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The Story
Tom Hanks is Chuck Noland, a FedEx® operational systems engineer and a
"type-A" personality who is dedicated to
his work. This is exemplified by Chuck's explanation of the essence of
time to his FedEx® Moscow-based workers as he's trying to streamline the Moscow
office operations:
"Because we live or we die by the clock.
We never turn our back on it.
And we never, ever allow ourselves
the sin of losing track of time!"
 On a
next trip to the FedEx field office, Chuck and the
crew go down in a plane crash in a bad storm in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean. Miraculously, Chuck is the sole survivor of the horrific plane
crash and finds himself washed up on an isolated tropical island. There, Chuck
slowly comes to the realization that he may not be rescued any time
soon. The movie makes you feel as though you're cast away with
Chuck, as he struggles to survive day to day and as he deals with life in
solitude. In trying to keep his sanity and satisfy his basic human
need for companionship, Chuck takes on a new friend, "Wilson"
(yes, as
in the major sports equipment manufacturer), a volleyball that washes up in
one of the FedEx boxes that survived the crash. (In contrast to Tom
Hanks, this "Wilson" character has got to be the lowest-paid
supporting actor as Chuck's on-screen companion, ha, ha. 
)
Only a person with sheer determination, hope, and the iron
will to survive can make it as long as Chuck has on the island. But as
the years roll by (yes, years!), Chuck realizes that he won't be rescued as
long as he stays on the island. Unwilling to entertain the distinct
possibility that he may die lonely on the island, he uses his systematic and
analytic engineering background to craft up a plan to conquer the elements
and attempts a daring escape to the open ocean in the hopes of being
rescued. I won't say what happens next, but I will say that I really
like the ending.
For a good majority of the the film, Tom Hanks is the sole
actor on-screen. I think that acting by yourself with little or no dialog can be much more difficult than acting as part
of a cast with emotion dynamic and dialog. It is through
Tom Hanks' phenomenal performance as an actor that makes you believe in the
story. He literally breathes life into this movie and gives it the
credibility that is crucial to a storyline of this nature. As part of
that effect, Tom
Hanks lost about 40-50 pounds, from the first part of the movie (when he
first washes on shore), to depict what Chuck Noland would look like after
spending years cast away on a diet which primarily consists of
coconuts, fish, and crabs. The overall film came together so well, I
was completely captivated in suspended disbelief throughout the
movie. Now that's what I call a great movie experience!
Oh by the way, just to set the record straight, our
screening copy of the "Cast Away" DVD arrived by UPS, not
FedEx. And now I know what to do with my old VHS tapes. Wink,
wink.
The Extras
"Cast Away" comes in a jam-packed 2-disc Special
Edition DVD, that will satisfy even the most demanding collector. On
Disc 1, you'll find in addition to the feature film:
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Audio commentary by director Robert Zemeckis and crew
(director of photography, visual effects supervisor and co-supervisor,
and sound designer): a detailed narrative explaining various aspects of
the movie, including Robert
Zemeckis' vision for portraying the film through Chuck's
perspective.
On Disc 2 are the following bonus features:
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The Making of Cast Away: talks about the making of the
movie, from the formulation of the screenplay to the logistics of
filming in the South Pacific, and the casting of Helen Hunt (27
minutes)
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Featurettes
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S.T.O.P.: Surviving as a Cast Away - talks about
real-world experiences of surviving as a cast away (26
minutes)
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The Island: explains how the island was cast,
including the
protocols in getting permission to film from the people of Fiji on the island,
and tours the production set on the island (13 minutes)
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Wilson: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra -
talks about "Wilson" as a character, the genesis of the
idea, and what it meant to the character Chuck Noland (13
minutes)
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Special Effects Vignettes: with commentary by visual
effects supervisor Ken Ralston and co-visual effects supervisor Carey
Villegas
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The Plane Crash
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The Island Revealed
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Climbing the Mountain Top
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The Wind Changes Direction on the Island
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The Raft Goes over A Big Wave
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The Whales
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Video and Stills Galleries:
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Behind-the-Scenes Image Gallery: a montage of
production still photos set to the theme of "Cast Away"
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Storyboard Galleries: a collection of still photo
comparisons with the original storyboard as well as video
comparisons for "Losing Wilson" , "Raft
Escapes", and "Plane Crash" sequences
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"The Charlie Rose Show" Interview with Tom Hanks: an interesting
interview where Tom Hanks talks about the inspiration for the idea of
"Cast Away", the personality and make-up of a person who would
survive a "Cast Away" scenario, choosing FedEx, the plane
crash sequence, the logistics of shooting the film over the course of
two years, the selection of the island, Tom Hank's experiences and
insights to his other movies including "Forrest Gump" and
"Saving Private Ryan", and his experiences as a director, his
thoughts on the relationship between actors and directors, and what's
next for Tom Hanks (47 minutes)
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Two trailers and ten TV spots
The animated menus are cool and one of the better ones
I've seen. The richness and entertainment quality of the bonus
features alone justifies the price of renting this DVD for those who have
already seen "Cast Away" in the theater. For collectors, it
hits the mark as one of the most collectible titles this year.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this THX certified, anamorphic
widescreen DVD is excellent. The colors are accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is very good. The video
transfer is top notch and pays tribute to director Robert Zemeckis' vision
of shooting this film in a natural, realistic style (without much use of
Hollywood lighting effects). The downside to this natural
cinematographic approach is that it was somewhat difficult to see some scenes,
like during the plane crash scene, but that's how the director intended for
us to see it--as the character Chuck Noland would have seen it through his
eyes. It's interesting to note that while the box says the screen
aspect ratio is 2.35:1, it is actually presented in 1.85:1.
The audio is equally exceptional, and also follows the
director's desire for realistic sound design. The DVD sports both DTS
Extended Surround (dts-ES) discrete 6.1 and THX
Surround EX (matrix) 6.1 surround sound. I prefer the dts-ES
soundtrack (as regular readers are quick to pick up). Overall, both
6.1-channel surround
sound are well balanced and the surround sound channels aggressively mixed, particularly during the
plane crash scene (which literally blew me away!) and action sequences
during Chuck's journey on the self-made raft. The rich and realistic
sound field gave me a feeling of living alongside Chuck, which was what the
director had intended in telling this story.
Conclusion
"Cast Away" is an excellent motion picture
production of what can be a rather difficult story to portray on
film. Tom Hanks is one of few actors who can make this film work (and
does he!). It's a very entertaining film that will sure to take you
out of your mundane everyday life routine. This 2-disc Special Edition
DVD is awesome and does justice for a such great film. This film and
its DVD deserves my "emphatic nod".
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United We Stand
