CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is based on the true story of Captain Phillips who has his freighter Maresk Alabama hijacked by Somali pirates back in 2009.  It is one of the few piracy stories that have a happy ending.  I didn’t watch this incident on the news when it happened and the previews make it feel like you have seen the whole movie, but the actual theatrical trailers mostly show footage from the first two thirds of the movie.  Director Paul Greengrass has crafted a tense drama about a battle of wills between two Captains- Phillips and the Somali pirate Muse.   He draws you into the world of Phillips and what is happening with the other characters including the Navy’s attempt to rescue Captain Phillips.  The true drama remains mostly intact with the exception of Hollywood rewriting changing one of the things that happened to Phillips.

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The audio commentary with Director Paul Greengrass has him talking about the story, the actual events, and getting every detail right with no shortcuts.

 

CAPTURING CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (58:16) is a collection of three behind-the-scenes featurettes on the making of the movie with interviews from director Paul Greengrass, actor Tom Hanks, the real Captain Phillips, and other members of the cast and crew:

EMBARKATION- a look at the actual events that formed the basis for the movie with actual news footage and the way Paul Greengrass shoots his movies with three cameras, rehearsals on the day of shooting, and sometimes getting something special on the first take

FULL AHEAD- all about the actual boat they shot on (a sister ship of the Alabama) and shooting on the water (and making the engineering scenes more exciting even if it wouldn’t make sense to an actual boat engineer) and actors doing their own stunts

STAND FAST- behind-the-scenes look at the Navy rescue of Captain Phillips and how it would have felt for Captain Phillips in that launch.  Also they mention the final scene of the movie was improvised scene thought up on the spot.

 

Also on the blu-ray are previews for THE MONUMENTS MEN, AMERICAN HUSTLE, LAST VEGAS, INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS, and THE ARMSTRONG LIE, but none of the theatrical trailers for CAPTAIN PHILLIPS show up on the disc.  Also included in this combo pack is the movie in standard definition on DVD.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is an intense true drama of the battle between two captains.  A must see and another great film from director Paul Greengrass.  Tom Hanks is fantastic in another everyman role.  The behind-the-scenes material is even great to watch.

 

This blu-ray review is ©1-22-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission.  Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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