AGAINST THE SUN is a low budget WW2 thriller about a crew of three US airmen whose plane crash-lands in the middle of the Pacific, leaving them stranded on a tiny life raft with no supplies and literally hundreds of miles from the nearest land mass. The hook is that this is a true story, so that everything you see taking place on screen really happened, albeit with the usual artistic licence.

Films like this I tend to enjoy and AGAINST THE SUN is no exception. It's no masterpiece, it's not even particularly memorable, but it does keep you watching from beginning to end and I was never bored for a moment. The script focuses on the characters and pleasingly enough keeps things entirely realistic; there are only a few tacked-on dream sequences and fantasy moments to get in the way. I liked the story's grounding in realism and the way that the three men had to use their wits in order to keep them alive.

The movie is a little cheesy in places, with some lacklustre CGI here and there and JAWS music playing whenever the sharks are on screen. For the most part it works though. The plane scenes early on are very realistic. Garret Dillahunt puts in a solid turn as the eldest of the three and feels very convincing and assured while Tom Felton does an admirable American accent and convinces in his part. Some might find AGAINST THE SUN rather predictable and it's true to say that this kind of story has been done to death over the years, but I find there's still mileage in the material with the right script and direction and this film has both.

This is based on a true story of three US servicemen who land their plane in the sea, get out into a raft and manage to survive without eating each other, although it was discussed with Tom Felton looking like lunch. They play the blame game for a little bit, do some interesting stuff to survive, and lay around like Robert Redford. Action wise, it wasn't that great. Character wise it was so-so. But with the Hollywood focus on real American war heroes, people are heaping praise because it may be expected of them. I hated "All is Lost." I found it boring. This was a little better because there was some dialogue, but face it, it is another story about guys lost at sea floating in a raft. True or not, I simply don't find it entertaining even if it was JFK. Great film, if you're into this kind of stuff.

Was that an anachronistic nylon zipper on their survival kit pack?

Don't except a lot to see except a lifeboat, water and three guys trying to survive. But to me that was enough because you live the whole movie like it was you that was trapped on the Pacific Ocean. The problems they have to get drinking water and food make you realize in what kind of hell they had to live during so long alone on the ocean. And when you know it's based on a true story then it makes it always a bit more special when you watch a movie like this one. I thought the actors did a good job. The conversations they had during all that time seems all plausible to me. What else would you do if you were surrounded by water without any land in sight? My wife and I certainly did enjoy this movie.