Our Movie Reviews Cast Away
Release Year: 2000
Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Last Reviewed On: May 11, 2001 (by Scott)


Michelle's Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars on April 19, 2001

Joe Vs the Volcano is one of my favorite movies. And while this movie isn't exactly Joe, it does also star Tom Hanks, so while I was watching Cast Away, I kept thinking of Joe. Not that that is a bad thing, as I said, I loved that movie, and I loved Cast Away as well. Who knows, maybe I have some sort of sub-conscience desire to be stranded on a desert island.. whatever the reason, Cast Away was a great movie. The plane crash scene (I don't think that's giving anythign away) is done incredibly well, I actually felt like I was there in the plane at times. (One of the benefits of a small theatre with a big screen), but it was quite dramatic, and intense. Scenes when he's floating on the water right after the crash, riding high on huge waves as the camera pulls back to show the enormity of them... utterly frightening.

I was a little worried about seeing this movie though. I was wondering how they'd kill time on the island, and have it be entertaining. I thought i'd be checking my watch often (luckily I didn't wear one that day ;-) but it wasn't an issue anyway. The movie keeps you pulled in, and I found myself constantly thinking, What woudl that be like? How woudl I react if that happened to me? Good stuff.

There's lots of scenes in the movie i'd love to go into detail about, where he's floating on his raft, and the whale floats to the surface and stares at him.. (eerie...) and so on.. I knwo the movie's been out a while already, but I hate to give away to much of a movie, so i'll just end it here by saying, I don't have 3 thumbs, but if I did, they'd all be up for Cast Away. (how's that for a cheesy critic quote? ;-)


Scott's Review:
4.5 out of 5 stars on May 11, 2001

This was a great movie in so many respects. I felt that it presented a very real picture of what could happen if you're stranded on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere for years. The characters in the movie felt like real and whole beings. And adding to the feeling of realism, the main character didn't seem to have intimate knowledge of how to live in the wild. He seemed very much like an average person coming to turns with his new environment, and dealing with the twists that life presents him without the need for the writers to use any bizarre plot devices.
-- Scott and Michelle