“Captain Phillips” released alongside several other thrillers in mid October.  That being said, “Captain Phillips” definitely stood out.

“Captain Phillips” hit theaters October 11, 2013.  It is about the 2009 hijacking of a U.S. cargo ship off the coast of Somalia. It is directed by Paul Greengrass and stars Tom Hanks.

On April 8, 2009, the Maersk Alabama was hijacked by four armed Somali pirates 240 miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship was captained by Richard Phillips and operated by a crew of 20. The ship was delivering various cargo to Kenya.

The pirates boarded and proceeded to take control of the ship. Because the engineers shut down the ship as soon as they knew they were being hijacked, the pirates were not able to control the ship like they had hoped to. This conflict led to an hour long standoff between pirates and the crew of the Maersk Alabama.

After a failed exchange between captains, the Somali pirates took Captain Phillips and fled in the ship’s lifeboat.  At this point the U.S. Navy was called in to help resolve this conflict. The pirates ended up being killed, and Captain Phillips was recovered safely.

The movie is suspenseful all the way to the last scene. The Director Paul Greengrass does a good job of  making the film action packed. Between flares, helicopters, snipers, and gunfights, “Captain Phillips” is never short of excitement.

Greengrass faced a challenge in making a film about a real life hijacking.  It would have been easy to make the movie super dramatic, and just another cheesy robbery movie, but it is a well shot movie that makes it feel like you were there for the real thing.  In my opinion, “Captain Phillips” is definitely worth the price of admission.