Unbroken

The story begins with a B-24 Liberator bomber flying over the Pacific during World War II. Louie Zamperini and his crew are engaged in a dangerous bombing mission, enduring heavy enemy fire and sustaining injuries to many aboard.

The narrative shifts back to Louie's childhood in Torrance, California, where he faces bullies and requires a police escort home. This early experience highlights the challenges he faced within his traditional Italian-American family.

Louie's ability to run fast is recognized when he escapes trouble at a baseball game. His older brother begins training him, leading Louie to become renowned as the fastest runner in his school.

Louie competes in the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Berlin, Germany. Despite finishing last in his race, he establishes a world record for the fastest mile run by an American at the time.

After being reassigned, Louie and his crew undergo rigorous training in Hawaii. Louie astounds his fellow airmen by breaking the four-minute mile, showcasing his exceptional athleticism.

Louie and his crew face disaster when they receive a faulty B-24 for a mission aimed at locating a crashed aircraft. Mechanical failure leads to a catastrophic crash into the ocean off Oahu, resulting in the loss of eight crew members.

Louie, Phil, and Mac survive the crash and fight for survival on a lifeboat. With limited provisions, they ration a single piece of chocolate and face extreme dehydration and exhaustion.

On the third day adrift, Louie and his crew spot an aircraft overhead and desperately signal for help. Unfortunately, their efforts prove futile as the plane ignores their distress signals.

As conditions worsen over the next several days, Louie and his friends suffer from bug bites and dehydration. In a desperate bid to survive, they eat an albatross but experience nausea instead of relief.

After 29 days at sea, hopes for rescue rise when another plane appears. Instead of saving them, the aircraft opens fire on their lifeboat, forcing Louie and Phil to dodge bullets in a frantic survival effort.

As they near 50 days adrift, the strain becomes too much for Mac, leading to his death. Louie and Phil are faced with the heartbreaking necessity of giving him a burial at sea amid their desperate plight.

Louie and Phil are eventually captured by Japanese soldiers and taken to a POW camp. They are brutally informed of their status as enemy prisoners, marking the beginning of a new and harrowing chapter in Louie's life.

In the POW camp, Louie endures relentless torment at the hands of his captor, Mutsushiro Watanabe, profoundly known as the Bird. His sadistic behavior focuses particularly on Louie, turning every moment into an ordeal.

Despite the torturous conditions, Louie becomes a symbol of hope and resilience among the prisoners. He withstands the cruelty of the Bird and even earns the respect of his fellow inmates through acts of bravery.

After the war ends, Louie returns home but is haunted by memories of his captor. In a remarkable act of forgiveness, he later becomes a torchbearer at the 1998 Olympics and passes away in 2014, embodying resilience and redemption.