Gump as well making other successful films such as 'Back To The Future' and 'Romancing The Stone'. Cast Away seems to be a bit of a departure for Zemeckis who tends to be at his best directing action adventure films or at least films that deal with a bigger canvas such as Forrest Gump.
Cast Away is a ‘small’ self contained film for the most part it is only Hanks that features and it is very much dealing with the psychology of being alone and surviving in an alien environment. Despite its narrow ambitions the film does have clearly discernible themes the most obvious of which is time. Chuck is a control freak, he is obsessed with time and time management. This is good for his work where he has to organise efficient delivery of parcels around the world but his obsession seems to be making him neglect his personal life. He is constantly working and always has a pager with him and travels abroad so often that he and Kelly can’t seem to find a spare day to get married.
After building this side of his life up (maybe a little to obviously) in the early part of the film we are then presented with the sharp contrast of his fight for survival on the island. On the island time is to a great extent meaningless and is solely measured by the rising and setting of the sun and the daily hunger pangs he suffers. In some ways keeping track of his time on the island by counting the days, weeks, months and years become the only way he can retain his sanity and not give up hope.
Another obvious symbol of this point is that the only personal possession of any value to himself that has survived the crash is an antique watch that Kelly gave him just before he left. This watch, which contains a picture of Kelly, becomes one of only two tangible links he retains with is home and past life. The other link is one of the fed ex parcels washed up on the shore that he determines not to open but to eventually return to it’s sender. His love for Kelly and this self- imposed task become the focus of his existence and manage to keep him sane.
Another theme of the film is fate and how small insignificant decisions we make in our lives sometimes become affected by events beyond pour control and lead to unforeseen consequences. If Chuck had not decided to take that trip and had stayed with Kelly they would have married in the New Year instead that short trip became a four year ordeal. We are posed the question if something is fated happen can anything change prevent it from doing so?
One final observation the film makes is how fragile our comfortable existence is in our modern life. We take so much for granted, clean water, food, shelter all of which are necessary for our survival. It is only when we are deprived of our machines and power to control our environment, in the same way, as Chuck is, that we realise how far removed from our basic existence we have become. Life on the island is a constant struggle against the elements and the only tools that Chuck has at his disposal are his cunning and his will to live.
A large part of the film features only Chuck surviving on the island and thus would contain little or no dialogue. This is a problem for the narrative of the film and can make the story less appealing. In the Robinson Crusoe a 'Man–Friday' his introduced to provide company for the hero and act as a sounding board for his thoughts. In Cast Away this role is filled by a volleyball (!) that Chuck find in one of the washed up parcels. After he accidentally places his bloody hand on the ball and leaves a palm print he notices a similarity it has to a face and thus the volleyball develops into ‘Wilson’ his constant companion. With the passing of time ‘Wilson’ become a real friend to Chuck to the extent that Chuck risks his life to get him back when it’s washed away in the sea. This is an obvious narrative tool used by the director to make the story easier to tell and it works well and doesn’t feel out of place within the context of the story.
OVERALL IMPRESSION OR IS IT ANY GOOD?
The subject matter for this film always ensures an interesting story as long as it is handled correctly. In this regard Robert Zemeckis has done a fine job. He tells the story at just the right pace and divides the time between Chuck’s life before the crash, on the island and after his return, perfectly.
The special effects are well done without becoming bigger than the story. The plane crash sequence was especially impressive as are some of the sequences at sea both during the storm and when Chuck tries to leave the island fighting against the incoming tide. The photography is outstanding as is the camera work.
Chuck’s life on the island and his struggle to survive are portrayed very realistically but what elevated a competent piece of filmmaking into something special is the performance by Tom Hanks. In this kind of film the viewer is always tempted to put himself in the place of the hero and ask ‘what would I do in that situation?’ but in order to really sympathise with the character and take his struggle seriously the hero has to have an ‘everyman’ quality about him that everyone can associate with. Tom Hanks has this quality and was the perfect choice for the role. I don’t think this film would have worked as well with someone like Bruce Willis in the lead.
Hanks’s performance is perfectly measured. His transformation from overweight middle aged businessman to a lean, hungry savage is both physically (he had to gain and lose large amount of weight for the movie) and emotionally convincing. His final return home is touching but not overtly sentimental, a rarity in Hollywood movies. An academy award nomination was well deserved.
The only other notable role in the film is filled by Helen Hunt, another Oscar winner. For an actress of her ability she is rather underused in the film but her performance is still captivating despite the little time she is on screen.
The conclusion to the story is neat and ties in with the scenes at the very start thus giving the whole film a sense of completeness. Overall this is a very enjoyable film with a fine performance from Tom Hanks that on its own would makes the film worth seeing.
Advantages: Keeps you interested, suitable for most people, a bril movie! Disadvantages: the beginning is not too hot!
...This was what happened when Castaway came out. I was very dissappointed and so as soon as we were able to rent out the video of this fab film, I dashed to my local Blockbuster! I walked home (with my carrier bag sparkling!) full of excited anticipation! In our family we have a ritual about watching movies. I got the popcorn, the others got the drinks and dimmed the lights. We were ready for action.............
The two main characters in this whopper ... ...only Tom Hanks-(my all time favourite!) Most films with Tom Hanks, Forest Gump, Apollo 13 etc.... I have thoughrly enjoyed and that goes for Helen Hunt as well. So I was expecting wonders, I was definetly not dissappointed!
The beginning may have started off slightly dull, but if you haven't seen this marvel then don't give up on it! Sorry if I am rambling a bit, I will try and get straight too the point ! Ok here goes......
The overall plot of ...
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Advantages: Hanks, Emotional, Great Acting Disadvantages: Some may find it boring
Castaway
No this is the not the film of the same name, made many years before with Oliver Reed where he went to a tropical island on purpose with a random woman and strutted around in the nude with her for the rest of the movie, this is one starring Tom Hanks as a man who involuntarily gets stranded on an island and thankfully keeps most of his clothes on!
This movie was always going to be a one-man affair, and therefore the film-makers where going ... ...lead role. They chose well, and Tom Hanks pulled off what I believe to be one of his best performances of his career. He had very little support from any other actors in the movie and it truly was a solo performance, and he did it brilliantly.
The story is basically, Chuck Noland (Hanks), is a systems engineer for the FedEx company and he is just about to happily marry his girlfriend (Helen Hunt) when he is called away to accompany a set of FedEx ...
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This film stars Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt, although Tom Hanks stars much more prominently. If you don't like Tom Hanks then this film is certainly not for you. In the film Hanks plays Chuck Noland, an executive worker for the FedEx company, travelling on planes from place to place to ensure delivery of all the packages. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going to happen! Before the completely predictable plane crash Hanks propose to his ... ...you know the answer would be yes, that is if Hanks ever made it back home. The plane suffers a catastrophic failure and plummets in to the sea. Hanks, the sole survivor, manages to clamber in to a dinghy and floats towards a tropical Island, in the middle of nowhere. If you’ve ever read the book 'Lord of Flies' this Island is just how William Golding described his. A golden beach lined with palm trees! It doesn't take long before Hanks realises he ...
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Advantages: Tom Hanks is pretty good, good SFX, unconventional ending Disadvantages: You can have too much of Tom Hanks... nothing really exceptional about the film
I saw this after reading somewhat mixed reviews, though the consensus seemed to be that it was good. With the basic plot being a man (Chuck, played by Tom Hanks) stranded on a desert island and having to fight for survival, the real question was: with the subject has been dealt with so many times before, what could they possibly do here that was any different from the myriad films going before it? Well, to its credit, it does manage to be a little ... ...stages; before, during and after the shipwreck. (Or, in this case, the air crash.) So I'll deal with each of these stages in turn. BEFORE The character is reasonably well drawn, though he is quite an irritating character in many ways (quite possibly less so to Americans, but we Brits are less tolerant of the managerial speak and the slush). So you don't feel 100% sympathy for him at first. But then I suppose you don't need to. The night he flies ...
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Advantages: The end Disadvantages: The start and middle
...ok!! Like most Castaway films he adapts to living on the island, making tools for cutting and getting used to eating on what he can find. The scenery on the island was good but all through the film I kept waiting for someone else to appear in the film, they didn’t!! I like Tom Hanks but I am afraid that watching him and him alone for about an hour wandering about the island was too much for me. But for the fact I had paid for the video and ... ...So if I was castaway for 4 years and returned to find my wife remarried would I be devastated, I know I couldn’t keep the smile of my face for weeks. Or the reverse she is castaway for 4 years and someone calls with the news that she has turned up, the person giving me that news would get a serious punch in the mouth!! Anyway overall the film was average but very predictable, I found it very boring in parts and certainly couldn’t recommend ...
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Advantages: A GOOD CHILDRENS STORY Disadvantages: DATED SPECIAL EFFECTS
...very exciting to a child, as I tried this one out on a neighbour's child of 10 who was equally enthralled by the story today, as I was at the age of 11.
A DVD of this film has been released in May 2005, and I am rather glad that it was because it means that children of today's families can have that same entertainment that thrilled me in my early years. The colour is not amazing, but that does not detract from the viewing pleasure, having a runtime of 98 minutes.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THE FILM ?
Yes I would. I believe that children need entertainment of a quality that does not diminish with time. Imagine the violence of cartoons in this day and age, imagine the amount of violence and mayhem displayed on television sets, and then take a look at the kind of stories that survive the onslaught of television, such as Enid Blyton...
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Advantages: Excellent Performance, Appreciate the Small things in life Disadvantages: A little too slow, but not a major problem
... 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...
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Advantages: Great film, great direction, great individual performances, gripping plot Disadvantages: Slightly dodgy lighting, plot not properly explained
...: Jürgen Prochnow (Beverly Hills Cop II, Twin Peaks, The English Patient)
Is fantastic right up to his death.
Baron Vladimir Harkonnen: Kenneth McMillan (guest appearances on Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, Murder She Wrote, Magnum)
Absolutely disgusting skin diseases. The less said about him, the better.
*CREW*
Director: David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks etc.)
Good direction, shame about the lighting.
Producer: Raffaella de Laurentiis.
Writer: Frank Herbert (can’t think of anything else he’s written, except the Dune series)
Music: Brian Eno (Castaway)
Marty Paitch (Pretty Woman, My Girl, The Fugitive) etc.
*DVD EXTRAS*
1. Slide Show – stills from the film, and a couple of collages. Nice.
2. Theatrical Trailer (that deep voice-over man must be so rich by now…)
3. DVD Credits – really not that exciting...
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24.01.2002
