User Reviews

Unbroken (2014)

Heartbreaking, inspiring true story, told and directed in straight up high quality realism. There is some true intensity in the fighting scenes, in the survival scenes on the raft, and in the prison camp with its torture and hardship. And this is balanced by determination and hope.

If that sounds generic, in a way that fits—the movie follows some tried and true formulas. The beginning has us with the hero, Louis Zamperini (played by Jack O'Connell), in a big bomber heading for some targets against Japan in WWII. As trouble begins, leading to the crash which makes up the real start of the movie, we also get flashbacks to his simple Italian-American childhood. This is effective, but it's sentimental stuff. And it lets you know the kind of wholesome intentions of the movie.

There is a lot going on here, in three main sections: running, surviving on a raft, and the prison camps. That Zamperini suffers and endures is the point of the film, and in that way the narrative is very straight forward. There are villains and buddies. The skies rain bombs and the sea is full of sharks. Some people are merciless, and others kind. But in the middle, through every turn and travail, is Zamperini. "If you can take it, you can make it," is a mantra in the film, and that's the message.

The direction and photography were first rate…very subtle in a spectacular way (or vice versa). It's a truly fine film, and director Angelina Jolie (in her second feature, after a terrible first try) does a really good job. The story, co-written by the Coen brothers and others, based on a book by Laura Hillenbrand, is a great bit of history, quite sensational stuff.

So why did we leave the movie feeling just so-so about it all? I'm not sure how to nicely say this, but it's really a good story, well told, lacking some quality of surprise or depth it really needs to rise above. As amazing as the photography and editing (and so on) are, it's all in service to a fairly ordinary kind of story. Not that this man's life is ordinary at all, but the way it develops and is told is oddly routine, as narrative storytelling.

Good stuff, for sure. It's a bit hard to take sometimes for its brutality--there is a lot of graphic, personal violence--and the Japanese camps are portrayed as truly cruel (which many in Japan object to). But it's an impressive movie in many ways.

When I first heard about this film, I got really excited about the story but the mix reviews had me walking into the theater ready to nitpick.

Some people might not agree with me but the film was masterfully directed. It showcases the war, in all its aspects battles, death, starvation, and torture without inflaming the audience. I've seen documentaries that left me wanting vengeance for the oppressed. Unbroken is about Louie's forgiveness, his resilience despite what was done to him and the film does just that. It's sturdy and infused with darkness, shows the gruesome and the brutality but it does not make you angry, hopping for Japan to burn for what they did to him. On the contrary you hope for Louie to stand strong and stick it out.

Watching the movie there's an implied understanding for both sides, you won't like that Louie's brutalized and mentally tortured but at the same time you're not hating the guys brutalizing him. It helps to know how it'll end, which also explains the lack of emotional involvement, but it's about Louie during WWII. Louie is not depicted as a victim but as a person. I know the general consensus would be to almost break him down in order to build him back up but that would have been like blowing things up like a Michael Bay movie.

The performances throughout the cast was good, Angelina Jolie got the what she needed from the cast to tell this story in this particular way. The pace of the film fits to the story, the rhythm matches its narrative structure because it all flows together, it kind of sucks you in and bring you along for the ride. The side stories flows well in the overall narrative structure of the film. It's very easy to watch with its amazing array of beautiful colors and shots. There is a lot of potential in Angelina Jolie as a director.

Unbroken is a beautiful movie all around, the shots are mesmerizing, even the CGI ones, and the cast is on point. The story is inspiring and feels real. It's a big studio movie but it manages to feel intimate like an indie.

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"Unbroken" is based on the excellent award-winning inspirational book (2010) by Laura Hillebrand, who has an eye for detail and description. It is a biography of the exciting life of Louis Silvie Zamperini of Torrance, California. This review includes several details that were omitted in the movie, included to clarify certain situations.

Louis Zamperini (C.J. Valleroy as young Louie, Jack O'Connell in the title role) was restless and incorrigible as a Californian youth. Bullied, he was a juvenile delinquent. His older brother Pete (John D'Leo, Alex Russell), however, began to take more interest in him and became his mentor when Louie decided to run track. Pete rode his bike as Louie ran alongside him; later he ran far ahead. By high school Louie was setting state and national records: "The Torrance Tornado" became the fastest high school runner in US history. At age 19 he was already in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games even though his body was still too young (undeveloped) to win a medal. Nevertheless he surprised even Hitler when he ran the fastest last lap of the 5,000-meter race in 56 seconds. Although robbed of his chance to break a world track record and run an under four-minute mile at the now-canceled 1940 Olympics, Louie continues to train in the vain hope that war will end by 1944, the next scheduled games.

At film's beginning Louie is a flight lieutenant, a World War II bombardier on a B-24 Liberator that has just completed a successful raid on the Japanese-held island of Nauru in the south Pacific (1943). Although the airplane is shot up and crew members are wounded, the crew limps back successfully to base at Funafuti (now Tuvalu). The next mission involves rescuing a downed B-24 crew near the island of Palmyra. But Louie's crew is given "The Green Hornet," an airplane that was not really fly-worthy. Sure enough an engine fails at an inopportune time and the plane has to be ditched over the vast Pacific Ocean (27 May 1943). There was no bail out because of the notorious shark-infested waters. Three of eleven crew members survive (Louie, Phil, Mac); they occupy two rubber rafts lashed together. One of them, friend Allen "Phil" Phillip (Domhnall Gleason) has a head wound. The scenes involving the albatross and sharks are as described in the book. Sharks constantly ran their bodies and fins along the raft bottom; the men could feel them (Yikes!). The book describes how more than one of the smaller sharks actually leaped onto the raft; a timely oar saved Louie's head. Then a twenty-foot long Great White slammed against the raft bottom, sending three men into the air. Luckily they landed atop the raft. Francis McNamara ("Mac," Finn Wittrock) eats all of the rationed chocolate, the only food. Eventually catatonic, he expires. In violation of the Geneva Convention, a Japanese Zero strafes them. After a record 47 harrowing days of thirst and starvation at sea on rubber rafts, the two survivors receive both good and bad news: they are rescued by the enemy.

After interrogation at notorious Kwajalein, where prisoners were previously executed, Louie and Phil are eventually sent first to Ofuna Prisoner of War (POW) camp, then Omori in Tokyo Bay. Right away Louie is targeted by sadistic Japanese Corporal Watanabe ("The Bird," Takamasa Ishiara), who constantly beats him unmercifully. Although the Geneva Convention excludes officers from work details, many are forced into labor. Not working meant that one-half of the already meager rations were cut. Getting enough food to avoid starvation was problematic because of pilferage. Foods allocated for prisoners were stolen by both Japanese military and civilians and sold on the black market. Although Red Cross relief packages had been sent to the POWs, they too were confiscated. To avoid starvation, POWs had to do their own pilfering! (At war's end 1500 unopened Red Cross boxes were discovered locked in a prison storehouse!) The book further describes how Louie and other men were used as test subjects for experiments in biological / chemical warfare. Cloudy liquid forcibly injected into arms caused dizziness and nausea.

Serendipity strikes Louie when Japanese intelligence discovers that American military has mistakenly assumed his death. Knowing that the capture of an American Olympic athlete has propaganda value, the Japanese allow Louie to radio broadcast a harmless message that he is alive and well. After that Louie gets a nice meal in a Japanese cafeteria. But Louie is soon approached by high level Japanese civilians, who want him to disparage America over airwaves. As Louie cannot act in good conscience, it is back to POW camp with Watanabe. Towards war's end, Louie is transferred to the grimy coal barges on Japan's west coast (Naeotsu). War's end and homecoming cannot come soon enough (1945). The instincts that helped Louie endure his mutinous youth had helped keep him alive in despairing situations. Although his post-traumatic stress disorder and religious conversion were skipped, closing captions briefly explain that Louie married and later returned to Japan to forgive his captors for their cruel treatment. The exception was Watanabe, the Bird; he was assumed dead. Not until 1997 did Louie discover that Watanabe was still alive; he died in 2003. The ending shows the real life footage of Zamperini as an old man running the torch for the Winter Olympics (1998), not far from his old POW camp. Louie lived until 2014, dying just a few months before picture release.

Although the movie doesn't cover Louie's post-war years, it is still entertaining. It was nominated for three Academy Awards and won several others. One should not expect the picture to be as detailed as the book. Perhaps the feature could have been extended by, say, thirty minutes; Angelina Jolie directed. The screenplay is decent enough and Roger Deakins' cinematography is excellent. Jack O'Connell plays the tough Italian wonderfully and is inspiring as a man constantly beaten down but who mentally defeats his enemies.

An extremely powerful and effective World War 11 film dealing with the life of Lou, a 1936 American athlete at the Berlin Olympics.

Under impressive direction by Angelina Jolie, the film shows us his early life where he was called all sorts of derogatory terms for being Italian and how he overcame this. This and his running achievements as an athlete gave him the new found encouragement to survive treatment in a Japanese internment camp for soldiers, where brutality was common every moment with the most barbaric acts perpetrated against the prisoners. The Japanese knew they had an Olympic hero in their midst and they saved a lot of that brutality for him.

His surviving was utterly amazing as he withstood plenty of torture and refused the easy way out by not participating in anti-American Japanese propaganda which would have made his stay in Japan a totally different story.

A great film of determination and overcoming perils and obstacles all along the way.

This true WWII movie about runner Louis Zamperini feels like several movies in one because a lot is covered - from the air to the sea to the land. So things are kept interesting throughout the 2 hours. Angelina Jolie did a fine job - don't understand the negative criticism. She puts the viewer very much in the place of the protagonists and shows what you need to see with just enough detail. The screenplay by the Coen Brothers is surprisingly lucid. Firstly there is an exciting plane battle which puts the viewer right in the vulnerable position of the crew. The story of Louis's running is inspirational. Then there is the survival in the sea on life rafts for many days. Situations like this have been shown before but here it is particularly well done. Finally the conditions at the prisoner of war camps. There is a lot of brutality shown, more so than previous movies like the recent 'Railway Man'. Can feel for each beating. The production values and technical aspects are top quality.

The acting by Jack O'Connell is winning and convincing. He may not look very Italian even with the dyed black hair, but he gives a moving performance. The weight loss the actors had to endure is painful to watch. The actor playing the sadistic Japanese prison guard looks a bit androgynous - someone more menacing and masculine looking would have been better choice.

This is a moving and harrowing movie that is well made deserving of more Golden Globe and Oscar nominations than it received.

Unbroken a movie that brings insight to the dairy of an Olympic champion.

His trials and tribulations displaced in his youth and again the target of a arch-foe during wartime imprisonment.

The focus is on his achievements, when the odds are stacked up against him, this being a recurring instance.

The movie was produced very well in storyline with moments felt for this mans pain, given to Survival.

There were many great scenes that show the producer Angelina Jolie's superstar experience equipped with talent.

These scenes steam from remembrance of pastimes, these lacing with perfection impact situations, thus in progression.

I do however find the makeup artistry was bad with complexions given to the actors in general scenes.

Visual scenes that stood out consisted of a shark attack whilst the rescue boat was being repaired, this catching most people out In the theater by surprise.

The number of shark scenes outlined their presence continuously thought-out the Sea Survival run, Illistrating a number of great scenarios, including that man is / was not the only casualties of war.

The coal boys clustered, was a great visual and the Japanese vessel finding the guys at sea.

The main man of this movie was not the champion however, but rather his Japanese counterpart.

A man shinning in talent his own displacements, emotions, national loyalty and leadership, young yet shouldered with his own expectations in respect of his father a general.

The movie pleasing in story, a family focused movie in overall presentation.

Unbroken is the true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner who ends up in a Japanese POW camp in WWII. His story of survival against the odds is inspiring, but it would be more so if not for this clumsy adaptation.

The movie starts out interestingly enough, with Louis in a squadron of bombers mounting an attack in the Pacific. Then we flash back to his childhood and see him develop an interest in, and talent for, running, which saves him from a life of petty crime. The bomber makes it back to base, but is quickly called back out for a rescue mission with few repairs (another movie that shows the contempt the army seems to have had in WWII for the lives of low-ranking young men). Of course, the plane immediately breaks down and crashes, killing all but three on board. The three men (eventually two) and their fight for survival could have been an interesting movie in and of itself (a Life of Pi sort of thing), but that part of the story ends many weeks later when the men are captured by the Japanese and sent to a jungle prison, then eventually a prison near Tokyo.

The biggest problem with the movie is that all of this takes a lot of time, so that by the time he ends up in the main prison camp with his main adversary, The Bird, the movie is running out of running time. That leaves very little time for character development, especially of The Bird, who is the prison camp's commanding officer.

At one point, The Bird starts starts torturing Louis by making him hold a large price of wood above his head and ordering one of his men to shoot him if he drops it, an image that's featured on the poster. The Bird gets so angry when Louis doesn't drop it that he starts to beat him. Then, out of nowhere, he starts to cry. If we had spent more time with The Bird, we might have understood his motivation, but because we don't see him for more than a few scenes, he remains a mystery.

The movie ends on a positive note, with Louis coming to terms with his capture and eventually returning to Japan to run in the Olympic Torch relay. However, I can't help feel that this would have been much more powerful if we had better understood Louis' experience in the Japanese prison camp and we hadn't spent so much time on the raft and flashing back to childhood.

!May contain Spoilers!

This movie does little beyond telling the story of Louis Zamperini - and it does so with a lot of missing details, no character growth, and contains little else than drawn out scenes of suffering.

The movie is very similar to The Passion of the Christ in that the film shows little progression except when the main character is shown suffering in some way. The characters shown in the movie, Louis and "The Bird" being chief among them, have little to no backgrounds, motivations, or growth / story arcs.

Louis is shown first as a troublesome child, then a youth learning to run, then an Olympian, and finally a soldier; between these scenes, however, there is no transition, no story about him deciding to go for the Olympics, and no story on whether he was drafted or voluntarily signed up to be a soldier. This results in the movie being very oddly paced and Louis having little substance to his background.

Louis, while suffering in the Japanese prison camp, is never shown thinking "I can't do this" or progressing to the point that he determines "I will make it out alive no matter what." He is simply tortured, repeatedly beaten and humiliated, and finally the war simply ends.

Strangely enough, no other prisoners or "extras" are shown being killed / executed at the camp, which does little to help show the brutality of their conditions.

Finally, the movie ends with written paragraphs on-screen which detail his life back in the US and how he forgave his captors. One of the biggest rules of film is to "show them, not tell them," and considering that the written part of the story at the end contains more interesting parts of his life than most the movie, it seems the film was barely able to "show us" as well.

The source material for the movie; Louis's story, is extraordinary and exciting, its unfortunate that the movie does very little to give it justice.