After several years I watched 'Cast Away' on TV. I still find the plot interesting but it's utter nonsense. Come on we live in the 21st century and there is no deserted island on this planet were nobody goes for four years. This movie may be realistic 100 years ago but not nowadays.
shareStopped reading after the factual line "Come on ... "
Ignorance is not only bliss it seems, it's an actual opinion.
You're right, It's not like looking for bin Laden.
Oh, wait ...
Please do not make negative comments about a film YOU NEVER SAW. It makes you look stupid.
The movie makes clear that (1) he ended up in an isolated area of the South Pacific, which is not heavily traveled, (2) the plane flew at least an hour off-course, out of radio contact, to get around a tropical storm, which would put it far out of search range; (3) he ended up on a tiny, apparently uncharted atoll in an empty area "twice the size of Texas". He was far from the shipping lanes, in a part of the world where there just isn't any REASON to fly overhead.
shareThank you! After the search was called off, his best odds of rescue rescue would be from a chance commercial encounter . Air and sea traffic follow well-travelled lanes to and from specific destinations. They don't haphazardly crisscross the open ocean. With his plane avoiding the storm and his raft drifting further still, he was several hundred miles (I think 500) away from even remotely inhabited islands, where both commercial and private traffic would be very light at best. Planes would not be flying overhead, since his position did not lie en route to any known destination. Lastly, a commercial airliner flying over him at 35,000 feet would never see him anyway, even on a clear day.
shareLastly, a commercial airliner flying over him at 35,000 feet would never see him anyway, even on a clear day.
Planes fly over me as well, on their way from New York to Europe, I doubt they ever notice me waving.
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Have you been rescued yet?
"Come on we live in the 21st century and there is no deserted island on this planet were nobody goes for four years"
There are literally THOUSANDS of islands that are uninhabited that people don't visit. If you get stuck on any one of those you're pretty much screwed.
common missconception, that humans are everywhere at all time allways, its simply not the case, there are places in the rocky mountains in the USA for example, big areas that are so remote and hard to get to that humans havent been there in over 50 years.. if you get lost there you better know your survival training. or things can get very hairy.
shareBeen to the Cape Verde Island (Atlantic) recently. But I spoke to many people who cross the Atlantic and the Pacific in small boats. The movie is utter nonsense. They told me to cross the oceans they had to get up every 20 Min. to look if a ship is nearby and of course about weather conditions etc.
I'm a travel freak and been to several islands in the Pacific too. I've also been to remote parts in Central Australia, Sibiria (Kamchatka Peninsula) and Africa (Sahara) etc. You will be surprised how many people are around. On the islands in the Atlantic and Pacific I'm surprised about all the rubbish there too. A few month on an remote island OK but NOT 4 years… that's Hollywood Kitsch
yes i agree that 4 years was way over the top.. 2-3 months top..and that is if you are jinxed basically,and up to your chin in a bad luck streak, but it could happen.
share"Been to the Cape Verde Island (Atlantic) recently. But I spoke to many people who cross the Atlantic and the Pacific in small boats. The movie is utter nonsense. They told me to cross the oceans they had to get up every 20 Min. to look if a ship is nearby and of course about weather conditions etc. "
I work at sea on a large car carrier. I've crossed the atlantic and the pacific MANY MANY times. I work on the bridge as a 2nd officer(mate) so navigation is my job. Some days I don't see a single ship for days despite us being in the shipping lanes. If you're not in the shipping lanes you're likely to go months without seeing a single ship. Correcting charts and have the boat running on auto pilot is basically all you do during an ocean crossing. Of course you still need to keep watch though. As for every 20 min, there's no such rule and it's *beep* Someone has to be on the bridge ALL THE TIME. You look out to see if you see something from time to time but you don't do it on a schedule like every 20 minutes. On the ocean you're likely to spot a boat HOURS before it gets near you (depending on what range your radar is set to) seeing as you have radar at your disposal as well. Tiny things that might not show up on radar like a tiny raft you're likely to miss even if you're looking right at it.
There are many small islands in the ocean that you'd almost NEVER see a boat from because they are to far away from any shipping lanes. Boats aren't spread evenly across the ocean. This movie is not utter nonsense and my opinion on the matter is alot more educated than yours is.
Those "people" you spoke to either lied to you or you're the one not telling the truth because what they said doesn't sound like something anyone that works at sea would say because it's simply not correct.
the OP just received a facepalm
shareI know this thread is from awhile ago, but...
First, of course when traveling on the ocean, you have to look out for passing ships --you are in the shipping lanes,areas thatarewell travelled.
But most importantly, did you see on the news a whole year ago that a Makaysian airliner was lost in the Pacific? Not just one guy, but a whole huge plane. Never been found, no bodies, no pieces of the aircraft, no black box, no GPS, no radio communication. In the 21st century. It's been a year and not a single trace has been recovered.
I hope you never get lost, but if you do you will find out it isn't "Hollywood Kitsch" which by the way, that word doesn't mean what you seem to think it means.
It ain't the Ganges, but you go with what you got." ~ Ken Talley, "The Fifth of July"
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Thanks for understanding. I remember so many newscasters saying at the time that in today's world we can't imagine something as big as this plane getting completely lost. And when I noticed this thread, I couldn't help responding, even if the OP doesn't care anymore.
It ain't the Ganges, but you go with what you got." ~ Ken Talley, "The Fifth of July"
Wrong. There are tens of thousands of uninhabited island in the world. I think you underestimate how big the world is. There are LOTS of island that no ship travels close enough to spot some dude yelling in the shore. This movie is absolutely plausible. Very few would make it 4 years alone in an island like that, but it's obviously possible with good survival skills. So it's not utter nonsense, it's plausible although unlikely.
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Thus the long-running joke that the FedEx box he never opened contained a charged satellite phone. :D
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