Movie Classification: P13
Genre: Drama / War / Biography
Director: Angelina Jolie
Starring:
- Jack O'Connell (Louis "Louie" Zamperini)
- Domhnall Gleeson (Russell "Phil" Phillips)
- Garrett Hedlund (John Fitzgerald)
- Miyavi (Mutsuhiro "The Bird" Watanabe)
- Finn Wittrock (Francis "Mac" McNamara)
- Jai Courtney (Charlton Hugh "Cup" Cupernell)
- Luke Treadaway (Miller)
- Travis Jeffery (Jimmy)
- Jordan Patrick Smith (Cliff)
- John Magaro (Frank A. Tinker)
- Alex Russell (Pete Zamperini)
- Vincenzo Amato (Anthony)
- Maddalena Ischiale (Louise Zamperini)
- Morgan Griffin (Cynthia Applewhite)
- Savannah Lamble (Sylvia Zamperini)
- Sophie Dalah (Virginia Zamperini)
Running Time: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
Released Date: 5th February 2015
Distributor: United International Pictures
Language: English
Unbroken Trailer
Unbroken Synopsis
The film opens showing Louis "Louie" Zamperini flying as a bombardier of a United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator bomber, during an April 1943 bombing mission against the Japanese-held island of Nauru. The plane is badly damaged in combat, with a number of the crew injured. The brakes of the plane are shot away, but the pilot, Phil, manages to bring it to a stop at the end of the runway thanks to a flat tire.
The film flashes back to Louie's childhood as a young Italian-American boy in Torrance, California. Louie is a troublemaker, stealing, drinking liquor, and smoking, to the disappointment of his parents. He is picked on by other kids for being Italian. One day, Louie is caught looking up women's dresses from under bleachers during a track meet, and runs. His brother Peter sees how fast he runs, and decides to train him to be a runner. Peter trains Louie every day to become his best. As he grows, Louie becomes an accomplished distance runner, earning him the nickname "The Torrance Tornado," and eventually qualifies for the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. Louie does surprisingly well in the Olympics, coming in 8th and setting a record for speed in the final lap in the 5000 metres race, running it in 56 seconds.
Returning to 1943, Louie and the surviving crew of the previous mission, along with replacement crewmen, are sent on a search and rescue mission with a plane that had previously been used for spare parts. Louie does not believe that the plane is airworthy, but the others tell him that it is suitable. During the mission, however, both of the plane's left engines fail, causing them to crash in the ocean. Louie and two others, Mac and Phil (the pilot of this, and the previous mission) survive and live on two inflatable rafts. After three days, a search plane flies over them but does not see them and they are unable to get its attention. On the 27th day, they get the attention of a Japanese plane, which strafes the floating rafts but misses them. On the 33rd day Mac dies, leaving only Louie and Phil.
On the 47th day, Japanese forces capture Louie and Phil and they become prisoners of war. The Japanese force Louie and Phil to tell them what they know about the Allies. Louie tells them that he doesn't know anything because he's been stuck on the raft for more than a month. Their captors do not believe them and send Louie and Phil to a P.O.W. camp.
Louie and Phil are separated into different camps. The camp in Tokyo, where Zamperini is sent, is headed by a Japanese corporal, Mutsuhiro "Bird" Watanabe, who treats him very cruelly, in part because of Zamperini's status as a former Olympian. Bird is especially tough on Louie out of jealousy, beating him often. Louie is given the opportunity to broadcast a message home saying that he is alive. When he refuses to broadcast a second message that would be anti-American he is sent back to camp where Watanabe has all the other prisoners punch him for not showing respect.
After two years, Watanabe gets a promotion and is taken out of the camp where Zamperini is being held. Louie is grateful that he is gone. One night the camp is damaged when Tokyo is bombed by American forces. Louie and the other internees are forced to move to another camp where Zamperini discovers, to his horror, that Watanabe is in charge. The prisoners are now put to work loading coal barges. One day after Louis sprains his ankle and is unable to work, "Bird" tells him to lift a giant piece of wood. Louis successfully lifts and holds up the wood, angering Watanabe and leading to a harsh beating. At the end of the war, Zamperini and the other prisoners in the camp are set free to return to their homes. Back home in America, he kisses the ground and hugs his family.
At the end of the film, there is a slideshow showing what happened after the war. Louis was married and had two children. Phil survived and eventually married his sweetheart. Mutsuhiro "Bird" Watanabe went into hiding for several years and successfully evaded prosecution in spite of being listed in the top 40 most-wanted Japanese war criminals by General Douglas MacArthur. Louie forgave his war-time captors and met with many of them. Watanabe, however, refused to meet with Zamperini.
In January 1998, Louis had an opportunity to revisit his time as an Olympian when he ran a leg of the Olympic Torch relay for the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. He was four days short of his 81st birthday. The site for his leg of the relay was not far from one of the POW camps where he was held during the war. The closing titles reveal that Zamperini died on July 2, 2014 at age 97.
Unbroken Movie Review
<Unbroken> is a movie which is based on the true story about Louis Zamperini. From his story, it gave us some inspiration such as "don't give up no matter what happened". For example, when Louis is young, he is a troublemaker, he like to steal, drinking liquor and smoking. One day, when he is caught looking up women's dresses under bleachers during the track, he runs. His brother Pete saw how fast he runs and decided to train him to become a runner. At first, he haven't try and he told his brother said he can't do it. Pete said he can and gave him support. Finally, he was qualified for the Olympics. The next story when he was US Army Air Forces officer, one day the planes crash to the ocean due to the engine fails. He and another two pilots, Phil and Mac live on inflatable rafts. He did warn Mac only each two or three pieces of chocolate per day, and he finished up everything. This make Louis was mad because of him. But they won't give up on asked for the help. On the 27th day, they get the attention of a Japanese plane, which strafes the floating rafts but misses them. On the 33rd day Mac dies, leaving only Louis and Phil. On the 47th day, Japanese forces capture Louie and Phil and they become prisoners of war. During these period, the other war prisoners which are US army, they were tortured by the Japanese army and become the slave. It's very cruel when they keep beating and whipping until the prisoner was injured. One day, after Louis sprains his ankle and is unable to work, Watanabe tells him to lift a giant piece of wood. Louis successfully lifts and holds up the wood, angering Watanabe and leading to a harsh beating. From here, we can learned that Louis never give up and finally he is succeed. At the end of the war, Zamperini and the other prisoners in the camp are set free to return to their homes. Back home in America, he kisses the ground and hugs his family. As a conclusion, the movie is suitable for everyone because Louis's previous life is gave us a lot of inspiration. We need to learn Louis's spirit if we want to become successful person.
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