Cast Away (2000)

90% of critics liked it
(154 reviews)
80% of users liked it
(664,414 ratings)

An exploration of human survival and the ability of fate to alter even the tidiest of lives with one major event, Cast Away tells the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a Federal Express engineer who devotes most of his life to his troubleshooting job. His girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) is often… More An exploration of human survival and the ability of fate to alter even the tidiest of lives with one major event, Cast Away tells the story of Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks), a Federal Express engineer who devotes most of his life to his troubleshooting job. His girlfriend Kelly (Helen Hunt) is often neglected by his dedication to work, and his compulsive personality suggests a conflicted man. But on Christmas Eve, Chuck proposes marriage to Kelly right before embarking on a large assignment. On the assignment, a plane crash strands Chuck on a remote island, and his fast-paced life is slowed to a crawl, as he is miles removed from any human contact. Finding solace only in a volleyball that he befriends, Chuck must now learn to endure the emotional and physical stress of his new life, unsure of when he may return to the civilization he knew before. Cast Away reunites star Hanks with director Robert Zemeckis, their first film together since 1994's Oscar-winning Forrest Gump. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 2 hr. 23 min.
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Written By: William Broyles
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Dec 22, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Jun 12, 2001
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
Hanks's Everyman quality has never been more aptly utilized: He's the perfect stand-in for all of us who never made it to Eagle Scout.
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail
Cast Away isn't the first to recognize our modern need for primal tales, but it is among the most accomplished. It plugs straight into our unplugged fantasies.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Hanks conducts a master class in acting by showing a man losing his sense of himself in fractional gradations.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
The scenes of Hanks' complete isolation on the island, where barely a sound is heard for minutes at a time, are the best thing about Cast Away.
Susan Stark, Detroit News
Cast Away amounts to little more than an unprecedented showcase for its star.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Dig deep and you'll find a film that's even richer than what its handsome surface seems to reveal.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
one-man show
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Tom Hanks' powerful, brutal and mature story.
Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
As melancholy as it is affirming, "Cast Away" tells a darkly comic, occasionally punishing parable about what happens when humans lose sight of humility in life's grand scheme - an interesting thematic twin to Tom Hanks' own "Joe vs. the Volcano."
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Remains one of the more vividly transporting films I've come into contact with. It's heartbreaking, darkly comedic, bravely observational, and ultimately, pure emotional poetry.
Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
This is a very original film. There's hope for Hollywood yet, folks.
Bob Grimm, Sacramento News & Review
The beginning and ending of the film are a bit underdeveloped, but that's just quibbling.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
Zemeckis' tranquil control never wavers.
James Plath, Movie Metropolis
I wish that all of the film's 144 minutes were spent alone with Hanks.
Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound
This is Mr. Zemeckis' most confident directing to date. If he only had as much faith in his audience.
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
Thoroughly entertaining and skillfully rendered.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Though Hanks comes across as blandly as ever, at least his solid performance shows he's up to carrying half a movie on his own, and Zemeckis' direction is at first as busily efficient as the protagonist.
Ron Wells, Film Threat
It's really kind of ironic. The old Chuck's life is ruled by the clock. Once he's learned better, we don't get enough time with him because the author's decided it was time to go. Oh, well.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
While his philosophical ventures seem stuck in the shallow end of the pool, Zemeckis takes an important step forward as a filmmaker.
James Plath, Reel.com
Hanks somehow manages to hold us in rapt attention as his Everyman character learns how to build a shelter, spear fish, stoke fires, and cope with isolation.

Read all 25 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Scott G

Probably one of the best disaster emotional films ever. A classic game of survival that is played absolutely perfectly.
Joshua W

WILSON!!!! WILSON!!!!!!!
Albert K

Slow, quiet, but effective survival movie. I also praise this movie by how the movie turns away from the typical Hollywood ending with a theme that truly drives this movie to be a one-of-a-kind.
Graham J

Hanks is Zemeckis' Jimmy Stewart.
Tyler K

The movie was good, but a bit long. By all means, length doesn't matter to me when it comes to movies. The Longer the Better, in a sort of way. I could probably watch a 5 hour long movie if there was one (that was good, I knew there are some). Of course, I would have to watch 2… More
The movie was good, but a bit long. By all means, length doesn't matter to me when it comes to movies. The Longer the Better, in a sort of way. I could probably watch a 5 hour long movie if there was one (that was good, I knew there are some). Of course, I would have to watch 2 hours a night, though. Anyway, (sorry, got a bit carried away there), I wasn't exactly referring to the island part of the movie, but I was referring to the ending. It felt like the ending was literally an hour long, and I mean it. I was just like "He's off of the island, he's back home, the movie should be over!". It may not seem like a big deal in this review, but if it we'rent for that, I would have given this movie 4 Stars, rather than the 3.5 Stars assigned. I actually almost feel sorry for giving this movie this rating, but the ending was just way to slow and long for my taste and comfort. For a similarity, take the movie "Saw" for example. That movie is about 1 Hour and 30 Minutes in length. But, what if there was an extra hour after the actual ending of the original cut, and that hour was Dr. Gorden's wife and kid trying to find him, and the police force locking down the apartment complex as well as wondering how Tapp died (if he did die; sorry for the spoilers, too) when they found his body. Not really interesting, is it... well, at least to me, considering that I loved the ending (as well as almost everyone who saw it).
Eric A

Just saw this a year ago (yes, 10 years late) & and had to do a report on it for one of my college classes. Let's just say, it was the most fun i've had writing a paper. Remarkable acting by Tom Hanks as he kills this amazing script.
Shawn E

..And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring?
Jeff "

Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks collaborate once again here to make another great drama film. Cast Away is a fairly simple story, a guy working for Fed Ex gets involved in a plane crash, survives then gets caught on an island. Cast Away is a simple drama film that succeeds on many… More
Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks collaborate once again here to make another great drama film. Cast Away is a fairly simple story, a guy working for Fed Ex gets involved in a plane crash, survives then gets caught on an island. Cast Away is a simple drama film that succeeds on many levels. Tom Hanks is able to make the seeming boring plot into something entertaining. Cast Away is a well acted film with a strong cast, a good story and good directing. Zemeckis crafts a film that leaves the viewer questioning what will happen next. The film is never dull because it always leaves the question of what will happen to its main character lingering. Theres a good dose of drama here as we see Tom Hanks character trying to keep his mental state intact. Cast Away is a well done film and what I love the most about the film is the fact that used one actor for pretty much the whole movie, and they made it entertaining. I thought the toned down cast was terrific. There really isn't that many actors in this film, and the fact that Tom Hanks has 2 hours of screen to himself amd makes it work is terrific. Cast Away is a superb film thats very well acted by Hanks and is fairly entertaining as well. Cast Away is not a film for everyone, but if you enjoy Tom Hanks, then you should give this one a look. A very well done film thats very good, despite its simplistic plot.
Conner R

Cast Away is either a movie that people hate or love. As an update to Robinson Crusoe, this is about as good as you're going to get. In fact, it's the best movie based on the character. It's also somehow really original in its own right. Sure, the basic idea is the… More
Cast Away is either a movie that people hate or love. As an update to Robinson Crusoe, this is about as good as you're going to get. In fact, it's the best movie based on the character. It's also somehow really original in its own right. Sure, the basic idea is the same, but the execution and character development is so different and in many ways superior. Basically giving Tom Hanks free reign to do what he wanted was a risk, but one that was rewarded with a tour-de-force. He completely carries the movie and gives one of the most honest performances of his career. It's very rare that you can spend almost two hours with only one character appearing on screen. However, Cast Away does that and more. This is suc a captivating experience that I don't think will be matched any time soon.
Kase V

Heartbreaking story of survival. Tom Hanks is great but it would drag on sometimes. It doesn't a very high entertainment value for people not very interested in movies mote than the common man. Good movie.
Kristijonas F

Although it is a bloated, exhausting movie, Cast Away continues Tom Hanks' unbelievable trend of film successes with his inspired performance and the movie's uncompromising story.
Brad W

A work of genius, Hanks is tremendous, story is great, but I just wish I felt more at peace with the ending.
Unknown H

One word - WILSON!
Chris W

This is the type of movie where the whole thing is make or break if the lead can't successfully carry things. These types of movies are tough, but I applaud anyone willing to try to make a movie where most of the running time focuses on a dude who's by himself and… More
This is the type of movie where the whole thing is make or break if the lead can't successfully carry things. These types of movies are tough, but I applaud anyone willing to try to make a movie where most of the running time focuses on a dude who's by himself and there's lots of patches with no dialogue. Hanks does a fine job here, and the cinematography is just gorgeous. It amazes me that this was made in an era where people don't typically think about trying to make a movie like this, much less actually do it. For that I am both happily surprised, and relieved to see that there's still some balls and creativity present in the world of major studio filmmaking. It does run kinda long, and could have been greatly tightened up in some places, but this is still a moving and engaging survival story that works best as an allegorical psychological yarn, and not something more concrete. A little flawed, but good stuff nonetheless.
Richard C

A-
Nani V

Cast Away has to be one of my new favorite movies. I've only seen it three or four times, but each time I can't ever seem to control my emotions when it gets towards the end.
Film C

ive always loved this movie, its amazing, Tom Hanks shows total dedication to the role!! Its not an exciting , most dialog movie in the world but it stills manages to keep you interested and watch it till the end!! Really one movie to watch!!
KJ P

The perfect adventure film!
Jennifer D

I HATED this film when I first saw it. Long. Boring. Stupid. GAH! Wanted to punch every volleyball I saw afterward.
Alexander W

From the begining of the film to the end I really enjoyed watching this movie by Tom Hanks. Everything fits together well, and it was a feel good film. The best films ! I admire the movies Tom Hanks is in and have now rented Angels and Demons tonight. Cast Away is suited for an adult… More
From the begining of the film to the end I really enjoyed watching this movie by Tom Hanks. Everything fits together well, and it was a feel good film. The best films ! I admire the movies Tom Hanks is in and have now rented Angels and Demons tonight. Cast Away is suited for an adult audience more than younger for the fine details which soaks you up.