Chuck Noland is a Fed-Ex manager who demands that everything must be on time and travels the world to make sure punctuality is on top of everything else. He has a girlfriend, Kelly, with whom he is deeply in love with and family he hardly sees. When work intrudes on Christmas Eve, Chuck has a quick gift exchange in the car and kisses Kelly goodbye. He boards a delivery plane going overseas which gets caught in a horrendous storm and crashes into the Pacific. The sole survivor Chuck washes up on a remote island along with several Fed-Ex packages that he must use for supplies. With limited luxury, he adapts to the island over the course of 1,500 nights. When Chuck finally sees his chance he rafts out on the ocean and fortunately is spotted. After a bittersweet welcome-back reception, Chuck finds Kelly has married another man and has children. But he is missing more than her. For all his life his objective was work. For four years, it was survival. Now Chuck is compelled to live.

Production was halted for a year so Tom Hanks could lose fifty pounds and grow out his hair for his time spent on the deserted island. During this hiatus, Robert Zemeckis used the same crew to film What Lies Beneath (2000).

Chuck Noland:
I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over nothing.

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Audio/visual sync is off when Chuck attempts to open coconuts by pounding them against a large rock. (theatrical version)

Written by Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden & Elvis Presley
Performed by Elvis Presley
Courtesy of the RCA Music Group, a unit of BMG Entertainment