I did a forum search for the 2000 film Cast Away and I was surprised I did not get any hits. From an Equipped to Survive perspective, how does this movie stack up? Given his lack of preparation, what did Chuck Noland, played by Tom Hanks, get right and not get right?

Jeanette Isabelle

Wilson! Surpringly good movie for so little dialouge.

i loved the part about the coconuts and how to get into them. my kids and had a similar experience when they were 5. i gave them one and pretended to have no idea hot to get into it. after a days of trying to smash if with something or throw it against something, they finally tried a screwdriver and hammer.

the fire, the water, the cave, the toothache, the picture... i enjoyed it and the kids learned a lot from it.

I quite enjoyed Cast Away. If I came across it on DVD, I would add it to my entertainment library.

It's a work of fiction of course; the goal is entertainment not instruction. But with that in mind, they made a decent effort to deal with some of the basic issues. The physical issues -- food and water, tools, shelter, injury and illness.

And the psychological issues -- grief, isolation, regret, despair ... but also the mental means of taking some personal control of a difficult situation. Okay, Wilson went over the top; but he/it still had some merit.

And at the end, the hero didn't get the girl. Life, and people, kept moving forward. It was an honest ending, and I sincerely appreciated that.

It had a big influence on me .... mostly focusing on making sure I have the ability to start a fire (BSA Hot Spark) and makes me think about how frustrating it is that my travel gear is so limited relative to my normal EDC. Still, I understand the realities of our time.

He may not have gotten Helen Hunt's character (Kelly Frears), but it seems to me he had a good chance with Bettina Peterson (played by Lari White for any CW fans) to whom he delivered the angel wing Fedex box at the end of the movie.

To me that movie epitomizes the come-as-you-are nature of many survival situations. Look at how he marvels at the common tools available on the buffet table and how those simple items could have made his life so much easier (the butane lighter comes to mind) -- let alone the food.

The simple things we take for granted. Made me take my EDC items a bit more seriously.

"Cast Away" was the movie that made me start thinking about the possibility of crashing while flying. A mixed blessing for sure.

When I saw the SAK on his keychain early in the movie I thought "THAT's gonna come in handy some day soon!" Then he tosses the keys to what's her name before he gets on the plane

If you made a spoof of the movie, the imaginary friend could be named "Spalding"

But for the life of me I can't figure out how that jet engine would still be running as it floated on the water, threatening to chop him into fishbait.

I liked Castaway. I lived in the tropics for a time and could relate to some of the "how to" moments. Aside from the tools he created to cope with the day to day, he kept one unique FEDEX package unopened to maintain hope, a key survival mindset.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NahyfTAVNqk

I remember most him sleeping on the floor, turning the light on and off. I read somewhere that this is a typical response for someone that has lived away from modern conveniences.

That was a good film, have seen it a couple times.

Next time I fly over the Pacific I'm duct-taping a firesteel, satellite phone and dozens of Cliff Mo-Jo bars to my body.

Will look a little weird on the TSA scanner.

Cast Away made a great impression on me the first time that I saw it. It's probably one of the most underrated films of all time. Purely because most people don't have the depth of knowlege to appreciate just how difficult that situation would be.
It's actually quite a subtle film. Appart from the initial crash there is very little drama in it.

Tom Hanks was a very good choice for the film. He, again, is a seriously underrated actor. Or perhaps I should say: Was. Some of his more recent films have been well received. He's an interesting actor. He is not "Hollywood" handsome but he does have the knack of being able to enact the part of the ordinary, it's just a job, want to get it done and go home to my wife and kid's man in the street. The quiet hero if you like.

The best thing about the movie is how they show his progression threw the ordeal. From making big mistakes on a regular basis to becoming "one with teh island". It Really shows how rushing to do things and aggravation can seriously impair your survival while when getting things right and moral boosted can greatly increase your chances of survival.

He had 2 Oscars before he did Cast Away and was nominated again the year prior for Saving Private Ryan.

I don't think anyone has underestimated Tom Hanks since Big.

(I see you're in the U.K.)

Leigh, in the United States, Tom Hanks was THEE actor for awhile to the point of being annoying.

For me, Hanks best performance was in Road to Perdition. Stunning movie.

The actor who played Wilson in the film really deserves a mention (should have received an Oscar nomination) portraying a mute, highly physically disabled character who has to react to the constant one liners that Hanks dealt out throughout the film. The portrayal of the Wilson character was especially astonishing especially after realising the requirements needed for a Hollywood character actor as shown by Sir Ian Mckellen's acting master class. Although it must be noted also that fine Shakespearian actors such as Patrick Stewart also can produced some down right rubbish screenplay treatments.

I read almost the entire page thinking you mean the 1986 film of the same name. That one stars Oliver Reed rather than Tom Hanks.