PAUL GREENGRASS

Movie Summary

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips, whose ship MV Maersk Alabama, gets hijacked by Somalian pirates around the horn of Africa and then shows pirates in a Somali village selecting their crews and preparing to hijack a vessel. They set sail and, wary of any pirate activity, the captain orders practice drills, when the two Somali pirates team come at him in their skiffs but the captain sends out a fake distress call and the pirate’s engine gives out before they reach him. The next day the pirates return, attach a ladder on an exposed part of the deck and board the demanding the contents of the cargo haulers. The pirates then force Phillips to give them a ship wide tour to find the hidden crew but Philips is smart by letting the crew know they are coming and they manage to cut open one of the pirate’s feet. The crews take the injured pirate hostage then negotiate with the two pirates outside to give them back their men and a life boat in exchange for Captain Phillip’s but at the last minute they push Phillips into the lifeboat and launch it. Eventually, a U.S. Navy ship intercepts the lifeboat and demands that the pirates surrender the American citizen that they have captured then Phillips dives out escaping the life boat but is captured by a pirate. The Navy are able to employ a tactical strike on the ship and shoot all of the pirates rescuing Captain Philips.