When one generally thinks of pirates they think of men who lived hundreds of years ago and were seen as sword-wielding, swashbuckling, bearded, villains who sailed the oceans. Defined as someone who attacks and robs ships at sea, there are legends of famous pirates like Black Beard and Red Beard and stories of their treasures being buried worldwide. Some movies have been made where pirates are the main characters, such as The Dread Pirate Roberts (Cary Elwes; Saw) from The Princess Bride and Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) from The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.
Though people want to believe piracy is a thing of the past, sadly, it is alive and well in modern times. There have been stories reported in the last few years of boats in the Caribbean being hijacked and stolen and in 2009, off the coast of Africa, the Danish/American Cargo Ship Maersk Alabama was hijacked and its captain, Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks; Cast Away) was taken hostage. In 2010, Phillips wrote a book about his experience titled, A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALS, and Dangerous Days at Sea, and in 2013 the film Captain Phillips was released in theaters. This month, Sony Pictures has released a limited edition SteelBook of the film for purchase.
Cargo Ship Maersk Alabama was on its way from Port of Salalah, Oman to Mombasa, Kenya through the Guardafui Channel. An unarmed ship, The Maersk Alabama was carrying 401 containers of food aid from USAID meant for Somalia, Uganda, Somali refugees in Kenya, and refugees in Rwanda. On April 8, 2009, the ship was boarded by 4 Somali pirates who, after being unable to gain control of the ship, took Phillips hostage and escaped in a lifeboat. After 4 days of trying to negotiate with the pirates, Navy Seal Red Squadron snipers shot and killed 3 of the 4 pirates, with the fourth ending up captured.
The Dolby Vision video quality is excellent but becomes useful in the later part of the movie when the pirates and Phillips enter the mostly dark lifeboat. It is at that point the picture really differentiates between the characters and the boat itself. This point is brought into sharp focus near the end when the seals are aiming at the individuals inside the boat.
While the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on the Blu-ray is already impressive, the Dolby Atmos Audio found on the 4K version expands the sound stage, giving the audio an even more robust and rich presentation. The full range of speakers is utilized with effects coming from every different direction.
This limited edition 4K steelbook has a dramatic-looking outer case but no new extras to enjoy. The previously released extras include: Commentary with Director Paul Greengrass, Capturing Captain Phillips - in-depth behind-the-scenes featurettes on making the acclaimed film, and Theatrical Trailer.
Hanks, already an Academy Award winner, once again gave a masterful performance as the captain taking responsibility for his ship and crew. However, praise also needed to be given to Barked Abdi (Blade Runner 2049) who played Muse, the lead pirate. As evidenced by his Oscar nomination, he matched Hanks scene for scene, which is no small feat for any actor.
Captain Phillips is a compelling retelling of a true story that grabs the view from the moment the pirates board the ship to the very end of the film. The cast, under director Paul Greengrass (United 93), is excellent and Sony Pictures presents the 4K steelbook in a way that represents the seriousness and quality of the film.
Grade: B+
