这是一个真实的故事。美国男孩赞佩里尼从小调皮捣蛋，惹是生非，每次做了坏事被人追赶时他都能跑得飞快。哥哥看到他的跑步长项，于是鼓励他去上体校。很快赞佩里尼的运动天赋得以显示，他参加了1936年柏林奥运会并取得跑步冠军。就在赞佩里尼踌躇满志时，1939年第二次世界大战爆发，赞佩里尼参军成了空军投弹手。一次战斗中，赞佩里尼乘坐的战斗机在海上坠毁，赞佩里尼和其他两名战友死里逃生。当他和战友在救生筏上坚强地捱过47天命悬一线时，终于碰到一艘战舰，然而却是敌对国日本人的战舰。赞佩里尼被捕成为战俘被关进集中营，从此他新的噩梦开始。负责集中营的是一个叫渡边的日本军官，他是个及其变态和残忍的战争狂。在这里，赞佩里尼受到渡边无数次的殴打，渡边用虐待战俘的方式发泄他的情绪。不久美方得知美军战俘的事情希望跟日军谈判解救战俘，日军让赞佩里尼按照他们的意思念一篇文章，赞佩里尼誓死不从。就这样，赞佩里尼再次被关回集中营。赞佩里尼眼里坚定不屈的光让渡边感到畏惧，他对赞佩里尼的折磨越发狠厉

This is a true story. The American boy Zamperini has been mischievous since he was a child, causing trouble, and he can run fast every time he does something bad and is chased by others. His brother saw his strength in running and encouraged him to go to sports school. Soon Zamperini's athletic talent was shown, and he participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and won the running championship. Just when Zamperini was full of ambition, World War II broke out in 1939, and Zamperini joined the army and became an air force bombardier. In one battle, Zamperini's fighter jet crashed at sea, and Zamperini and two other comrades in arms narrowly escaped death. When he and his comrades survived 47 days on the life raft tenaciously, when their lives were hanging by a thread, they finally encountered a battleship, but it was the warship of the enemy Japanese. Zamperini was arrested as a prisoner of war and sent to a concentration camp. From then on, his new nightmare began. In charge of the concentration camp is a Japanese military officer named Watanabe, who is an extremely perverted and cruel war madman. Here, Zamperini was beaten countless times by Watanabe, who vented his emotions by abusing prisoners of war. Soon the United States learned about the American prisoners of war and hoped to negotiate with the Japanese army to rescue the prisoners of war. The Japanese army asked Zamperini to read an article according to their wishes, but Zamperini vowed to die. In this way, Zamperini was sent back to the concentration camp again. The unyielding light in Zamperini's eyes frightened Watanabe, and he tortured Zamperini more severely