Memorable, crazy movie

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

10/10 This is such a powerfull movie with great acting by Tom Hanks.

A classic shipwreck tale that is flipped into a love story. This isn't just about surviving a deserted island with limited resources. No! It's about testing our limitations and capabilities, proving that even the faintest of glimpses of humanity still resides within us when all hope is lost. A FedEx employee travels on a plane, it crashes, he is washed ashore on a remote uncivilised island, he must survive. It sounds formulaic, uninteresting and all too familiar. Yet, the most overlooked director for the past few decades, manages to turn the simplest of plots into something much grander in scale. Time seems to be stationary for Chuck, who is marooned on this island for four years, however the rest of civilisation keeps on ticking. It doesn't hit you until the last thirty minutes where you suddenly become overwhelmed with emotion. You feel for him. You've witnessed him struggle for survival and even contemplate death. Only for the rest of the world to forget about him. It's a sad truth, but a poignant one. Chuck befriends a volleyball with a bloody hand print for a face, symbolising the need for social interaction. But more importantly, so that Chuck can shout "WILSON!" which, to me, is extremely satisfying. There is a really profound scene towards the end where Chuck walks around a buffet table looking at prepared crab and a lighter, things that we take for granted. Utterly resonating. So simple yet so powerful. Tom Hanks had a physically transformative role, although at times was slightly bland. Zemeckis' direction is the star. Easily one of his best directorial efforts. Love the camera angles at the beginning where it's conjoined with the FedEx post. I did find that the second act starts to lose steam, especially when we fast forward four years. I feel like some vital and pivotal moments were missed out. I wanted more Helen Hunt, just because I love her. However, Cast Away is another strong entry in Zemeckis' filmography and a decent acting performance from Hanks.

Let's not pretend this isn't an excellent movie, because it surely is. I'm just a little too young to appreciate it fully. If you have never seen this movie then you should surely watch it.

I've seen it a half-dozen times, and always love it for the sense of adventure it stirs within me at the thought of being stranded on an island like this and having to survive (even though in reality, I probably wouldn't last more than a month). But upon watching it again recently, a couple things struck me that I think are a bit off.Firstly, I don't think his woman would have moved on from him and gotten married and had a kid. If she was so in love with him as is depicted in the beginning, and if he was, as she says in their final hug after the reunion "the love of her life" and she had always been in love with him and always would and, again as she says, "I always knew you were alive, even when they told me to give up and move on, I still knew." then four years is not long enough for him to be gone for her to move so completely on with her life. She might have dated, but I don't believe she would do this for at least a couple years, and she might have needed to find a guy to have sex with - but maybe not - but I do not believe that she would get married and have a kid - not in only four years.The second thing that struck me as being off was the entire sequence involving the "hanging tree" at the top of the cliff. Watching these scenes, I started thinking about the practical reality of this supposed scenario and realized that it was probably impossible. Firstly, given the closeness of the dead tree to the cliff's edge, I doubt anyone could tie a rope to it, then carry or lift such a heavy "test trunk" and throw it off the cliff without losing their balance and falling over the edge. But let's say that part was doable, okay, but when Chuck goes back up there to retrieve that extra 30 feet of rope, there is NO WAY he could go back up there and to such a precarious perch, reach out for that rope - stretching his hand like he did to actually grab the rope - and then haul that "test trunk" back up one-handed on that cliff edge. He'd fall for sure. Of course, in the movie, they cut out just how in the hell after getting a hand on the rope he manages to then get himself, the rope and the trunk into a position where he can haul it. They cut from his hand precariously grabbing the rope to him standing with both feet firmly planted and both hands hauling the rope up. But what did he do in between those moments? Use magic super powers?The final thing that bothers me is all the nonsense with FedEx deliveries in the beginning - boring - but luckily, able to be sped through using the trusty fast-forward or skip buttons.Otherwise, still a great movie.