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 Director
: Robert Zemeckis
Starring
: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, Nick Searcy, Chris Noth, Lari White,
Geoffrey Blake, Jenifer Lewis
Picture
1.85:1 Anamorphic, DD 6.1ex, DTS 6.1es, Dual-Layer, Double
Disc, Keep Case
Running
Time : 143 mins
The
story:
At
the edge of the world, his journey begins.
Fed Ex systems engineer Chuck Noland (Hanks) is ripped out
of his hasty, by the clock existence in a plane crash on
route to Malaysia. He finds himself alone on the shores
of a tropical island. First, frustration gets to him and
then he realizes how little his chances are to ever get
back to civilisation. Four years later, Chuck has learned
very well how to survive on his own: mending his dental
health, catching fish with a spear, predicting the weather
with a self-made calendar. A photograph of his girlfriend
Kelly (Helen Hunt) has kept his hopes alive all these years.
Finally, Chuck takes the opportunity to take off for home:
He sets off on a wooden raft with a sail that has washed
ashore.
The
summary:
Notwithstanding
being a blatant marketing campaign for Federal Express this
film is surprisingly weighty in its updating of the Robinson
Crusoe legend.
Tom Hanks is very good in the portrayal of a middle aged,
overweight workaholic being marooned on an island. Despite
being alone on screen for large parts of the movie he does
keep you entertained, sometimes with just a sound or a look.
The Movie was made over a three year period, during which
Hanks, Zemeckis and the crew took a year off to allow Hanks
to shed enough weight to enable the latter half of the film
look more authentic.
What
improves the film from other slightly more glossy productions
is its realism. Most of the things that Hanks experiences
and goes through are very realistic. It strips away the
trappings of modern life and replaces them with simple pleasures
and survival techniques. One scene has Hanks making fire
and you realise what an achievement that really is when
you have no matches or a Zippo to hand. The film uses symbolism
well to establish its plot. Hanks is a busy professional
who lives by the clock in his old world, now turned on its
head he is master of his time as it ticks by slower and
slower. Washed up on his beach are packages from the downed
Fed Ex plane that at first he is reluctant to open, but
later is forced to when he realises their contents may save
his life. He fails to open one of the packages choosing
to save it for delivery when he gets off the island. This
package becomes a symbol of his survival and his desire
and hope to get back to the life that was so savagely taken
away from him. Eventually he delivers the package and in
true Pulp Fiction style we never see what it contains. But
that is the key. The package represents whatever in our
lives that is important to us and for Hanks it is freedom
and the ability to interact with others and his surroundings.
One of the only criticisms is that the film is slightly
overlong and the ending is drawn out and lacks the punch
og the rest of the movie, overall though it is a slightly
above average movie.
The
DVD itself is a well packaged double disc edition that is
in a classic keep case and contains stunning picture and
a great selection of soundtracks. The picture and sound
are both worthy of a mention as they are perhaps some of
the best we have ever reviewed. This is a region 1 release.
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