The best cinematic castaways

"Life of Pi" — Ang Lee's visually spectacular 3D castaway tale is based on Canadian author Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name. The film (due out Nov. 23) stars newcomer Suraj Sharma as Pi, a teenager whose ship (carrying a zoo full of animals) sinks en route from India to Canada. As if things couldn't get worse for Pi, he and a fully grown Bengal tiger are the only survivors of the wreck, and the two spend months adrift at sea in an uneasy standoff. The film is narrated by Bollywood star Irrfan Khan, who plays an adult version of Pi.

"Cast Away" — An epic tale of a man and the volleyball he loved. Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a courier company employee whose plane crashes in the Pacific Ocean, leaving him stranded on a small uninhabited island. With only a volleyball that he names Wilson to keep him company, Chuck manages to eke out an existence on the island for nearly four years until constructing a raft and attempting escape. Hanks was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for "Castaway," but the volleyball that played Wilson was robbed.

"The Mysterious Island" — Based on the Jules Verne book of the same name and sequel to his more famous "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," the 1961 adventure movie "The Mysterious Island" is probably best known for featuring stop-motion effects by the legendary Ray Harryhausen. Set during the U.S. Civil War, a daring hot air balloon escape (yes, you read that right) by five Union soldiers from a Confederate prison camp results in the group becoming stranded on, you guessed it, a mysterious island. Filled with creatures fantastic and terrible, the island turns out to be the home base of the infamous Captain Nemo (played by the fantastic Herbert Lom), who aids the stranded men.

"Hell in the Pacific" — Paring down Frank Sinatra's 1965 film "None But the Brave" to just two people, "Hell in the Pacific" is the tale of two soldiers — one American (played by Lee Marvin), one Japanese (played by Toshiro Mifune) — who become stranded on a tiny Pacific island at the height of the Second World War. In order to survive, the two old soldiers must get past the fact that they are sworn enemies and work together. To simulate the real-life barriers that would have existed between the two men, none of the film's Japanese dialogue was dubbed or subtitled.

"The Blue Lagoon" — This 1980s coming-of-age tale about two young castaways who eventually fall in love was based the 1908 novel "The Blue Lagoon." Set in the late Victorian era, the film stars Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins as cousins Emmeline and Richard Lestrange, who survive a shipwreck and grow up on a small island with no other human contact. Over the course of the film, the pair's simple existence on the island is complicated by puberty, unfriendly natives, and potential rescue.

"Lord of the Flies" — Bad things happen when kids are left to their own devices. Based on William Golding's novel, the 1963 film version is considered the best of several adaptations. Set during an unnamed war, a group of English school boys are marooned on a small island after their airliner is shot down. All of the boys cooperate with one another at first, setting out rules and appointing a chief, but as their situation deteriorates, so, too, does their behaviour. An already bleak survival situation is transformed into an increasingly desperate and brutal fight for control.

"Swept Away" - No, we're not talking about the critically-reviled Guy Ritchie remake starring Madonna; this is the 1974 Italian classic starring Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato. While vacationing in the Mediterranean, Raffaella (Melato), an insufferable trophy wife, becomes stranded on a small island with one of her yacht's deck hands, Gennarino (Giannini), a pugnacious communist. Accustomed to people doing what they're told, Raffaella continues to order Gennarino aroun, but she soon discovers that she cannot survive without his help, and their roles are quickly reversed. After some rather forceful advances by Gennarino, the pair eventually falls for one another, but after their rescue, they discover that they are either unwilling or unable to change their stripes.

"Swiss Family Robinson" — Only Disney could turn a story based on Robinson Crusoe's harrowing adventure into a hilariously sanitized tale about a family with crazy tree house building skills. The film follows a Swiss family who become shipwrecked on a lush island in the Pacific, and build a life for themselves in isolation. Befriending animals and battling pirates, the family makes surviving a shipwreck not only easy, but fun, too! Oh, how the times have changed - "Swiss Family Robinson" was the biggest box office hit of 1960, beating out now-classics like "Spartacus" and "Psycho."

"Enemy Mine" — Essentially "Hell in the Pacific" in space, "Enemy Mine" is a science fiction film about two starfighter pilots — human Davidge (Dennis Quaid) and alien Jeriba (Louis Gossett, Jr.) — who shoot each other down over an uncharted planet. Despite lingering animosity between the pilots, whose two races are fighting a brutal interstellar war, Davidge and Jeriba learn to trust one another in order to survive the hostile planet. Things get a little weird when Jeriba — whose species reproduces asexually — gives birth to a child and dies, forcing Davidge to raise the young alien as his own.

"Six Days Seven Nights" — In this comedic adventure from director Ivan Reitman, big city writer Robin (Anne Heche) and cantankerous bush pilot Quinn (Harrison Ford) are forced to set aside their dislike for one another when their plane crashes near an island inhabited by modern day pirates. Over the course of a week, the unlikely duo quite predictably falls in love while surviving the elements and being chased by bloodthirsty pirates. "Six Days Seven Nights" was the beginning of a very bad streak of Harrison Ford films, one that the leading man still hasn't recovered from. Hey, there's always "Star Wars Episode VII"!