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The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.
For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Cast Away can be found here.
No. Cast Away was taken from an original screenplay by American screenwriter William Broyles, Jr.
Cast Away was filmed on the island of Monuriki, Fiji, in the Mamanuca Islands off the coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. A map can be found here. Monuriki is located in the upper left-hand corner near the larger island of Matamanoa. In the movie, however, Chuck was told that he was marooned on an island "about 600 miles south of the Cook Islands." There is no land between Antarctica and the southern-most Cook Islands of Mangaia.
When Chuck returns home, Kelly reveals that it was never discovered exactly what caused the aircraft to crash, but that it was possibly some mislabeled hazardous material in the cargo that ignited. From the evidence provided in the film we can assume a number of things caused the aircraft to crash. First, we get a glimpse of the weather head-up-display prior to the crash - here, it is easy to see that the aircraft is surrounded by hazardous weather and turbulence. Second, we can see through the cockpit windows a brewing lightning storm. Chuck is quite literally sucked out of the lavatory - a tell-tale sign of a loss of cabin pressure. This means that the integrity of the structure of the aircraft was breached. As the aircraft is making its final mayday calls before plunging into the Pacific, we hear the pilots indicate an engine fire (if not multiple engine fires).So, in summary, we can assume the following from the evidence the film gives us that the aircraft's structural integrity was breached (resulting in a loss of cabin pressure), and something incited an engine fire (this could be a number of things, anything from Kelly's hypothesis to a lightning strike on the aircraft). In the end, severe weather, turbulence, and disorientation were secondary contributing factors to the crash. A lightning strike or electrical spark from the storm is more probable than a "mislabeled cargo container" (this cargo would not be mixed-up by a mislabel mistake, these cargoes - hazardous and non-hazardous - are transported separately and handled in an entirely different process). The film, however, gives us no definite answer to this question.Also, after the cabin depressurization, at least two pallets of cargo shifted dramatically, which would greatly affect the plane's center of gravity. Cargo is always loaded by a formula which ensures the plane is balanced. Pallets shifting as they did in the movie might make the aircraft un-flyable, possibly causing a catastrophic nose dive. An engine fire in and of itself wouldn't necessarily cause it to nose dive into the ocean.
With tongue firmly planted in cheek, director Robert Zemeckis was asked in an interview what was in the unopened packaged. He replied that it was a waterproof, solar-powered, satellite phone. In other words, it is not important that the audience know. In the original screenplay, the package contained a couple of bottles of steak sauce. In the third draft of the screenplay (March 13, 1998)the package is opened by chuck on the island after he has lived there for 1000 days. In the package he finds two cans of salsa and a note that reads "You said our life was a prison. Dull. Boring. Empty. I can't begin to tell you how much that hurt. I don't want to lose you. I'm enclosing some salsa, the verde you like. Use it on your sticky rice and think of home. Then come home-- to me. We'll find the spice in our lives again. Together. I love you. Always. Bettina."
According to the message Chuck carves on the rock when he leaves on his makeshift raft, he was on the island for 1500 days (about four years). In a later scene, real-life Fed Ex exec Fred Smith states Chuck was lost four years earlier.
In one of the first scenes in the film, when Chuck and Kelly are at home watching television just before Christmas, we are shown a close-up of several sailing certificates in Chuck's name. Therefore we can assume that Chuck is an experienced sailor, and would know the proper methods to use to determine the direction of the wind, how far he had drifted, etc.
See "What was in the box with the angel wings?"A divorce occurs throughout the course of the film.
Wilson is a sporting goods company that makes volleyballs. Their brand name is printed on the volleyball, which is why Chuck names the volleyball "Wilson".
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