Cast Away [WS]

Director: Robert Zemeckis, Tom Hanks, Steve Starkey, Jack Rapke

Overview

An exploration of human survival and the ability of fate to alter even the tidiest of lives with one major event, Cast Away tells the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a Federal Express engineer who devotes most of his life to his troubleshooting job. His girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) is often neglected by his dedication to work, and his compulsive personality suggests a conflicted man. But on Christmas Eve, Chuck proposes marriage to Kelly right before embarking on a large assignment. On the assignment, a plane crash strands Chuck on a remote island, and his fast-paced life is slowed to a crawl, as he is miles removed from any human contact. Finding solace only in a volleyball that he befriends, Chuck must now learn to endure the emotional and physical stress of his new life, unsure of when he may return to the civilization he knew before. Cast Away reunites star Hanks with director Robert Zemeckis, their first film together since 1994's Oscar-winning Forrest Gump.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/05/2002
UPC:	0024543036654
Original Release:	2000
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	20TH CENTURY FOX
Language:	English
Sales rank:	1,700

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Tom Hanks	Chuck Noland
Helen Hunt	Kelly Frears
Nick Searcy	Stan
Chris Noth	Jerry Lovett,Actor
Lari White	Bettina Peterson
Geoffrey Blake	Maynard Graham
Jenifer Lewis	Becca Twig,Actor
David Allen Brooks	Dick Peterson
Semion Suradikov	Nicolai
Nan Martin	Kelly's Mother,Pilot Al
Peter von Berg	Yuri
Dmitri S. Boudrine	Lev
Leonid Citer	Fyodor
Anne Bellamy	Anne Larson
Dennis Letts	Dennis Larson
Wendy Worthington	Wendy Larson
Skye McKenzie	Skye Larson
Valerie Wildman	Virginia Larson
John Duerler	John Larson
Steve Monroe	Steve Larson
Ashley Trefger	Lindsey Larson,Lindsey Larson
Alyssa Gainer	Katie Larson,Katie Larson,Katie Larson
Albert Pugliese	Gregory Larson,Gergory Larson
Brandon Reinhart	Matt Larson,Matt Larson
Lisa Long	Lisa Madden
Lauren Birkell	Lauren Madden
Elden Henson	Elden Madden
Timothy Stack	Morgan Madden
Alice Vaughn	Alice Stockton
Gage Bebak	Gage Stockton,Chase Stockton
Amanda Cagney	Amanda Stockton,Amanda Stockton
Fred Semmer	Fred Stockton,Fred Stockton
Joe Conley	Joe Wally
Aaron Rapke	Ralph Wally
Garret Davis	Pilot Blaine,Pilot Gwen
Jay Acovone	Pilot Peter
Christopher Kriesa	Pilot Kevin
Fred Smith	Himself
Michelle Robinson	FedEx Anchor
Tommy Cresswell	FedEx Anchor No. 2
Rich Sickler	FedEx Manager
Derick Alexander	Taxi Driver
Michael Forest	Pilot Jack
Yelena Papovic	Beautiful Russian Woman
Valentina Ananyina	Russian Babushka
Jennifer Choe	Memphis State Student,Memphis State Student
Paul Sanchez	Actor
Yelena Popovic	Beautiful Russian Woman
Valentina Ananina	Russian Babushka
Fran?ois Duhamel	French FedEx Loader
Matthew Reinhardt	Matt Larson
Tim Stacker	Morgan Stockton
Christopher North	Actor
Victoria Burrows	Actor
Semion Sudarikov	Actor
Alan Silvestri	Composer

Technical Credits

William Broyles Jr.

Robert Zemeckis

William Broyles Jr.	Screenwriter
Robert Zemeckis	Producer,Screenwriter
Tom Hanks	Producer
Jack Rapke	Producer
Steve Starkey	Producer
Joan Bradshaw	Executive Producer,Producer
Victoria Burrows	Casting
Doug Coleman	Stunts
Bud Davis	Stunts
John Frazier	Special Effects
Kenneth D. Pepiot	Special Effects
Ken Ralston	Special Effects
Randy Thom	Sound/Sound Designer
Martin Montoya	Special Effects
Amit Agrawal	Special Effects
Derek Casari	Sound Effects
Ken Fischer	Sound Effects
David Amborn	Special Effects
Richard Blackwell	Stunts
Eleanor Beaton	Sound Effects
James G. Thomas	Special Effects
Bryan Wohlers	Special Effects
Ken Mieding	Special Effects
Steve Wolf	Special Effects
Steven J. Boyd	Producer
Cherylanne Martin	Producer
William Kaplan	Sound Mixer

Editorial Reviews

By updating Robinson Crusoe for contemporary audiences, director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) and megastar Tom Hanks created one of the more unusual and engrossing Hollywood movies to wash up on the big screen in quite a while. Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a workaholic Federal Express engineer whose plane goes down over the South Seas, leaving him stranded alone on the proverbial desert island for four years -- a cruelly ironic fate for a man obsessed with time to the point of compulsion. For the better part of Cast Away, we watch as Hanks figures out how to stay alive using the meager resources available to him -- including the contents of the FedEx packages that wash ashore from his wreck -- and his rudimentary progress makes for entertainment as involving as any effects-laden blockbuster. There is suspense in anticipating how he will solve the problems that confront him: opening a coconut, collecting drinking water, and most daunting of all, making fire. Cast Away, like its hero, only comes alive when stripped of the trappings of civilization. Everything leading up to and following Noland's stay on the island -- even the extended and terrifying plane crash -- feel beside the point. There is more genuine pathos in his final scene with the anthropomorphized volleyball that becomes his cherished companion than there is in any of the teary-eyed exchanges with girlfriend Helen Hunt. Although the movie is overly freighted with allegorical and spiritual significance, the scenes on the island work because they hark back to primal pleasures of earliest cinema, when audiences were spellbound simply by the sight of a human being on the screen going through the basic routines of existence.