Is 'Unbroken' a true story based on the life of World War 2 survivors?

Unbroken is a 2014 war film produced and directed by Angelina Jolie. It is adapted from 2010 non-fiction novel Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The novel is written by American author Laura Hillenbrand. It is based on a real war-time survivor Louis Zamperini. He was a USA Olympian track star, an army officer and also survived three prisoner of war camps in Japan. Jack O'Connell of the Skins fame, played the role of Louis Zamperini. 

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Is Unbroken a true story?

Unbroken is adapted from a non-fiction novel that recounts the events in the life of Louis Zamperini. Unbroken movie's plot follows the narrative in the novel. The author Laura Hillenbrand, found out about Zamperini's story when she was carrying out research for her another novel Seabiscuit. There were two biographies already published on Zamperini's life but this novel (and later, the movie) takes the appraoch from the eyes of the man himself. 

The non-fiction memoir was an instant hit amongst the readers. It was translated into 29 languages. It stayed on the bestseller lists for quite some time. 

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To answer the question of is Unbroken a true story, yes, it is a true story since it is based on a person who was directly involved and affected by World War 2. Louis Zamperini died on July 2, 2014, at the age of 97. Unbroken movie's plot covers only the first half of Louis's life. The movie ends with real life stills and written text related to Loius' life ahead. The latter part is shown in a sequel film a few years later. Louis Zamperini got married, had kids and lived a life of forgiveness. He converted to Christianity and forgave his war captors, one of whom was Matsuhiro "the Bird" Watanabe. Watch the trailer of Unbroken here: 

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The sequel to 'Unbroken'

There is also a sequel to Unbroken. The sequel was released in 2018 and goes by the title Unbroken: Path to Redemption. The picks up where the first one left off. It speaks about the PTSD, adjusting to post-war life as a civilian. Samuel Hunt appears in the lead role as Louis Zamperini. Watch the trailer here: 

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