(Though Phillips says he just darted past him, rather than pretending to go to the bathroom himself.) After that, Phillips says the pirates beat him, started playing mind games with him (he was becoming paranoid), and performed mock executions. But the real hijackers might not have been quite so isolated: According to the Associated Press, officials said they were communicating with other pirate boats via satellite phone.Īs in the movie, things got much worse after Phillips tried to escape, while one of the pirates was urinating off the boat. (Phillips says he really did have to suggest that they remove their clips before using a gun to break the window.) Phillips also describes how the pirates “claimed they were former fishermen who’d been forced into banditry when their livelihoods disappeared,” just as they do in the movie. Both Greengrass and Hanks are on award-deserving form in a riveting, emotionally complex and hugely.
Rentals include 30 days to start watching this. Read the Empire Movie review of Captain Phillips.
Over those five days, the extreme heat raised tensions, and the pirates broke the boat’s windows to let in some air. Captain Richard Phillips attempts to escape from armed Somali pirates while the U.S. In the movie, Phillips says things like, “If you want to shoot someone, shoot me!” But Phillips says that he never meant to sacrifice himself for the crew. Though he was made a hero by ensuing media reports, Phillips doesn’t call himself a hero for these actions. But after Phillips went down to the lifeboat to help the pirates get it started, the hijackers kept Phillips and reneged on the deal. This shifted the balance of power, and the crew was eventually able to negotiate an exchange of Muse for Phillips. I don't know how I could control this, when I'm in a lifeboat and the media is saying I gave myself up for it. (According to the book, they all had sandals.)Īs in the movie, it was chief engineer Mike Perry that scuffled with Muse in the dark of the engine room and, after badly cutting Muse’s hand, used the knife to take him hostage. Captain Phillips (2013) Starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Catherine Keener based on the book 'A Captain's Duty' by Richard Phillips The media got everything wrong. The book, for example, never describes a barefoot pirate stumbling on a field of broken glass, left by the crew as a booby trap. The crew’s efforts to take the ship back are also largely accurate, though some details seem to be invented. They really did offer the pirates the $30,000 from Phillips’ safe, but the hijackers wanted much more. ship Maersk Alabama in 2009, and on the memoirs of Richard Phillips, the captain of the title. He pretended he didn’t understand them, that the ship was “broken,” and he surreptitiously turned on his radio to sneak news to his crew. The film is based on the real-life hijacking of the U.S. An American biographical action crime movie Captain Phillips is based on the book A Captains Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea. Business or not, Phillips tried to slow their progress any way he could.