Surprised once again there's no thread for this.

I had little interest in seeing this at the theater, as I assumed it was so cut and dry, but I'll tell you, even though it was cut and dry, it worked quite well, IMO.

As I watched, i couldn't help but continually say, WTF?  You've got 20 men on board and you're going to let 4 Somalia goons board and take over the ship?  Just 1 trained man with an automatic weapon and the pirates have no chance - hopefully, this is what these cargo ship are now doing when they pass the dangerous waters near Somalia.

$55 Million budget and a WWBO of $218 Million - not bad at all.

Hanks was very good here.  I beleived him completely and was actually concerned for his well being.

The 2 hours and 15 minute run time goes by surprisingly fast.

Grade - B+

Solid review.

SPOILERS

I really enjoyed this one when I saw it at the cinema. I thought the third act dragged on a little, but apart from that, I thought it was great. The tension didn't let up until the end and the scene where Tom Hanks broke down in the medical room back on board the ship was tremendous.

Quoted from Dreamscale Just 1 trained man with an automatic weapon and the pirates have no chance - hopefully, this is what these cargo ship are now doing when they pass the dangerous waters near Somalia.

You'd be surprised; it is still very common for ships not to have armed guards, hence why piracy still manages to continue. In fact, there's a huge legal drama going on currently, as three British men who worked on board a cargo ship are being held in a jail in India (if I recall correctly), as they were carrying automatic weapons for protection, but without the licenses necessary for doing so in Indian waters.

Pretty good movie... but I'll tip my hat once again to the fabulous Mr Tom Hanks.
And I agree with Toby E... His performance in the last 5 minutes of this movie will bring you to your knees.

The scene of his career imo

I actually liked the first 30 min of the film, but after those guys got on the ship the movie started to drag for me. Ending was Okay.

Mr. Hanks' terrified performance after all was said and done brought me to tears. I do find it odd that such large ships dont have any defenses, but I'm sure that is being addressed now. You hear less and less about ship hijacking today.

With all respect, I thought this film was slow. You know the story before you walk into it and I'm not sure it was a story that needed to be told so close to the actual event. The most pleasant surprise was the Somali ring leader and his acting. Obviously noted with his award nominations, but sadly I doubt he will ever work for Hollywood again...

James

Quoted from jwent6688 The most pleasant surprise was the Somali ring leader and his acting. Obviously noted with his award nominations, but sadly I doubt he will ever work for Hollywood again...

Yeah, he was great. Terrifying, whilst also managing to bring a level of humanity to the character as well. No easy feat.

people are so quick to call a film "slow" these days. if world war 3 doesn't happen in the first 10 minutes... people are bored.

must be the Michael Bay effect??

I don't get it. I like movies that take the time to build up suspense... dig into character... spend time with your characters before you drop them into the meat grinder.

Films used to do this all the time.... Alien? Blade Runner? lots old westerns you got 30 minutes before anything happens sometimes.. and these are classics.

no one cares anymore.

Yep, I really enjoyed this and I didn't think I would because it sounded a bit boring. Well written and well paced though, IMO.

I could only watch the pirated version.

Liked it pretty well, though.

Quoted from Penoyer79 people are so quick to call a film "slow" these days. if world war 3 doesn't happen in the first 10 minutes... people are bored. must be the Michael Bay effect?? I don't get it. I like movies that take the time to build up suspense... dig into character... spend time with your characters before you drop them into the meat grinder. Films used to do this all the time.... Alien? Blade Runner? lots old westerns you got 30 minutes before anything happens sometimes.. and these are classics. no one cares anymore.

Just to clarify, I loved the first half of this film. I wanted to know who captain Phillips was. It got slow for me in the middle. Especially when they ejected in the life boat. I know it's based on a true heroic journey, but as an audience member I thought it should've paced a little quicker.

James

Saw this one with me mum and we both really enjoyed it. I'll agree, it did get a bit slow about 3/4's the way in. And others had mentioned, the last 5 minutes of the film is Hank's all time best.

Definitely check it out. For once, Greengrass didn't make me puke with sea sickness (see what I did there?). A solid B+ for me as well.