Several years ago Tom Brokaw wrote a book calling the men and women who lived during the Second World War the “Greatest Generation.” After viewing the movie “Unbroken,” it is undeniable that those who served their country, at home and overseas, were indeed men and women whose sacrifices were unbelievable and great.
Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s best seller, “Unbroken” is the true story of Louis Zamperini. The movie traces Zamperini’s story from his childhood in Torrance, California, to his feats as an Olympic runner, to his service in the Pacific during the war.
After being shot down, he and two members of the crew, endured 47 days on a raft. After miraculously surviving, the two remaining crew members are captured by the Japanese to endure years in a prisoner of war camp and hard labor at a Japanese port.
Never having heard of Louis Zamperini, I was mesmerized by his story as I read Hillenbrand’s book. The movie does a good job of capturing the pain and cruelty that these men endured. Perhaps because I had read the book, the movie, for me, was anti-climatic. For those unfamiliar with his story or for those who do not have a strong background of the Second World War, this is an emotional movie of one of the members of the “Greatest Generation.”