Review of Cast Away (2 Disc Set)

Introduction

The premise of Cast Away is a relatively simple one - Tom Hanks` character is a Fed-Ex employee whose life is ruled by the clock, when one day his plane crashes and he is the sole survivor on a remote island. The film deals with this experience and the consequences. What makes Cast Away more than the sum of its parts is the deep involvement of the trio of Director Zemeckis, Producer Bill Broyles and Hanks. The premise also makes interesting watching because the viewer can dream about what they would do and how they would cope with the situations in which Hanks` character is placed.

Video

Cast Away is a very recent film, and the beautiful animated menus gave high hopes for a clear crisp picture. While it is fair to say that there is a very high level of detail which is always crisp and nicely resolved, I was disappointed to find that I was left with reservations about the picture. In many scenes on the island, the image is bright and bleached, which is an understandable trick of cinematography to indicate the bleak heat of the environment (a la Three Kings). However, it was the general level of contrast throughout the whole film which I found dissatisfying. Black levels are not as good as most discs, and it had me checking the setup of my television the next day. Further investigation showed that the contrast levels of my equipment was fine with all other material. While you might be able to tweak the levels, it is unacceptable to have to do this for a particular disc, and you might lose some of that glorious detail in the process.

I`m not saying that the picture isn`t anything but watchable - there are no compression artefacts or other digital problems - but the contrast is just so disappointing for this recent headline title. The fact that it is sold as a special edition is all the more of a setback. It was a bit of a shame compared to the rest of the quality on this anamorphic picture.

Audio

This is where the Cast Away disc comes into its own, which is actually something of a surprise bearing in mind the subject nature of the film and the fact that the majority of the time there is not even any conversation to be heard. This two disc set carries both Dolby Digital and DTS 6.1 tracks, both of which are absolutely outstanding. It is once again the DTS track which edges ahead, and there were some scenes where the sound was nothing short of awesome.

The most breathtaking scene had to be the plane crash, which comes from nowhere as Hanks` character is in the rest room. The following cacophony was so enveloping to be truly harrowing for the watcher, and you come through the scene feeling like you have been IN a plane crash ! The sound track also excelled itself at the least expected times with ambient sound effects wrapping the entire sound stage.

Come the end of Cast Away, it is the soundtrack which is the one technical element which raises this disc to absolute reference quality. There are only some many superlatives to describe it, but they are all fitting.

Features

At first glance, this two-disc Special Edition release looks like a fully featured extravaganza. Sure enough, the first disc carries an interesting commentary track, French sound, as well as English and Spanish subtitles, which must have been a bit of a squeeze on the disc with both soundtracks and an anamorphic picture too.

It is the second disc which carries the supplementary material, and once inside these it becomes apparent that they are mainly just very similar `talking heads` documentaries with a great deal of identical footage from the movie scattered through. Watching them all together makes them feel `samey`, and you get sick of hearing the same stories and seeing the same clips every time. There is some interesting information hidden away in there, but it is a bit of a trial to watch everything and extract it. There is also an interesting piece from the Charlie Rose show featuring an interview with Hanks which is a must for fans of the actor.

For those people interested in film effects, a couple of the pieces discussing how graphics and live action were combined to final effect will also be extremely entertaining.

Given the qualification of two-disc SE, I was disappointed with the depth and span of the material on offer, although it did in parts make for an afternoon`s interesting watching.

Conclusion

Cast Away is an excellent film, which rests almost entirely on Hanks` performance. He does a fabulous job of portraying the lead as he goes through the experiences which the film throws at him. Hanks` dedication to the role is clear by the fact that he took a year from filming to slim down and grow a beard commensurate to his characters time on the island. In the mean time, Zemeckis and crew filmed the Harrison Ford chiller What Lies Beneath.

It is becoming a DVD law that the supplementary material will give away all the film`s secrets, and therefore should strictly be watched AFTER the main performance. They do reveal interesting pieces of information, such as the fact that the vast majority of the script was based on Producer Broyles` own experiences at the hands of three survival experts.

As a Special Edition, this disc falls down on several fronts. The most obvious of these is the picture quality. While the DVD transfer and detail levels are both excellent, the contrast failures just cannot be ignored. In pitch black scenes, the picture should be indistinguishable from the top and bottom anamorphic bars, and on Cast Away they never were. The black level has a bleached feel to it with just never goes away.

For a two disc set, the extra materials are also disappointingly limited. A collection of similar featurettes simply lack the depth which a film such as this should plumb. Don`t get me wrong, they are interesting enough and more than most discs have, but not quite the most special or enlightening of SEs.

The redeeming feature, apart from the quality of the film itself, is the soundtrack which is a wonder to behold (behear ?!). From the busy clacking of a working FedEx depot, through a traumatising plane crash, and then the lapping waves and gentle breezes of the island, the sound is fantastic throughout. With that in mind, and the quality of the film itself, I still have no problems wholeheartedly recommending this disc, but buyers should go in with their eyes open to its limitations (and one hand on their contrast control).