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Unbroken

Louis "Louie" Zamperini is a bombardier in the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. An April 1943 bombing mission against Japanese installations on Nauru exposes him to danger. His B-24 Liberator is hit by enemy fire, a crewman is badly wounded, and the pilot, Phil, nurses the damaged aircraft to a stop just short of the end of the runway.

In a flashback to his youth in Torrance, California, Louie misbehaves by stealing, drinking alcohol and smoking. He is often bullied by others for his Italian ethnicity. His brother Peter trains him to be an athlete and Louie becomes a disciplined distance runner, earning the nickname "The Torrance Tornado". He finishes 8th in the 1936 Summer Olympics and sets a record in the final lap for the 5,000-meter race.

In his 1943 combat service, Louie flies on a search-and-rescue mission in a war-weary plane which loses engine power and crashes into the ocean. Louie, Phil and Mac are the only survivors. After 27 days adrift on two rafts, they're strafed by a Japanese fighter plane. Mac dies six days later. On the 47th day, Japanese sailors capture Louie and Phil. They become prisoners of war on Kwajalein Atoll and are interrogated for technical information on aircraft models and the Norden bombsight. Louie successfully navigates the interrogation without revealing important information, and the pair are transferred to Japan and split up. Louie goes to camp Ōmori, in Tokyo. Japanese corporal Mutsuhiro Watanabe is especially hard on Louie, beating him often. Louie is given an opportunity to broadcast a message home after learning the U.S. government classified him as KIA. He refuses to broadcast anti-American propaganda and returns to camp where Watanabe has each prisoner punch him.

After two years, Watanabe leaves the camp, but when the prisoners are transferred to Naoetsu prison camp, Sergeant Watanabe is again in command. When Louie pauses during work of loading coal barges, he is punished by Watanabe, who makes him lift a large wooden beam and hold it over his head. The sergeant orders a guard to shoot Louie if he drops it, but the American defiantly holds it up despite his exhaustion. The enraged Watanabe beats Louie for defiantly staring into his eyes. The prisoners are liberated when the Americans occupy Japan at the end of the war. Louie looks in Watanabe's quarters, finding he's fled, and is transfixed by a photo of Watanabe as a child. Louie returns to America and kisses the ground, happy to be home.

The film ends with a slideshow of contemporary photos showing the post-war lives of the characters. Louie married and had two children. Phil married. Mutsuhiro "The Bird" Watanabe went into hiding and evaded prosecution despite being on the top 40 most-wanted Japanese war criminals list compiled by General Douglas MacArthur 's staff. Louie lived out his promise to convert to Christianity, to devote his life to God and to forgive his wartime enemies. Louie met with many of his Japanese captors but Watanabe refused.

Louie was honored by running a leg of the Olympic Torch relay for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, four days short of his 81st birthday. His leg was near one of the POW camps where he was held. The closing titles reveal that Louie Zamperini died on July 2, 2014, at 97.