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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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Cast
Away
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Reviewed
by: |
Rachel
Hughes |
| Genre: |
Drama |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Audio: |
DTS
6.1 & Dolby Digital |
| Language: |
English
and French |
| Subtitle: |
English
and Spanish |
| Length: |
143
minutes |
| Rating: |
PG-13 |
| Release
Date: |
6-12-01
|
| Studio: |
20th
Century Fox |
| Commentary:
|
Featuring
Robert Zemeckis & Crew |
| Documentaries:
|
Two:
HBO: The Making of Cast Away, and S.T.O.P Surviving as a Cast
Away |
| Featurettes:
|
The
Island, and Wilson: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Extra,The
Island |
| Filmography/Biography:
|
None |
|
Interviews: |
"The
Charlie Rose Show" Interview with Tom Hanks |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Ten
TV Commercials and Two Trailers |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
|
Special
Effect Vignettes, and Video and Stills Galleries |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Tom Hanks
Wilson, and Helen Hunt |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by
William Broyles Jr. |
| Produced
by: |
Tom Hanks, Steve Starkey,
Jack Rapke |
| Directed
By: |
Robert Zemeckis |
| Music: |
Alan Silvestri |
| The
Review: |
Chuck
(Tom Hanks) is Federal Express's go-to man when they need one
of their hubs brought up to snuff. He travels from hub to hub
teaching them methods to move faster, to get everything done
on time. One of his most quoted expressions is "We live by the
clock, and we die by the clock". He is in the midst of his life.
He has a job he enjoys, and girlfriend he loves, but not enough
time. He is always rushing from one emergency to the next. On
his way to one such emergency the plane he is one goes down
and he is left deserted on a desert island for four years. Here
time means nothing. He has all the time in the world, but nothing
to do with it, no one to share it with. He must find his inner
strength to persevere and find something to keep himself going.
Tom Hanks is incredible, and since most of the movie is him
alone on an island he had better be. While his performance was
enjoyable, it was the only thing enjoyable. Helen Hunt, who
usually does a wonderful job, is unbelievable in her role as
Hanks girlfriend. Her accent, which seems to come and go, is
distracting. We don't see her enough to connect to her. At the
end of the movie you feel like there is a lesson here we should
have learned. Something about it is always darkest before dawn,
bad things happen to good people, what doesn't kill us makes
us stronger, keep breathing because you never know what the
tide will bring in, but wasn't this movie trying to do more?
Sadly no. |
| Image
and Sound |
The picture
on this movie is so incredibly perfect I could clearly see the
dust on my TV. After wiping that off I enjoyed wonderfully lit
day scenes and beautiful blue oceans. The quality of the transfer
doesn't give away any of the special effects. The only noticeable
one is the day for night shots, which always look a bit odd.
The island always looks real, but never picture postcard beautiful.
This is his prison, not his paradise. The sound is equally incredible.
To go from a heavy sound of the storm and then the plane crash
to the nothing on the island works perfectly in isolating Chuck.
While he is on the island there is no score. He is completely
alone. There aren't even animal sounds, no birds, nothing. Since
there is a lack of score the natural sounds were manipulated
to create a mood. The way the palm trees creaked, the spark
of fire. Almost every sound was toyed with, but it was done
so well you don't even notice it. The transfer of this disc
is one of the highest quality. |
| The
Extras |
Fox has
done it again. 20th Century They have creative menus and revealing
extras. This two-disc set has almost everything. On Disc One
is the movie and the commentary. The rest of the extras are
found on Disc Two. First there is "The Making of Cast Away"
This originally ran on HBO, and is more in-depth then most making
of. It runs for over 30 minutes and covers everything from the
birth of the idea, the difficulty of the various location shots,
research done on how one survives and more. This is one of most
interesting features. This making of gives you a better understanding
of the meaning behind the movie. The next listing is Featurettes.
There are three listed, and some of the material is repeated
from the making of documentary. The first one "S.T.O.P Surviving
as a Cast Away" has a running time of 27 minutes is more of
a documentary. This features the Survival Experts brought on
as supervisors of the film. Then there is "The Island," and
it covers the search for the perfect island, what it took to
secure it, and the difficulties of shooting on an island and
it runs for about 14 minutes. The last one is "Wilson: The Life
and Death of a Hollywood Extra." This is a 13-minute look at
Wilson, what the actor, and crew thought of him, and the reason
he was created. At the end there is even a retrospective. On
the next menu are the Special Effects Vignettes. These are interesting
in that they show the different layers of the film; original
shot, special effects ect. There are six vignettes and they
all have commentary by Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston,
Co-Visual Effects Supervisor Carey Villegas. There is also a
huge gallery of Video and Stills. There is a Behind-the-Scenes
montage complete with music, Storyboard comparison for three
scenes, illustrations and storyboards for four scenes, and conceptual
artwork for six scenes. One of the nicest additions is the "Charlie
Rose" interview with Tom Hanks. "Charlie Rose" is a wonderful
interview show that generally appears on PBS. The interview
runs over 47 mins and covers the movie as well as the rest of
Hank's career. This is a great interview that doesn't cover
the same information you have seen in different interviews or
read about in magazines. Finally there are ten television spots
and two original trailers. |
| Commentary |
The
commentary was done by Director Robert Zemeckis, Director of
Photography Don Burgess, Visual Effects Supervisor Ken Ralston,
Co-Visual Effects Supervisor Carey Villegas and Sound Designer
Randy Thom. Generally the commentaries give you a deeper and
fuller understanding of the story, especially if a director
is involved. Unfortunately here, the director barely speaks
at all. Everyone takes turns speaking, and most of it was probably
edited together. However the commentary give you a deeper understanding
and appreciation for visual effects and sound that appear completely
normal. While listen to the commentary they point out all of
the computer generated shots, there are always a few you can
pick out, but the amount in this movie is incredible. You have
no idea so much was enhanced. The same goes for the sound. You
assume that the sound is what was there when the movie was shot.
You never realize how much work goes into make thunder noise,
or palm fronds to sound natural when rubbing together. Anyone
who has any interest in special effects or sound design should
definitely listen to this commentary. It provides a wonderful
look into an area we don't think much about. |
| Final
Words: |
The movie
overall was disappointing, though Fox has continued its tradition
of incredible DVD packages for their movies. This package is
packed with extras more interesting than the movie. You are
more likely to watch the extras again then the movie as a whole.
This DVD is worth renting to see the extras. If you loved the
movie, then you must add this DVD to your collection. |
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