Soldiers spend 30 days LOST in the OCEAN, and IF THEY TOUCH THE WATER THEY WILL BE CAUGHT BY SHARKS
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00:00In January 1942, a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States
00:05entered the Second World War. In response, the American Army sent bombers to attack Japan,
00:11with one of them crossing the Pacific Ocean. On the plane are pilot Harold Dixon,
00:15bomber Tony Postula and radio operator Gene Aldrich. During the trip, Tony informs them
00:21that they are heading east, but their target is in the west and they need to return to base.
00:25The problem is that the plane is running out of fuel and Harold tells the operator to contact
00:29the military command center. While trying to do so, Gene notices that the radio system is picking
00:34up Japanese voices, indicating that the call is being traced. He then tries to make contact by
00:39Morse code, but can't because the plane is too far from the base. With no other choice,
00:44the pilot tells him he's going to make an emergency landing and the plane crashes into the sea,
00:49damaging its hull and injuring Tony's nose. Despite this, all three are fine and Harold
00:54quickly throws the lifeboat into the sea before the plane sinks. However, Tony is unable to
00:59undo his belt and is pulled under, but with a lot of effort, he breaks free and uses his vest to
01:04climb to the surface. More problems arise when they try to inflate the dinghy, but it ends up
01:09capsizing. Tony then has the idea of using the vests to tie them to the other side of the dinghy and
01:14pull it in the right direction and Gene agrees, but tells his friend to be careful when taking off
01:18the vest, as he can't swim. Finally, the three follow the plan and manage to turn the dinghy around,
01:24which, although tiny for three people, is now their best chance of survival.
01:28The next morning, the first day of waiting for rescue begins, with Harold asking Gene and Tony
01:33to position themselves at each end of the dinghy. The idea is for the three of them to be able to
01:38cover all possible directions in case an American plane appears. Hours pass and finally, Harold sees
01:44an object moving in the sky and believes it to be an American fighter jet, sent to rescue them.
01:48He then asks for the parachute to be deployed so that the pilot can see them more easily,
01:52but it has sunk along with the rest of the equipment. The three of them then take off
01:56their coats and swing it in the air, hoping that the pilot will see them, but it's no use and the
02:01plane takes off. Tony tries to be optimistic, saying that other planes will come, but Harold
02:06knows that won't happen. According to army protocol, they send a ship to check the crash area, but if
02:11there are no signs of survivors, they call off the search and return to base. The pilot also says that
02:17the plane didn't get any closer, as the three must now be in enemy waters. As a result,
02:22the army declares them lost at sea, which means that from that moment on, the three can only count
02:27on their own luck. Faced with this critical moment, Harold decides to take control of the situation,
02:32assuming the post of captain. As his first command, he orders Gene and Tony to show him
02:37all the equipment available. Unfortunately, the map of the region, drinking water and food ended up
02:43inside the plane. So the three of them take a pocket knife and pistol ammunition out of their pockets
02:47and, inside the dinghy, they find rope and wire, glue, a reflecting mirror, two life jackets and a
02:53canteen of water. Finally, they find around the dinghy its date of manufacture, showing that it
02:58was made four years ago, and a rope, measuring seven meters. Hearing that the fabric of the dinghy
03:04will wear out quickly, Harold tells them to get rid of their shoes and throw them into the sea.
03:09Tony also realizes that his pistol is still in its holster and decides to keep it in case of
03:13emergency. With all the equipment they have, the three of them try to pass the time by talking
03:18about their lives and how they ended up in the army. When night falls, Harold suggests alternating
03:23surveillance, with Gene going first, while Tony and the pilot rest for a few hours. Following this
03:28routine, the trio watch the skies in search of a rescue plane, but the day dawns and there is no
03:33sign of them nearby. As soon as Harold wakes up, he uses his meter to get an estimate of where they
03:39ended up. According to his recollection of the map, they ended up just over a thousand miles from
03:43Hawaii and, if they keep heading east, they could find the so-called Cook Islands. However, according
03:49to calculations, it will take them around two or three weeks to get there. Gene doesn't think
03:54they'll last that long and, even if they reach the islands, they could be taken over by the Japanese
03:58army. The pilot then says that the best thing to do is to catch some fish so that they can endure
04:03the journey. Using the rope they found in the bag in the spring inside the ammunition
04:07cartridge, they set up a fishing line and throw it into the water, hoping that some fish will take
04:12the bait. In a few seconds, the rope begins to be pulled, but it is soon snapped, indicating that a
04:17large, aggressive fish is circling the area. Again, they throw the hook out to sea, but hours pass and
04:23no other fish appear. Unable to wait, Gene inflates his life jacket and jumps into the water to cool down
04:29after being in the sun for so long. Tony decides to do the same, but Harold stops him for fear that they
04:35will become live bait if a shark shows up. When he hears this, he warns Gene, who starts swimming
04:40desperately back to the dinghy. Fortunately, no sharks appear, but they are still without food and
04:45there is no sign of dry land anywhere. Another day passes, with Tony and Gene chatting about school
04:50stories, but Harold is running out of patience and interrupts them. He asks Tony about the information
04:56he passed on about them going east, not west as the pilot had predicted. Harold finds this strange,
05:01but Gene defends his friend, saying that he only passed on the information he received by radio.
05:06The situation inside the dinghy becomes increasingly tense and, on the fifth day at sea,
05:11they have run out of strength due to the lack of food and water. In an act of desperation,
05:16Tony grabs some seawater to drink, but Harold stops him because he knows it will only make him
05:20more dehydrated. The young man then asks how they've managed to survive all this time and the pilot
05:25replies that it's thanks to the humidity and low energy expenditure. Even so, they can't wait much
05:30longer and Gene fears that, without a map, there's no way of knowing for sure how far it is to the
05:35island. At that moment, Harold remembers the pencil he usually carries in his shirt pocket and,
05:40with it, the pilot draws a map, using one of the life jackets. Based on the latest coordinates from
05:46the plane, he realizes that the dinghy is close to a sea current, which could take them further from
05:51enemy territory. To do so, they need a favorable wind and Harold asks Gene to remove the rope around the
05:56dinghy. He then tells Tony to use the wires to create a frame that is strong enough to withstand
06:01the movement of the water. Finally, they attach the wire to one of the vests and Harold throws it into
06:07the water, creating a makeshift anchor. With this, they prevent the boat from moving in another direction
06:12and can keep the course always to the east. When the wind is favorable, simply remove the anchor and let
06:18the boat move normally. More hours pass and Gene decides to say a prayer and invites Tony and Harold to
06:23join in. He asks God to help them hold out until they reach dry land and, above all, for the Lord
06:29to bring them rain so that they can drink some water. After the prayer, the three begin to sing
06:33in the middle of the sea, in an attempt to make the atmosphere a little less tedious. However, as soon
06:39as the three fall silent, they have a shock of reality when they realize that they are still adrift
06:43at sea, with no sign of a rescue plane or an island nearby. At nightfall, Tony has a nightmare in which
06:49he is drowning in the middle of the sea. He soon wakes up and, to his relief, is still in the dinghy
06:54and begins to feel raindrops falling on his face. Within seconds, a heavy downpour begins and the
07:00three of them quickly drink as much water as possible. They also keep some in their canteens
07:04as a reserve, renewing their hopes of surviving the long journey. The day dawns once again and Gene
07:10tries to hook a fish, but none of his attempts work. He then tries another way of catching them and,
07:15using his knife, begins to strike the water in the hope of hitting a fish. Suddenly, Gene feels that
07:21the blade has pierced something hard and suspects that it has hit the boat. However, to everyone's
07:25surprise, when he pulls his arm up, a shark jumps into the boat. In one swift movement, Tony holds the
07:31huge fish and Gene takes the opportunity to stab it several times. With the shark eliminated, the three
07:37cut open its skin and find smaller fish inside its stomach, indicating that the predator had fed just a
07:42few minutes before. Thanks to this, the three of them are not only able to eat and regain their
07:47energy, but they have also obtained bait and a reserve of food for a few more days. After the
07:52meal, they continue chatting, while cleaning up all the shark's blood that has splattered on the dinghy.
07:57In the course of the conversation, Harold tells him that he has a wife, but he's been absent since
08:02he was drafted into the army. Gene says he still hasn't found someone to marry, but Tony promises to
08:07introduce him to his sister, Frances, as soon as they return to the States. Gene is anxious about
08:12this and asks Tony to tell him more about her, while he tries to put together an image of the
08:17young woman in his mind. Despite this moment of relaxation, the trio suspect something is wrong
08:22and, when they look out to sea, they find a group of sharks surrounding the dinghy. Because of this,
08:27they need to stay out of the water as much as possible, or they will become the next prey.
08:32In the middle of the night, Gene wakes up and tries to clean his face with the seawater,
08:36but ends up forgetting about the sharks and one of them bites his hand. Luckily,
08:40he manages to pull it off before his hand is devoured, but the wound was serious and Harold
08:45quickly improvises a bandage. The next day, the three of them remain in the boat,
08:49eating and drinking just enough to keep their energy up and make their reserves last for as
08:53many days as possible. However, more than 10 days have passed and, despite another rainstorm
08:58filling the water reserves, the sharks are still patrolling the dinghy. What's more,
09:03the wound on Gene's hand is getting worse and he's even starting to hallucinate,
09:07seeing an island looming on the horizon. However, Tony says he's just seeing things and asks his
09:12friend to try and get some rest. With all these setbacks, the trio reach their 15th day at sea
09:18and their food reserves are already depleted. Suddenly, a seagull lands near the boat and Gene
09:23promptly asks for Tony's pistol. With a clear shot, he hits the bird, but the shot sends it flying away
09:29and into the water. Harold wakes up startled by the sound of the shot, but without hesitation,
09:34he jumps into the sea and swims until he catches the bird. He then heads back to the dinghy,
09:38but Gene and Tony see a huge fin approaching the pilot. They shout for the pilot to swim as fast as
09:44possible and Gene tries to shoot the shark, but the gun is out of bullets. Harold continues towards
09:49the dinghy, seagull in hand, and just as he was about to be devoured by the predator, Gene and Tony
09:54manage to pull him back at the last second. With everyone in the dinghy, they spot the huge predator,
09:59which turns out to be a great white shark. Once again, the three of them have to stay out of the
10:04water the whole time, but at least they've got some more food to recharge their batteries.
10:08As they finish their meal, Tony holds the pistol in his hand, containing only three bullets. He was
10:14saving it in case they didn't make it to the island, but changed his mind and threw the ammunition
10:18into the sea. At dusk, it's Gene's turn to keep watch and he sees the white shark's fin
10:23disappearing into the water. He deduces that the predator has given up on its prey and left,
10:28with the trio having one less problem to worry about. Even so, they are still at sea,
10:33without enough food or water and the island seems to be getting further and further away.
10:37Harold continues to sleep and dreams of the day of the fateful incident with the plane,
10:41but this time, he finds himself completely alone inside the cabin. The pilot wakes up startled and
10:47is furious to realize that Gene and Tony are also asleep, with no one keeping watch on the boat.
10:51He accuses them of disobeying a direct order from a superior and that, with no one awake to drop the
10:57anchor, they may have been taken in the wrong direction. Gene doesn't care, because they haven't
11:02felt the wind blow for two days now and all this effort is being wasted. Harold insists that they
11:06are following the route, because before the plane trip, the pilot had memorized every detail of the
11:11map in the command center. However, Gene doesn't believe that this will do any good, as the pilot is
11:17relying on estimates to pinpoint the location of the island. Finally, he accuses Harold of being
11:22responsible for the fact that they went so far off course that they were unable to contact the base.
11:26The pilot tries to argue, but he himself realizes that his assumptions have not been confirmed.
11:32According to his calculations, the three of them would have found the Cook Islands in about 15 to 18
11:36days, but 20 days have passed since the plane crashed and there is no sign of land. This only makes Gene
11:42even angrier and he once again questions the pilot about why they took a different route. Amidst the
11:47confusion in his mind, Harold once again remembers the plane trip. During the flight, Gene tried to
11:53contact the pilot, informing him that they were out of contact with the base. Harold didn't get back to
11:58him soon enough, so he remembers that, during the flight, he fell asleep for a few minutes.
12:03Because of this carelessness, the plane flew aimlessly for long enough to change course and
12:08cause this whole situation. Ashamed to realize the tragic reality, the pilot apologizes to his
12:13two colleagues for the mistake that could have condemned them to certain elimination.
12:17Despite his rebellion, Gene tells them that their only hope is the map drawn by Harold and that they
12:22must stick to the route to the end. Upon hearing this, the captain feels motivated again and asks to
12:27borrow Gene's pocket knife. With it, the pilot cuts off his pair of shoes and uses the soles as a
12:32makeshift ore. Thanks to this resource, the three of them take it in turns to push the dinghy a little
12:38across the sea, hoping to find the island as quickly as possible. However, they have been out
12:43on the high seas for a month and still can't see any land around them. The three of them have run
12:47out of steam, but Harold insists that they must use every last drop of energy to survive. Even so,
12:53Gene fears that the end of his life is near and asks the pilot if his family will be entitled to
12:58life insurance. Tony asks the same question and Harold says that, as they were marked as lost at sea,
13:03the army considers them perished and the money is passed on to their families.
13:07This relieves Tony a little, but he regrets not being able to go home and pursue his favorite
13:12hobby, which is writing poems. Harold then asks the young man to recite one of his poems,
13:17but Tony is too weak and falls asleep. Later, the weather begins to cool down and the trio sense
13:23that the rain is coming. Again, they follow the procedure of drinking as much water as possible
13:27and keeping a reserve in the canteen, but this time, the storm begins to intensify rapidly.
13:32Before long, the whole sky is covered in dark clouds and lightning starts to strike.
13:37Harold then tells Gene to hold out as long as possible and hands Tony his life jacket to make
13:42sure he doesn't drown if the dinghy sinks. The storm grows stronger and a huge wave approaches
13:47the group. The three of them hold on as long as they can, but the boat ends up capsizing and
13:52they are thrown straight into the sea. Gene and Harold manage to swim out, but they can't find Tony
13:57anywhere. Fearing the worst, they call his name until they find the young soldier, who has managed to
14:02hang on to the dinghy at the last minute. With the three of them reunited, they make a concerted
14:07effort to turn the dinghy around and soon manage to climb back into it. Despite the scare, Tony,
14:12Gene and Harold survive for another night and, as soon as the storm passes, they try to get some rest.
14:18Tony is once again surprised to realize that the three of them have managed to survive,
14:22despite all the adversities. Harold and Gene think the same thing and ask each other what
14:27motivates them to stay alive in that situation. Harold once again talks about his wife and their
14:31good times together, but all the physical and mental fatigue prevents him from remembering her
14:36face. As for Gene, he remembers the image he created of Francis and promises Tony that he will
14:41marry her if they survive. Faced with the hope of his comrades, Harold cries and apologizes once again
14:47for his mistake. In addition, he promises to nominate them for decorations in the army, as well as
14:52confessing what he has done to the court-martial, but Gene and Tony forgive him for this and
14:57say that the important thing now is to stay alive. Finally, Tony stands up once again and, despite
15:03having lost the soles of his shoes in the storm, he tries to push the dinghy using his hands.
15:08Harold and Gene do the same and continue to make their way through the sea, in an endless struggle
15:12for survival. After four days of hard work, Harold wakes up and realizes that Tony isn't moving.
15:18The pilot tries to call out to the young soldier, but he continues to stare, as if he were already
15:23lifeless. When he realizes this, Gene laments his friend's perishment, but in fact Tony is still
15:29alive and was just too weak to respond. The young man says he was thinking of a song and begins to
15:34sing it, to forget all the pain, tiredness and suffering the three of them are going through.
15:39However, at that same moment, Harold is already giving up on everything and takes a sip of seawater.
15:44Meanwhile, for the first time since the plane crash, Gene sees a green spot on the horizon and
15:49realizes that they have finally found an island. Unlike the hallucination of the day before,
15:54Harold and Tony confirm that he told the truth. In celebration, the pilot shouts with all his might,
16:00promising to buy dinner for the three of them as soon as they arrive on the island.
16:03So, with their will to live renewed, Harold, Gene and Tony use up all their energy to reach the island.
16:09As soon as they find the shore, a wave capsizes the boat and the current pushes the three survivors
16:14to dry land. When they get there, they find two tents set up on the sand and go to ask for help.
16:19After spending 34 days on the high seas. It is then revealed that this incredible story of survival
16:25was real and the three arrived on Pukapuka Island, after traveling more than a thousand miles by sea.
16:30Shortly afterwards, they returned to the United States and pilot Harold Dixon was decorated for
16:35his leadership role throughout those days. Tony Postula, however, was unable to continue in the
16:40army due to his injuries and, years later, he perished of natural causes and his ashes were scattered
16:45at sea. As for Gene Aldrich, he kept his promise to his friend and married Francis,
16:50continuing his military career until the end of the war. Even though they didn't go to the battlefield,
16:55Harold, Tony and Gene heroically faced one of the most difficult battles for any human being,
17:01the fight for survival. So what did you think of this movie? Leave it in the comments below.
17:05And if you liked the video, like and subscribe for more movie recaps. See you next time!