Against the Sun

"They'll check every square mile out here. It'll take a while but they'll do it. Won't they?" After drifting off course a WWII pilot and his crew end up in a tiny lifeboat with no food, water, flares, or any real chance of being rescued. This is the true story of how they did everything the could to survive. Even though this is a true story it is something I had never heard of before. After recently watching Unbroken I was wondering how this would compare. This one opened with about 10 minutes of in plane scenes then right into the raft. What follows is an hour and a half of tense moments and wondering how this will play out. I would compare this very favorably to Unbroken, All Is Lost, or even something like Cast Away. If you have enjoyed those movies then I would check this one out as well. Very inspiring and moving. Another huge surprise watch. I always love when I find a movie I have never heard of that turns out to be better than 90% of the ones I have. This is one of those movies. Overall, if you liked Unbroken than check this one out as well. This is on par or better. I give it a high B+.

The Pacific Ocean is 63 million square miles in size. Larger than every single square inch of dry land on the entire planet.

In January 1942, just over a month after the devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the United States entry into WWII, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise was on patrol west of Hawaii.

Enterprise was one of only four remaining US carriers in the Pacific. Constant reconnaissance was crucial to detect Japanese ships and aircraft. Lingering in one place was a recipe for potential disaster - but pinpointing a moving ship roughly 800ft long and 100 ft wide, a minuscule speck in such a vast ocean, was a much greater challenge for pilots. Unfortunately that made life difficult for friendly as well as hostile fliers.

On the 16 January 1942 a Douglas Devastator torpedo bomber ran out of fuel without sighting the Enterprise. Pilot Harold Dixon, radioman Gene Aldrich and bombardier Tony Pastula managed to survive ditching in the sea.

This film tells the story of what happened next. Dixon, Aldrich and Pastula had few resources and faced great dangers - trying to survive on a raft measuring only 8ft x 4ft.

Such a small intimate setting is a challenge to put on screen, and this film succeeds in being engaging and enjoyable because of the well written script brought to life by a talented cast.

Tom Felton as Tony Pastula may be familiar as Draco Malfoy from the 'Harry Potter' films, Jake Abel from 'Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief' and TV's 'Supernatural' and Garret Dillahunt from 'Justified', 'CSI' and 'Deadwood' on the small screen as well films such as '12 Years A Slave' and 'No Country For Old Men'.

All three are excellent in their respective roles, and their collective experience and ability hold and entertain the viewer.

The film remains as faithful as possible to the actual story and the real history - and amid all the seemingly endless sea and limitless sky, an imposing vastness visually conveyed powerfully from the first opening scenes, is never in any danger of coming adrift.

Very enjoyable and well worth watching.

Saw this movie at a Special Screening in New Orleans at the WWII Museum and I highly recommend it. It's an incredible true story honestly told and very well acted. As someone with family in the military who loves true stories about American history, this one hit all the right notes for me.

Historical films can feel a bit stiff or over dramatized, but this hit the sweet spot of good acting and an engaging story.

It was a trip seeing Tom Felton is something other than Harry Potter, but once you get over the initial double take, you realize he is a fine actor who has a bright future ahead of him.

I was fortunate enough to see a screening of this film before its theatrical release. As a student of history and a lover of films, I would highly recommend this film to both history and film buffs. All three of the main characters give well rounded performances, but I was equally impressed with the Cinematography and Musical Score. In my opinion, there are not enough Independent, low budget films like "Against the Sun", let alone historically accurate ones. Its unfortunate that films like this don't get the larger theatrical release that they so richly deserve. It is my understanding that the film's main audience will come as a result of it's digital release so hopefully it will get the recognition it deserves.

It's a tale on 3 USN aviators stuck on a raft, proverbially in the middle of nowhere somewhere in the S Pacific after their plane ran out of fuel while flying a patrol mission. It's a movie I've waited 50 years to see, having read the book it is based on "The Raft" when I was a kid. My dad didn't read too many books, he simply didn't have the time, but having served on PBY patrol planes in the USN in WW2 that flew in the S Pacific and the Caribbean he was no doubt fascinated by the subject. I'm sure it was the worst nightmare that an aviator or sailor could imagine, being stuck on a raft without water or food, virtually no hope of being spotted by a rescue plane and I'm sure that these young men speculated during the endlessly boring patrols they flew, on the complete futility of such a situation.

And that's what "Against the Sun" is about. 3 actors on a raft and if you have no interest in this type of story, you will be bored to tears. At 100 minutes it comes in at about an appropriate running length although .10-15 minutes could have easily been cut. Then again the director could have unnecessarily added about .15-20 minutes with back story or scenes involving the crew from the carrier "Enterprise" (which the flew from) or with their families back in the States after they've been advised that they are missing at sea. Works fine at it is. Good performances by the 3 actors involved, probably not easy to do. I hope all of the 3 real life aviators had good lives, they earned it. I'm sure they appreciated every day life gave them.