Based on a true story, three US Navy airmen are forced to ditch their torpedo bomber in the South Pacific during World War II. They then find themselves on a tiny life raft, surrounded by open ocean. With no food, water and little hope of rescue they drift across the ocean. Against incredible odds, these three virtual strangers survive dehydration, starvation, sharks, storms, the possibility of being apprehended by the Japanese, the madness of isolation, hopelessness and each other as they try to sail more than a thousand miles to safety.
On January 16, 1942, Chief Aviation Machinist's Mate and enlisted Naval Aviation Pilot Harold Dixon, radioman Gene Aldrich and bombardier Anthony Pastula took off from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in a Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber Bureau Number 0335. As part of Torpedo Squadron SIX, they were to undertake an anti-submarine sweep over the Pacific Ocean. Once airborne they were to maintain radio silence to safeguard the carrier being detected by the Japanese. Their aircraft lost position and was unable to return to the carrier. Running low on fuel, Dixon ditched the aircraft in the sea. The aircraft sank quickly taking most of the crew's survival equipment with it. The men inflated the small rubber life raft and climbed inside. Surviving on rainwater and meager rations the men drifted for 34 days and travelled over 1,000 miles, before landing on the Pukapuka atoll, a friendly island. The crew was picked up a week later by a seaplane from the USS Swan.
Medals
For his endeavors to keep his crew alive Dixon was awarded the Navy Cross. The citation read "...for extreme heroism, exceptional determination, resourcefulness, skilled seamanship, excellent judgment and highest quality of leadership". Pastula and Aldrich both received presidential commendations for their "extraordinary courage, fortitude, strength of character and exceptional endurance". The life raft the men used is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum.
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 67% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10. On Metacritic, the film had score of 43 out of 100, based on 5 reviews. The Los Angeles Times said the film was admirable but compared it unfavorably to Angelina Jolie's film Unbroken which had been released a month before.
