Tom hanks and helen hunt star in this blockbuster survival drama, directed by robert zemeckis.     systems engineer chuck noland says goodbye to his girlfriend kelly and heads off on a flight to south america. En route the plane crashes into the pacific ocean, leaving chuck as its only survivor. Chuck manages to swim to safety to a nearby island. It is uninhabited. After a failed attempt to escape on an inflatable raft, chuck accepts that he is unlikely to get back to civilisation and begins to make the most of what he has around him. Four years later he is still on the island, having adapted extremely well to his new environment, but decides the time is right to make another attempt at the long journey home and sets off for a remarkable adventure on a makeshift wooden raft.