Testing of the American Spirit to the Nth Degree.

Rating: 10/10 (28 December 2014)

IT WOULD APPEAR to be an incontrovertible fact that better stories that are based in historical fact are made when there has been a little distance of time between the actual occurrences and the presentation on the screen. Our review today of being a prime example of this assertion.
THE SCREENPLAY MAKES excellent, if somewhat limited, use of flashbacks as th film opens up with a bombing raid with a young crew of Airmen of the U.S. Army Air Corps. It quickly time-travels back to the early life of a young son of Italian immigrant parents; who shows plenty of anti-social and even criminal behaviour. The love and discipline of his Mother & Father, along with some good coaching from his older brother, nudge the boy's energies into Track & Field Athletics. His training leads to his berth on the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games and to Gold Medal victory.
THE ADVENT OF War in both Europe and the Pacific Rim interrupt the boy's further career in Running and we learn how his lessons learned as a kid come to full fruition in the Pacific Theatre of War. Strong sense of tenacity and the will to live prove to be the most powerful weapons against the tyranny and unbelievable inhumanity to man of the Axis Powers.
THERE ARE SOME who insist that the movie's subject matter was purposely brought out at this time as a reference to our own CIA's alleged "torture" of terrorist enemies ever since the events of 9/11/2001. We couldn't disagree more with this accusation and with its promoters. Please, read on.
THE FILM ACCURATELY makes an accurate of the conditions under which Allied POW's lived under the prisoner camp system of Imperial Japan. In sharp contrast, we personally know of Axis captured soldiers being held in Michigan; where they were employed in helping with the harvesting of the crop of fruit trees, such as apples. For this they were paid and many Germans and Italians later emigrated to the USA and the Michigan Apple Orchards.
THIS IS INDEED a story which needed to be told, and soon as Father Time is rapidly calling to our World War II Vets, with main character, Louis Zamperini's having passed away earlier this year. This is documented at film's end in a review of what happened in the real world since then.
WE CAN'T GIVE this a high enough mark.