Verschollen

I totally agree with Tosim that we should realise what is and what is not important. Of course, the problem is that Zemeckis could have used the contrast “necessary for life vs. consumer life" to a much greater extent, but he did it in only a few scenes (Hanks at the table with crabs and a lighter). Instead, in the final quarter, he showered us with an emotional avalanche that may have made some cry, but annoyed the hell out of me. It's a pity, such an attractive premise could have been used much better, and the splendidly skinny Hanks with his gorgeous beard would have deserved it. (08.05.2003)

Der Film ist ein wenig überzogen. Tom Hanks ist exzellent und seine Robinsonade ist sehr schön skizziert, aber das Drehbuch rutscht an der Oberfläche dahin, und der Höhepunkt seines Ausrutschers ist das schreckliche und überkombinierte Ende, das deutlich zeigt, wie sehr Zemeckis nicht wusste, wie er mit der Figur des Chuck Noland umgehen soll. Seine ganze Geschichte ertrinkt in schrecklichen Plattitüden und langatmigen melodramatischen Schemata, was wirklich enttäuschend ist. Vor allem, weil Hanks überzeugend und wortgewandt ist... Das Wenige, was das Drehbuch ihm erlaubt, von Nolands Innerem zu zeigen, führt er mit Verve und großer Suggestivität aus. Aber sie kann nicht den ganzen Film tragen, der so trivial und wörtlich ist, dass er mir gegen Ende stark auf die Nerven ging. Das ist schade, denn das Thema und einige der technischen Kategorien (Kinematographie, Produktionsdesign) sind vielversprechend... Aber das Ergebnis ist unnötig pompös, pathetisch und überzogen. Dennoch, dank Hanks, ziemlich überzeugend. (02.02.2005)

Unlike the others, I needed this ending exactly. Without those final minutes, Chuck's adventures would have lacked the emotions and empty journeys back and forth (whether literal or metaphorical) that I've already seen enough of. Zemeckis truly knows how to skillfully create these gentle yet believable moods. (27.05.2006)

It's strange. Cast Away seemingly contains everything that predisposes it to triumphant success, namely an attractive subject matter, an excellent cast, a famous director, a decent script, a reasonably large budget, and so on. Nevertheless, in the end, something didn't quite click for me. I feel a certain unfulfillment of expectations and I don't want to give it a fourth star, even though the film is disadvantaged by the fact that I saw it on television. Perhaps on the big screen, I would lean towards giving it a fourth star. I pondered what was excessive or missing for me, which turned out to partly be a certain melodramatic aspect, but I still couldn't define the core of the problem. Cast Away is too literal, unnecessarily sprawling, pathetic, and overblown. Despite all the effort, it doesn't captivate, even though Hanks gives his all. Overall impression: 65%. (09.03.2015)

I don't need to go on and on about what an amazing actor Tom Hanks is, because we all know that already. What I should mention in my review, though, is that Hanks' performance is what makes Cast Away such a compelling, moving and thought-provoking adventure that I enjoy on each subsequent viewing as intensely as on the first... (12.10.2012)

I sat and didn't move until the last act. As a survivor of the first BioShock I felt right at home during the perfectly filmed plane crash sequence. The subsequent introduction of the island and the pudgy misfit Hanks makes you feel as happy as he does for the unfortunate guy’s every little accomplishment. It's got beautiful cinematography, great locations, and it works quite humorously with the "American way of life" of the time (even then a bit old-school), with the character quite understandably fetishizing the objects and brands (Wilson) that FedEx delivers. Incidentally, the way he comes out of it I wouldn't be surprised if they paid for the whole film. On the other hand, they did come up with some pretty funny advertising through the film. Unfortunately, my empathy strings snapped during the widely criticized conclusion. You couldn't ask for a more hopeless romantic, yet I just don't buy it when a half-crazed castaway having spent four years on a desert island returns home and the one thing that's on his mind is his last girlfriend. I know it's a strong theme, but from the little I've read about people who've been orphaned from civilization for even a fortnight and are still recovering from it mentally, the whole cavalier ending seems totally phoned in. (14.06.2021)

A classic tale of Robinson Crusoe, brought to life in a captivating spectacle, with the main highlight of this Zemeckis film being the performances. The story itself isn't particularly innovative, it's just sometimes well-spiced - like with the toothache, for example. It’s one of those films where I felt it could have ended about twenty or thirty minutes earlier, but no, they had to tack on another three endings. (13.10.2016)