Unbroken (2014)

• Year: 2014
• Released: 25 Dec 2014
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 14 wins & 33 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1809398/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/unbroken
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/unbroken
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English, Japanese, Italian
• MPA Rating: PG-13
• Genre: Action, Biography, Drama
• Runtime: 137 min
• Writer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese
• Director: Angelina Jolie
• Cast: Jack O’Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson
• Keywords: woman director, based on novel or book, biography, sports, world war ii,

	7.2/10
	59/100
	51% – Critics
	70% – Audience

Unbroken Storyline

Tale of Louis Zamperini, the Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in World War II, only to fight for his life against nature and eventually as a prisoner of war. Joel and Ethan Coen provide the script. Louis (Jack O’Connell) grows up a rough-hew kid on the verge of becoming a full-on delinquent, until his brother starts training him to be a track star. Louis excels at the sport, and eventually represents America at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. During his training, he learns to become resilient and disciplined; his brother’s words of advice, “If you can take it, you can make it,” push him to overcome any adversity. He must live up to that adage under the most extreme circumstances after his plane is shot down during another bombing raid. He is stranded at sea for more than a month, only to be found by the Japanese and forced to endure constant physical abuse at the hands of sadistic prison-camp guard Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Japanese pop star Miyavi), who wants to break Louis’ indomitable spirit..

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Unbroken Movie Reviews

Good, but the spiritual aspects of Zamperini’s life seemed like they were de-emphasized.

This film came out a few months ago, so by now there are quite a few reviews–so I’ll try to make my comments brief. The film is a biography of the wartime experiences of Louie Zmaperini–as well as a few flashbacks to his life before the war. Zamperini was famous both for being an Olympic athlete as well as his being a prisoner of war in Japan–all of which he later wrote about in his biography. In it, he also talks about his difficulties coping with PTSD and anger towards his Japanese tormentors–as well as, with the help of God, he was able to let go of the anger and life a normal life. In many ways, this is extremely similar to another recent film, “The Railway Man”–a film which, to me, is better and makes a much stronger emotional impact.

What what did I like and dislike about the film? The aerial sequences were pretty amazing–particularly how they used wonderful CGI to make it appear as if Mitsubishi Zeros were attacking a formation of B-24 Liberator bombers. The story also was very interesting. But the film also seemed to be missing the spiritual and emotional side–and mostly only talked about this in the epilogue which was written only. In many ways, interesting but curiously uninvolving at times.

Endure the unendurable

By any stretch of the imagination Louis Zamperini was a hero and role model in any number of ways. In getting to see a rough cut of Angelina Jolie’s film before he died, he got to see how millions and millions unborn will get to see his life. I think that’s something you can’t ask for more.

If it wasn’t for what Jesse Owens did in the 1936 Olympics Zamperini’s story would be more well known even before Unbroken came out. A kid who had a lot of trouble with the law as a juvenile delinquent and a kid whose family was the only one of Italian origin from his small town of Torrance, California he felt the pangs of discrimination. A wise older brother told him to find an outlet and channel his energies into more constructive ways. Track and field became his outlet and in his time he became a legend, sad to say for posterity eclipsed by that other legend of Jesse Owens and the gold he won at Hitler’s show palace in Berlin.

He was training for the upcoming Olympics scheduled for Tokyo in 1940 when the World War broke out putting a lot of things in the world on hold. In the Armed Services Zamperini became a gunner in the Army Air Corps and got shot down and with two others one of whom died he was on a life raft for over a month.

Rescue comes in the form of the Japanese and he and his fellow survivor spend a couple of years as Japanese prisoners and their treatment of captives was legendarily sadistic. His own strength of character permitted him to endure the unendurable. And he got to see Tokyo from an interesting point of view.

I have to say that I did not recognize most of the players in Unbroken, but probably that was better because it became more authentic. Jack O’Connell plays Zamperini and Garrett Hedlund plays his fellow survivor from the plane and the prison. Takamasha Ishihara plays one of the prison camp officers who singles out Zamperini for some special treatment. He is chillingly evil.

O’Connell and Hedlund are effective in their portrayals as well. Without star baggage which he will now have O’Connell makes you think you really are looking into the most triumphant and despairing moments of the life of Louis Zamperini. Angelina Jolie triumphs as a director as well. I have a feeling that she wanted to make an inspirational movie for the family she and Brad Pitt have to see.

The vistas of Australia and the blue Pacific Ocean surrounding it was a great location and responsible for the Oscar nomination Unbroken got for cinematography. Unbroken also was given recognition by the Academy with two other nominations in the Sound department.

Add a Coen brothers inspirational script and story and you have the makings of a fine film tribute for a real hero.

A stock tale let down by directorial inexperience

UNBROKEN is a WW2 movie that once again has the hook of being based on a true story. This one’s about an Olympic runner who becomes a bomber pilot and who ends up in a life raft in the middle of the Pacific after his plane develops a mechanical fault. This occupies the first half of the running time; the second half moves into prisoner of war territory. This film received a lot of attention for being directed by Angelina Jolie, but it feels very much like she’s copying Clint Eastwood’s style; he, of course, directed her in CHANGELING, so it’s a basic imitation more than anything else.

Sadly, Jolie makes some novice mistakes here; the story goes on far too long at times, and ends up being full of sappy, cheesy stuff at the climax, stuff that had me wincing in embarrassment; it was so gritty earlier on, too. Jack O’Connell gives a fine performance as the lead, but this does feel too derivative of the likes of LIFE OF PI and in particular MERRY Christmas, MR. LAWRENCE.