Cast Away : Wilson floating away…..

Wilson floating away…..

Am I alone in this or is the losing of Wilson one of the saddest moments in cinema history? Volleyball/object or not, this "companion" is what kept him sane for 4 years except for the apparent brief suicide plan which was never brought to fruition.
The scene where he is hysterically crying on the raft after losing Wilson is arguably one of the most heartbreaking scenes I've ever seen. Not to mention he is alone in the middle of the Pacific after 4 years of having a buddy and now he is alone again.

I would have reacted the same way, no doubt. Everyone needs something that clings them to reality or normalcy in their darkest hours or days. Wilson was it.

Re: Wilson floating away…..

I completely agree. The first time I watched this movie at nine or ten, I was right about the age when I could understand the adult themes in this movie(as opposed to being scared/confused by it) and the scene when he lost Wilson had me bawling. I still cry whenever this scene comes up.

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And just to add that the scene may have never made it past the editing stage if Hanks hadn't absolutely sold the heartbreak of this shipwrecked soul losing this inanimate object that he came to view as a friend.


Just once, I'd like someone to call me sir without adding 'you're making a scene' ~H Simpson

Re: Wilson floating away…..

Wilson was his sanity. His whole purpose was locked in for those 4 yrs. It was very heart breaking the attempt he made trying to save Wilson. I was crying like a baby when he lost him.:(

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And just to add that the scene may have never made it past the editing stage if Hanks hadn't absolutely sold the heartbreak of this shipwrecked soul losing this inanimate object that he came to view as a friend.

Absolutely strntz,

Tom hanks is also one of the few people who can bawl realistically too. It sounded totally believable.


"Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends..."

Re: Wilson floating away…..

Chuck losing Wilson was sadder than when he lost Kelly.

Knock if off Napolean make yourself a dang quesadil-la!

Re: Wilson floating away…..

As sad as it was, it was a real victory for him to let Wilson go for his chance to live. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew that Wilson was his crutch and he had to face the final battle of wills on his own.



"Oh that's nice, sweetie" = Grandma's version of "cool story, bro"
#3

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"As sad as it was, it was a real victory for him to let Wilson go for his chance to live."

Absolutely right. One of the best moments in the movie, and completely in keeping with the theme.

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Re: Wilson floating away…..

And he bought a new Wilson too!

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It's interesting that he bought "another Wilson" in the end. He wasn't that sane after all, it seems.

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I own you.

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Re: Wilson floating away…..

Good interpretation.

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I own you.

Re: Wilson floating away…..


his so-called friends not even bothering to find out what food he'd want for his comeback party.

That wasn't the impression I got. When he picked up the Alaskan king crab leg, all I saw was more of the mood he was projecting with everything else, that he had never realized how easy modern life was, with everything so easily available. Fire at the push of a lighter button. Light at the flick of a switch. Warm, soft beds. Ice cubes. Clean water from any tap or bottle. People didn't have to struggle just to survive.

He didn't want to go back to the island. Kelly didn't ditch him and he didn't blame her. He's not the kind of guy to expect her to wait for him forever. She had a life and a family now. The new Wilson, like everything else he had in the passenger seat, was a security blanket. He wasn't about to take his life or the lives of others for granted again, especially with all the death he had seen and the death of his co-worker's wife. He was a changed man compared with the time-obsessed workaholic at the beginning of the movie. Life had handed him a second chance, with reentry into society and now with Bettina. He wasn't going to let that pass him by. He was going places, but he was going prepared now. You missed the point of the movie, which was to point out how easy we actually have it, but also how fragile our modern lives can be and that we should live in the moment.

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He didn't buy a new Wilson to keep him company, he was returning the stuff to it's rightful owners

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You think so? I don't think he kept any of the packaging except for the one that he was delivering. The ball came out of a different box, which he discarded/burned.

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Re: Wilson floating away…..

that scene should have locked up an oscar for wilson....



The circulation of confidence is better than the circulation of money.-James Madison

Re: Wilson floating away…..

saw this movie 3 times, once when i was 13, again when i was 19, then now when i'm 29. him losing wilson was sadder when i was a kid but him losing kelly is much worse when i'm an adult. it is probably one of the most bitter scenes i've ever seen.

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Not everyone responsds to things the same way, I for one didn't really care. I was worried he was going to let go of the raft and lose it. It didn't bother me because I thought the entire aspect of him talking to the volleyball was weird and it creeped me out a little. I could never relate to him talking to it so I never had a "bond" with that relationship. I can't say what I'd do in that situation but I'd be shocked if I started talking to a ball. I'd have opened the artist's box as well.

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Lol, thank you for your post. I was starting to feel crazy thinking "am I the only one who watches this movie and doesn't get emotional about Tom Hank's volleyball drifting away?"

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Didn't bother me either. I could understand why he was talking to it but I didn't get attached to the character because there wasn't one.

Even he knows he's talking to a volleyball.

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Spoiler-alert... I think they totally overdid the Wilson bit. Contrary to what others have said, having a "Wilson" didn't "save" his sanity, it clearly lost it for him. They overdid it by having him become so over-the-top loopy over the volleyball, only to transition instantly back to his calm, stable, Tom Hanks self upon his rescue. I didn't buy it.

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Spoken like a true German. Idiot.

Hama cheez ba-Beer behtar meshawad!

Re: Wilson floating away…..

Agreed, that was an incredibly sad scene. Always gets me.

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Former username Kawada_Shogo

Re: Wilson floating away…..

And to mention Tom's brilliant performance he really has that effect on you, this picture will forever have a place in my heart, it's probably one of my all time favorites.

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I loved this film and Chucks 'relationship' with Wilson. I watch Castaway every time it screens. Tom Hanks is brilliant in his role. Although the film gets a little slow after his rescue, I always enjoy it from beginning to end.

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It reminds me of the short film The Red Balloon. I cried when the balloon "died".

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I completely agree with OP!! Only Tom Hanks could humanize a freakin' volleyball making us cry as Wilson floats away from him. How was Wilson not nominated for an Oscar?!! And when it happens, I'm like, okay, maybe he can get off the raft and get Wilson and get back on the raft. I'm like, OH NO! when we all realize it can't be done and he loses Wilson. That is one of the toughest scenes for me to watch. Helen Hunt? Whatever. Yawn. But Wilson!!!!!!!!!


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The snowflake makes it cold, cold, cold. Set temperature makes it hold, hold hold.

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"I know you!"



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LOL. Every time I see Chuck lying on that raft, crying, bawling his eyes out, so weak, so frail, so tortured by everything that's happened to him... I can't help but burst into tears over his loss either. It's Wilson. There really are no words to describe how powerful that connection must have been and how hard losing that connection might be.

And I know it's just a fcking volleyball! LMAO.

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Yes, the first time I seen the film I was around eight years old and I couldn't help but cry when he had to leave Wilson in fear of losing the raft. Even now I still find the scene difficult despite knowing the outcome, that's just the power of the legendary Tom Hanks' acting I guess.




"The blackest eyes....the devils eyes" - Dr Loomis

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I remember when I first saw it at the Cinema and when Wilson dropped off into the water I sort of smiled a little and half heartedly thought 'oh no he's lost him' but then it suddently got really real when he couldn't get to him and I was amazed at how powerful that scene really was.

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Just might be the saddest moment in cinematic history for me and I've watched alot of sad *beep*

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I pretty much agree here. I even cried to bits when the water toke Wilson away...

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My 6-year-old son saw that scene for the first time two weeks ago and cried and cried and cried. He couldn't get over that scene. Even after the movie was over, he kept asking me if he got another volleyball and painted another face on it.
The scene was utterly heartbreaking.

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. -Gandalf the Grey

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Just to take a hard line, Wilson was lost, because of Chuck's carelessness. He didn't secure him (it) to the raft well enough. So I have to wonder, did he weep for the loss of the volley ball, or for his own shortcoming, his own failure?

I think this is a story about a man coming to terms with his own limitations. In his old life, Chuck was more or less a success, due to his station within a hierarchy, but when forced to face life alone, he learned he could not really make it. Had he stayed on the island, how long could he have survived? How long could "Wilson" keep him from going insane, before he would have to invent a new, more elaborate fantasy, to keep himself grounded? And leaving the island meant, he could survive, but only with the help of others. At the end of the movie, when he looks into the camera, I think the question in Chuck's mind must be, "Can I forgive myself, for not being perfect?"

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Your six year old's reaction is just a clear bottom line on Wilson. Some have different thoughts but a six year old nailed it. WILSON.

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Wilson should have won an Oscar.

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It was too sad

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Yep, heart-shredding. :(
Hanks really sold the bond and you believed that this inanimate object had become a trusted buddy and companion.

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It is a very powerful scene.

I have turned it into a joke while Candle Pin bowling. Every time we go against my buddy Wilson's team and I always look at him and re-enact: "WILSON!!! I'm sorry Wilson. I'm sorry."

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For me, this is one of the great moments in the movies. It's staggering in its level of heartbreak. What else has to happen to Chuck in this film? At the same time, Wilson floating away does seem to emote some final stripping away of everything Hanks had before getting his second chance at life, a life he's probably going to live quite differently if/when he gets the chance.

The power of Hanks manifests here in this scene. He's performed a kind of magic trick on the audience; he's made you care about that damn volleyball. It meant the world to him, that and a photograph. Hanks is completely convincing. It's as powerful as anything you'll see.

One other film this moment reminds me of is the last time you see Charles Foster Kane say "Rosebud"; the scene in which Susan Alexander has left him, and he throws the temper tantrum, destroying all the stuff in their tent. Then he comes across the snowglobe, he picks it up, and says "Rosebud". You now have the story of his life, and you understand completely what he's saying, the complete and total loss of the life he would know, and that no money, no matter how much in the world, could replace his parents and their love. Rosebud, something he lost, that he had no opportunity to prevent from losing. In that case, Kane's childhood, his life. For Chuck, he lost everything he ever had. Losing Wilson, it's yet one more thing he loses. It kills me.

Great, evocative film.

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All these losers who are sad over what is JUST. A. FUCKING. VOLLEYBALL.

Get a grip you morons.

"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Re: Wilson floating away…..

fuck you
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