Cast Away
Short description
Cast Away centres on Chuck Noland, an inspector for the international courier FedEx whose life runs on tight schedules and constant travel. That routine leaves little room for his girlfriend Kelly, and the two are moving toward marriage. During a business flight over the Pacific, the plane goes down in a storm. Chuck is the only person to survive, and he washes up alone on an uninhabited island, cut off from everything he knew. What follows is a years-long struggle to stay alive and to find some way off the island.
Robert Zemeckis directed the film, the twelfth of twenty-three he has directed in chronological order, arriving between Contact and What Lies Beneath. William Broyles Jr. wrote the screenplay, and Zemeckis produced alongside Steve Starkey and Tom Hanks, who plays Chuck. Helen Hunt appears as Kelly, with Nick Searcy, Jenifer Lewis, Geoffrey Blake and Peter Von Berg among the supporting cast.
Made for about 90 million dollars, the film took roughly 430 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 7.8 out of 10 from around 686,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from more than 12,500 votes. A critics' rating of 7.6 out of 10 from 156 reviews sits close to those audience scores, indicating broadly similar assessments across both groups.
What's left behind the scenes
- Virtually all of the sound for scenes filmed on the island was added after the filming process was completed. The main effect Zemeckis wanted to achieve was complete silence. Due to the presence of a surfing team nearby, some extraneous noises still made their way into the recordings.
- Most of the night scenes were actually filmed during the day. Darkness and the night sky were added during post-production.
- Alan Silvestri wrote only 15 minutes of musical accompaniment for the film (including the music for the end credits). Throughout the 103 minutes of screen time (the amount of time Tom Hanks' character spends alone on the island), not a single musical insert sounds – only silence and the occasional lines spoken by Hanks.
- The main character's name is Chuck Noland. If his name is written as C. Noland, it sounds like 'See no land'.
- Fred Smith, the founder and owner of FedEx, whose name appears throughout the film, received a cameo role. As Robert Zemeckis claimed, FedEx did not receive a single cent in sponsorship money.
- The film was shot on the islands of Fiji.
- After the film, the only question on most viewers’ minds is, “What was in the unopened package?” Robert Zemeckis said that it contained a waterproof mobile phone powered by solar panels.
- The producers compiled a list of almost useless items that the protagonist was supposed to find in the packages: ice skates, an evening dress, divorce papers, video cassettes, and so on. Then the list was passed on to survival experts who suggested how the items could be used: an axe, a fishing net, and so on.
- Filming took place from January 18, 1999, to May 18, 2000.
- Production of the film was halted for one year to allow Tom Hanks to lose approximately 20 kg (44 lbs) and grow a thick head of hair. During this time, Zemeckis's team managed to film "What Lies Beneath".
- One of the three volleyballs used during filming was sold at auction for $18,400 USD.
- When Christopher Nolan first lit the fire, he joyfully sang the song "Light My Fire" by The Doors.
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