Rent Captain Phillips (2013)

Once is Enough - Captain Phillips review by BE

A well crafted serious movie but too long. Excellent acting by all the cast with Tom Hanks excelling in the final scene. Pleased to have seen it but would not watch it again

Superb Acting and a great storyline - Captain Phillips review by CP Customer

The acting and casting in this film are utterly superb, particularly the pirates themselves, who are scarily realistic. The storyline is also compelling, and well adapted to the screen. Recommended.

taut suspenseful classic - Captain Phillips review by PC

I have never really been a fan of Paul Greengrass films, feeling they lack emotion and the whole handheld camera thing gives me a bit of a headache. However, Captain Phillips grips from the start and does not let go until the emotional punhc at the end. Some people appear to be criticising aspects of the story, despite them being true. Surely they are only showing what happened, including the intervention of the US Navy. Really gripping and one that will linger after the film has ended.

A stunning, phenomenal, nerve-shredding, highly emotional & brilliantly acted film - Captain Phillips review by TB

After The Bourne Supremacy, Paul Greengrass exploded into the film world. From nowhere, this British director who had only made a couple of small-scale but extremely well-reviewed films then made one of the best espionage thrillers that I have seen to this day. I will never stop praising as one of the greatest; so much so it is in my list of top 10 films & has been ever since I watched it. Then he made United 93, again one of my favourite films & a masterpiece in every way.

However, in 2010 he then directed Green Zone, a film so terrible that I began to worry that he had completely lost his touch. For example, Greengrass's signature style is his use of handheld cameras to increase tension & intimacy of what you are watching. In Green Zone however, this is totally over the top, to the extent that the film is basically unwatchable, as well as having a terrible script. So when Captain Phillips was announced, I was fearing that this could be the final nail in the coffin of one of the best filmmakers I'd come across in recent years.

And then I saw it...

This film is a monumental achievement. I literally cannot find one single thing that doesn't work. It is a flawless, stunning masterpiece: incredibly acted, brilliantly shot & most importantly, showing both sides of the situation that Phillips & the pirates find themselves in.

Captain Phillips is about Richard Phillips, a long serving cargo ship captain who we first meet at home preparing to go off to sea. From the opening moments, the dread & fear is in the air, slowly creeping up on you. The reason for this, which is spelled out very clearly in the first few minutes, is the massive number of cargo ships which are attacked & the crews taken hostage by pirates who then demand extortionate ransoms. Despite this, Phillips insists that the ship continues to sail as normal, arguing that irrelevant of where they go, there is a big risk. The ship is then boarded by pirates who end up taking Phillips hostage, who then have a stand-off between them & the US navy.

The biggest triumph of this film, as I hinted earlier, is that both sides of the situation are shown. The vast majority of the pirates depicted were fisherman/other unstable & vulnerable careers, who then lost their incomes when other countries started to take all their fish/commodities. And for the pirates who managed to get their hands on these ransoms, the rewards were stratospheric for them & their families. This is fleshed out in great detail during intimate chats with the pirates & never does the film condone their actions, merely explains them/shows the extreme hardship & desperation they are in.

The performances are note-perfect, none more so that Barkhad Abdi as the lead pirate. As was noted by Greengrass on the special features, there are not many new, let alone experienced actors, who can go up against a 2-time academy award winner & for it to work. But Abdi is great, as are the other pirates, who are all Somalian & had their own extremely difficult experiences. Hanks is wonderful, playing the role of Phillips with tenacity as well as the genuine fear that he was not able to keep his crew safe.

The film then, once it gets into the lifeboat, switches up a gear again, becoming an almost unbearably claustrophobic pot-boiler: a shocking battle of wills between the pirates & military.

And then we get to the ending: it is one of the most emotional, shocking, tense & difficult scenes in my entire time of watching films. The tears starting streaming & didn't stop until the end credits. This film grabs you at the beginning, keeps you in a vice, then builds up to a incredible & visceral conclusion. I cannot say enough good things about it. You finish it & sit there, drained & exhilarated.

This is one of the greats, showing exactly how films can move you & deeply affect you. Flawless perfection in every way.

Worth watching - Captain Phillips review by CP Customer

If you like derring-do and all that then this movie is for you. I have watched many worse movies but this one despite the flag waving rescue (a bit reminiscent of John Wayne winning WWII) at the end is a good watch - if a book can be a good read why can't a film be a good watch. Passes a couple of hours enjoyably. Not a great or even memorable movie but not bad.

Brilliant film! - Captain Phillips review by CP Customer

We really enjoyed this film. Tom Hanks was brilliant as always and the story was different so it wasn't boring and predictable. If you like drama then this is the film for you. All the characters were very real which is a credit to all the actors in this film!

Not my kind of film - Captain Phillips review by Maggie

I love Tom Hanks and his a brilliant actor and watch all his movies but the theme of the film was not for me couldn’t get in the story .