Must Read Book First

Rating: 8/10 (1 January 2015)

After reading the wonderful telling of the full story by Laura Hillenbrand, watching this movie was a joy to see on screen many moments of Zamp's life. But without the book, the film is missing the best part of Louie's conquest. The full story of Zamperini is so bright. But the film, covering so many events wonderfully, told only the first half; the tough as nails set-up. As he said in an interview when reading certain parts of the book, Zamperini felt like he was back in war. Just this portion of his journey is rough to witness. The film has many scenes that show his amazing life, with artistic editing and set design. Reading reviews of the film I was prepared to not get the full re-telling of story in the theater. But after reading the book first it was epic just to see a cinematic retelling of the incredible challenges he overcame. After the film I really wanted to clap! Just didn't want to be the only one. Excellent - WITH the book!