review: CAST AWAY (Blu-ray)

Fox  //  Buy from Amazon.com Tom Hanks "gives one of the towering screen performances of all time" (New York Post) as Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems engineer whose ruled-by-the-clock existence abruptly ends when a harrowing plane crash leaves him isolated on a remote island. As Chuck struggles to survive, he finds that his own personal journey has only just begun... I've long held "Cast Away" as a truly excellent example of filmmaking - you have a singular, amazing performance from Tom Hanks (who carries this film solo), expert direction from the mighty Robert Zemeckis, amazing cinematography that perfectly captures the beautiful (yet terrifyingly isolated) location, and a story that on the surface seems so outlandish, yet is made absolutely believable by the straight-laced delivery and execution by all involved. Watching the film now on Blu-ray takes it to whole new levels of quality - I saw this film in the theater, I own the DVD release, yet neither come anywhere near the sheer beauty of this release - there truly is no comparison to high definition, and Blu-ray is the creme de la creme. Everything outlined above is enhanced, improved and made that much better by the format, and the transfer, delivered here. A wonderful film, enjoyable over multiple viewings, and easily the best it has ever looked... now if we could just've done something more in the way of extras... Video Unbelievable - the 1.85:1 1080p high def transfer is truly remarkable. Every single leaf, every pebble of sand, every drop of ocean water is as finely-detailed as high resolution photograph - the imagery leaps off your screen, transporting you to the desert island with Hanks & good ol' Wilson! Audio The audio portion of this disc is just as phenomenal as the video portion, with the DTS HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1 surround mix pumping through your surround set-up in powerful fashion. Extras audio commentary w/ director & technical crew trailer trivia track personal scene selections (bookmark your favorite scene) Closing Thoughts Gorgeous, and powerfully entertaining, film + minimal extras (where are all the goodies from previous DVD releases?) = well worth checking out on Blu-ray, as this disc is reference quality