Here we have a retelling of the Maersk Alabama hijacking of 2009 which for those of use who watch headlines was about 5 minutes ago. The movie narrates using Phillips perspective as a merchant ship captain. Phillips was apparently an adroit captain who tries valiantly to evade an enemy in the form of boat-driving desperadoes who are madly motivated. The movie makes Phillips look intelligent and it is his cunning alone that probably saves his life in the end. The film is impressive in how it shows the US Navy handling the rescue attempt, and I was awed by the speed, cunning, and power of the Navy and the US Seals. You have to admire CA Phillips for how he handles things too. I give the movie 3.5/4 stars but I would save a half star for one thing the movies misses- whenever a terrorist plot unravels in any part of the world it is usually driven by terrible economic conditions on third world soil. I do not condone terrorism or hostage-taking of course, but I do think movies such as this overlook the underlying tragedy that runs parallel here, which is the grinding poverty that can make monsters out of ordinary men in faraway places. Unfortunately that particular topic does not make for fun movie plots, but it is equally true and important. Go see this movie, it is by far more significant than Gravity last week. I shed a tear at the end for CA Phillips when he finally receives medical attention. I wanted to shoot the pirates for being so ruthless.

 

Funny you should write this , I just saw it 30 mins ago. Thought it was a great film. Not sure how accurate it is to the real story but I thought he did a exceptional job as an actor, esp at the very end...

 

I'm glad it's as good as it looks on previews! Can't wait to see it....

 

Thanks both of you for the write up, I really want to see that movie. I have also heard praise about Hanks' performance right towards the end....don't give it away though .

 

He-He just saw it a couple of hours ago myself with the wife. I went in with low expectations, especially after we had both just seen (and enjoyed) "The Butler" only to find out during the post movie Google debrief at the local bar it was mostly made up. Lame.

Loved the Captain Phillips movie and this post movie bar debrief seemed to verify many of the facts of the movie. I thought it was a very exciting movie. I'd give it 4.5/5 as well.

I also started Googling Maersk Container Ship Captain lifestyles/salaries out of curiosity. Apparently Maersk is one of the best paying Captain jobs in the world. 2 Captains are assigned to each ship, each working 6 months per year, each working their schedules out with each other so they split the year, but don't work 6 months straight. Looks like they make about $150K/year. Interesting.

 

One of my previous Sailors was an FC on the Bainbridge when this went down. He tells a pretty intense story, and confirmed a lot of the political rumors we'd heard around the fleet after this hijacking. Suffice to say, there is more to the story that will hopefully be told someday.

 

It wasn't their fault.

They came from grinding poverty.






.

 

I'll have to whatch this one, i was actually there on the USS Boxer when this went down. I wonder if they got all of the details correct or if they took some creative license with the story.

 

I agree more movies should emphasis how important private property rights are and how important it is to reap the fruits of your labor and be able to pass it on to your kids.

The guys who didn't get consultation fees seem to think it was a lot of hooey:


http://nypost.com/2013/10/13/crew-me...llips-heroism/

 

Just saw it tonight... absolutely fantastic movie! My wife and I loved it.

It would be interesting to see what they took liberty on in portraying and what was real.