Cast Away

Starring: Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt
Director: Robert Zemeckies

Rating: PG-13

Review Posted: 7.6.01

By Paul Perkins

Plot: Chuck Noland is a FedEx troubleshooter who's charter flight crashes near the South Pacific which leaves him stranded alone on an island. While his girlfriend and co-workers assume he's dead, he struggles to survive both physically and emotionally.

The Movie

>Read Paul's Film Review!

4.5 out of 5

>Read Dan Peters's Film Review!

The video transfer of this DVD is great. It utilizes every color beautifully and it looks the same as it did in the movie theater. I spotted a couple of flaws, but it doesn't affect the feel of the movie. The DVD presents the movie in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1.

4.5 out of 5

The audio on this DVD is remarkable. It features every format there is and they are all sound just great. My favorite is DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 EX. With those two comes the usual surround Dolby as well. And did I mention that all of this is THX certified? I guess I just did.

5 out of 5

This is one great extra features DVD. There is a ton of features on this disc, which required a two disc set.

On the first DVD we have the commentary by director Robert Zemeckies, which is good and I highly recommend.

On the second disc we have an HBO First-look documentary that explains the story and some other technical features of the movie - it's very good.

Also, there are six special effects vignettes which are very good. There are also three featurettes. One of them has a very cool it title --  "Wilson: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra." -- it was very good.

There is also a featurette called STOP, meaning "Surviving as a Castaway." It is very good as well.

Also on the 2nd disc is a 50 mins interview with Tom Hanks on The Charlie Rose Show. It's OK for the most part, because it just ran a tad bit too long.

Moving on, there is a stills gallery, including 15 stills from the movie, that is pretty cool. There are also the trailers and a ton of TV spots to boot.

5 out of 5

Overall, this DVD is very good. There is so much extra stuff on here that will keep you busy for quite some time. This is one DVD you do not want to miss out on. Add this disc to your collection today.

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