Originally touted as prime Oscarbait, Angelina Jolie’s wartime biopic Unbroken failed to land as expected, with just three technical nominations at this year’s ceremony. But the film is looking to hit with a different crowd when it lands on DVD this week in the US.
As well as the standard version, Universal is releasing a ‘Legacy of Faith’ edition which will cater to a Christian audience, who might have felt underserved by the theatrical release. Jolie chose to excise a religious epiphany that was in Louis Zamperini’s original book which his son explained was an unpopular choice with some.
“I loved the movie. It was beautiful and brutal at the same time. Angie got all the scenes right,” Luke Zamperini told The Hollywood Reporter. “But the biggest criticism we got was from people in the faith-based community who read the book and said, ‘Well, it left out the whole Billy Graham scene.’”
The “Billy Graham scene” is a reference to a young preacher who helped Zamperini on the road to recovery while he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. In Laura Hillenbrand’s book, which the film is based on, around a third of the book focuses on this and the effect it has on him.
Jolie has previously defended the shift from Christianity to a more general form of faith. “We made it universal, not specific to one faith, and that was something that was agreed upon with Louie,” she explained at the time of the film’s initial release. “He said he wanted the message to reach everyone. He said to make faith and forgiveness universal.”
While the special edition doesn’t introduce the missing character into the film, it carries with it an extra 90-minute disc which includes a description of what happened during Graham’s initial sermon and footage of both him and Zamperini together. Universal has partnered with Pure Flix, a Christian film production company, to distribute the DVD and it will be solely available to buy in religious stores.
