The movie, Unbroken

phil65 · **Posted:** Mon Dec 29, 2014 11:45 pm

And how did they get the gear down when the hydraulics were shotout ?

Phil

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

Thought the film was pretty good. Inspiring to be sure. One should read the book first to be able to fill in the blanks in the movie.
I was struck by the fact that none of the crew were wearing mae wests or chutes going into the target. Only the pilot and co-pilot were and their harnesses were draped back over the rear of their seats.

I was always under the impression that the Norden sight was used in B-17s and the Sperry was used in 24s. He definitely used a Norden in the bombing sequence.

As mentioned above I thought they would have had a great deal more physical trauma from exposure after 47 days in the raft. They hardly had a sunburn.

In the very last scene when LZ greets his family the silver bird he gets off of has pre-war meatball insignia on the fuselage.

Overall rating a B+

Speedy · **Posted:** Tue Dec 30, 2014 12:23 am

Pathfinder wrote:

In the very last scene when LZ greets his family the silver bird he gets off of has pre-war meatball insignia on the fuselage.

Well, yeah....but it also has a New Zealand registration number on the tail and under the wing. And it's a Lockheed Electra. He came home in a B-25. You'd think it wouldn't have been that hard to track a static B-25 down.

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

I also believe the pin up in the early bombardier scenes was turned from horizontal to vertical and dates from 1947 or 1948. Hey, some of you guys count rivets....I know legs!

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Tue Dec 30, 2014 3:39 pm

- 4 popcorn rating on excellence w/ use in movie prop accessories in regard to the bomber / raft scenes. somebody did their homework regarding his bomber duty & survival saga. very accurate, & a movie that makes you think.

gemmer · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:54 am **Posts:** 314

I'll through my two cents into the movie's "D" armament thing, acknowledging that it may sound a bit nit picking. Agreed, the single gun tail position is B-24A. USAAF LB-30s had twin guns on a ring mount.
No wind defectors on the waist gun positions, true for very early "Ds" but not for that period. Glass nosed "Ds" in that theater usually had four guns in the nose; two mounted high and low in the nose piece and two cheek guns. Theater A/C had Hawaiian Air Depot ball turrets installed at the same time that nose turrets were installed. Greenhouse "Ds" had tunnel guns.

Having said all of the above, much better than the average depiction of a period B-24.

Duane

Sopwith · **Joined:** Tue Jan 19, 2010 2:49 pm **Posts:** 548

Watched it last night, quite enjoyed it but I would probably have enjoyed it more had I not read the book a couple of months ago. But in all fairness I guess they couldn't put it all of it in the film.

kalamazookid · **Posted:** Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:46 pm

Just saw it. Highly recommended. Can't speak much for the authenticity but it felt more "real" than most of the recent movies in that genre.

JohnB · **Posted:** Thu Jan 01, 2015 1:16 am

Speedy wrote:

Pathfinder wrote:

In the very last scene when LZ greets his family the silver bird he gets off of has pre-war meatball insignia on the fuselage.

Well, yeah....but it also has a New Zealand registration number on the tail and under the wing. .

No, it was Australian...VH.
New Zealand is ZK.

And the nose had painted in big letters
US ARMY
C-40
Serial VH-XXX

Oh well...almost as bad as the DC-3 with sky diving rail in Pearl Harbor....
Or the grey and white DC-3 (not C-47) in Black Sheep Squadron

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7817

Louis is the Grand Marshal of The Rose Bowl parade today. The Tournament announced that it is "committed to honoring Louis as the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Rose Parade," the first posthumous grand marshal since Jackie Robinson. Good for him, another veteran that earned every bit of attention he's getting. Wish he was still with us just just a little bit longer.

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:45 am

this isn't facebook but......... LIKE!!!!!!

IT'S NEVER TO LATE TO APPRECIATE A VETERAN / POW!!!

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Thu Jan 01, 2015 2:15 pm

Saw the parade - as I figured, Louis Zamperini's family members rode in his place. Too bad we didn't have Witchcraft and/or Diamond Lil do a flyby along with the B-2.
(Oddest float this year: the one from the folks telling you to call 611 before digging in your yard so you don't hit water or power lines...

What's next, the "Close Cover Before Striking" float?)

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

No....nobody smokes anymore....I bet it will be a float depicting the new California "Yes means yes" law. :wink:

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

Saw the movie a second time yesterday. Still impressive!

I watched for the gaffs noted before and all are valid. Of particular interest to me was the pin-up that appears for seconds in the opening bomb run. It is in fact a VARGAS (post-Esquire private venture) (not Varga Girl-Esquire) and is generally credited to 1948. Vargas titled it MODERNE BRIDE. She appeared as the Queen of Diamonds in his "53 Pin Up" deck of cards c. 1950.

Yeah its a minor thing....so don't get me started on 50-star flags in post-1960 WW2 movies.

Pat Carry · **Posted:** Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:25 am

A good movie I thought. We saw it in the largest theater of the 20 screen cinema complex. The place was packed with lots of applause at the end. We also saw the WW2 movie, The Imitation Game. That is very good as well.

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The movie, Unbroken

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