Cast Away

The 1.85:1 anamorphic picture displays the harsh beauty of the island, with clear colours. The sea shines with pretty blues. Night scenes look romantic and ghostly, while the constant sunshine gives everything a bright, warm feel. It's a shame Zemeckis never filmed in widescreen as the flat photography doesn't capture the isolation of the island as much as Panavision would.

The DVD has a terrific Dolby 5.1 soundtrack (but lacks the Dolby EX and DTS ES of the R1 release) that has been masterfully put together and really frightens during the crash scene and gives a massive sense of ambience and calming during the island section of the movie. The surf sounds particularly aggressive and the.1LFE is active sporadically.

Robert Zemeckis does quite a good commentary and should not bore anyone who listens and there are several short vignettes on how some of the SFX scenes were put together. The interview with Tom Hanks is thorough and better than the "edited-for-time" interviews you see on TV. He gets to talk about Chuck Noland in depth and even some other characters he has played.

Two documentaries, one about the movie and one about how to survive Chuck's situation, are included and are quite interesting. Especially when you learn that the island they shot on was constantly visited by people of all kinds and Chuck would have been rescued quite easily in real life. The one about survivalists explains Chuck's methods and how different people were hired to make his desperate attempts look as authentic as possible.

There is also a hidden feature on the second disc. Select 'Video and Stills Gallery' from the main menu. Once there, highlight the 'Raft Escape' menu entry and hit the 'Left' arrow key on your remote control. A winged symbol will appear on the screen. Press 'Enter' and in an audio clip director Robert Zemeckis will reveal to you the contents of the unopened FedEx package that Chuck had been cherishing for all those years.

If you are a fan of the movie, you should get this because it rocks.