Cast Away: From Memphis to Monuriki

The film opens in December 1995; the prologue then moves to Russia, where FedEx systems analyst Chuck Noland spends his days fixing productivity problems and giving the local staff a hard time. It was shot in Moscow, on a street just off Red Square, and FedEx gave the crew access to its Moscow facilities. Moscow is also where the angel-winged package is delivered, to a man who is there with another woman. Red Square runs along the Kremlin's eastern walls and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

Location precision: A location guide says only "a street just off Red Square"; the pin marks the square itself.

Chuck lives in Memphis with his girlfriend Kelly Frears. At Christmas dinner his tooth aches, and he is summoned to a FedEx problem in Malaysia; Kelly gives him her grandfather's pocket watch before he goes. Memphis is FedEx's real base: Federal Express put its main hub at the airport in 1973, and by 2000 it handled over one million packages a night. When Chuck returns, his hero's welcome, with FedEx CEO Fred Smith as himself, was filmed at FedEx's Memphis home facilities.

Location precision: The sources name FedEx's Memphis facilities, not one building; the pin marks Memphis airport, home of the FedEx hub.

Soon after the crash leaves Chuck the only survivor on a deserted island, he sees a ship far away on the horizon and tries to escape on the inflatable raft. The waves push him back, his leg is badly injured on a reef and the raft is irreparably punctured. A location guide says this attempt was filmed on Namotu, a private six-acre island with an exclusive resort, in the southernmost Mamanucas just west of Nadi.

Location precision: In the story the raft attempt happens on the same island; a location guide says it was filmed on Namotu, where the pin sits.

After the FedEx plane crashes into the Pacific, this is the deserted island where Chuck washes ashore, with FedEx packages washing up around him. He leaves a bloody handprint on a Wilson volleyball, draws a face in the blood and names his new companion Wilson; over four years he adapts to life alone, pulling his own tooth with a rock and the blade of an ice skate. The film places the island about 600 miles south of the Cook Islands; it was shot on Monuriki, in Fiji's Mamanuca Islands, now a tourist attraction.

Location precision: The island is never named in the film; the pin marks Monuriki, where it was shot.

Visitor guidance: The uninhabited island can be visited by boat from Denarau Island.

The film begins and ends on the Arrington Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, south of Canadian. Back from the island, Chuck drives here to return the angel-winged package he never opened. Finding no one home, he leaves it at the door with a note saying it saved his life; a sculpture of golden wings stands in the yard. At a crossroads the sculptor stops her pickup and tells him where each road leads. He looks down each road and smiles as he faces the road her truck took.

Location precision: The ranch lies south of Canadian and a location guide puts the crossroads near the town; the pin marks the town centre.