Against the Sun on DVD

Category: Blu-ray's and DVD's

againstThe American Film Company prides itself on recreating the most realistic stories. Against the Sun is their newest movie. It is the true story of three Americans in World War II who discovered they had what it takes to survive under the harshest of conditions.

 

When three US Navy airmen crash into the water in the South Pacific, all they have is a raft and a few supplies. They don’t have food, water, a flare, or anything most of us would think of as useful. Everything went to the bottom of the ocean. What they did have was a strong determination to survive. They had that and they had hope.

 

Against the odds these three did what it took to stay afloat and survive, all the while trying to navigate their tiny raft toward any island, and hoping that wherever they ended up was not occupied by the Japanese. This incident occurred just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor and tensions were high.

 

The three men were the pilot, Harold Dixon (Garret Dillahunt), the radioman Tony Pastula (Tom Felton), and the bombardier Gene Aldrich (Jake Abel). Alone and adrift in the middle of the South Pacific, they fought off sharks, survived storms, and ate what they could catch or shoot.

 

To make this movie as realistic as the actual events, the actors were put on a strict diet and lost plenty of weight through the filming. By the end of the movie they looked like they had not eaten much in over thirty days. That is something makeup cannot achieve. But the makeup did achieve the blisters, sunburns, cuts and bruises they got during their time in the raft under the hot sun.

 

The bonus features on this DVD show the lengths the filmmakers went through to create the story as realistic as possible. And they did an amazing job. Viewers will see a true story playing out in front of them. As the men sailed more than a thousand miles, they were tested at every turn. But their hope and determination saved them. The bonus features are just as impressive as the film itself.

 

At 99 minutes this might seem a bit long, but think about the more than 30 days these men actually spent on the raft. There are some tense scenes but the ultimate story of survival is impressive and memorable.
Against the Sun is rated PG.

 

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment business for 20 years. She also writes about technology and has been a travel writer for the past 12 years. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.

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