Films based on true events often have a way of dramatizing or exaggerating things for the sake of cinema. It’s a different stage, cinema, with different rules from real life, so storytellers will often utilize this fact for audiences to feel like their time was worth the price of admission. Then there’s filmmaker Paul Greengrass (22 July; United 93) and his approach to the Maersk Alabama hijacking by Somali pirates in April 2009 in Captain Phillips (2013). Rather than villainize one side while valorizing the other, Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray (Richard Jewell; The Hunger Games) bring out the humanity in virtually all the central characters, pulling back on the expected gallantry typical of such a dramatization to reveal something human underneath as they adapt the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy Seals, and Dangerous Days at Sea written by Captain Richard Phillips and Stephan Talty. Nearly 11 years since its theatrical release, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment offers Greengrass’s harrowing drama on 4K UHD for the first time in a limited edition steelbook combo set that includes a brand-new audio/video component and the previously available bonus materials.
April 2009 — Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) oversees the cargo ship Maersk Alabama with an intended travel path from Salalah, Oman, to Mombasa, Kenya, carrying a variety of goods, primarily food supplies. At the same time, Muse (Barkhad Abdi) and several other members of his community venture out into the ocean to hijack a ship so as to be able to pay a warlord their dues under threat of pain or death. Recognizing the potential payday that capturing a ship of that size could bring, Muse and his small team manage to board the Maersk Alabama and kick off a several day siege that comes down to a battle of wits between Phillips and Muse.
Whether you followed the news in 2009 as the story of the Maersk Alabama spread or you watched the film in 2013, there’s one thing most folks will remember about the story, and it’s Abdi’s delivery of “I’m the captain now.” It’s calm and intense, signifying a changing of control, and it was everywhere. If that reading is all you know about the story, then, like this reviewer, you probably would presume that the film takes place entirely on the boat. Greengrass ensures the audience is introduced to Phillips and Muse in their respective tones, establishing quickly their individual situations, while also ensuring that the audience understands their relative conditions during the film’s 134-minute runtime. Phillips is a husband and father who’s been working as a captain for some time, and this voyage isn’t his first time out. Similarly, Muse is a member of a small community who’s forced to be a pirate under extreme conditions. For Phillips, we understand this to be a job with a duty to protect; for Muse, this is a job to secure him and his a potentially better life. Other storytellers would likely focus on Phillips as the central protagonists, but Greengrass opts to humanize Muse as much as possible, bringing to bear the socio-economic issues that created the circumstances in which this clever and strategic individual brings arms against the Maersk Alabama. To make the comparison even more clear, Barry Ackroyd’s (The Big Short; The Old Guard) cinematography shifts when focused on Phillips versus Muse until the two characters overlap with the Phillips sequences sharp, clean, and featuring more blues and whites and Muse sequences a touch blurry, the camerawork more free-hand, and the colors browns and reds. At no point does the film seem to judge Muse nor uplift Phillips, rather, it presents the events as they happened (adjusted and abbreviated for cinematic storytelling) with as little theatrics as possible and as much character-centric work as can be utilized. It leads to a culmination where, even if you weren’t locked in as the tension rises, upon seeing Hanks as Phillips unclench in the hands of the medics, one finds themselves doing the same.
Based on some general research on prior releases, there’s nothing new added to this limited-edition release, which puts the onus on the presentation and packaging.
Going with the steelbook trends, Captain Phillips is offered in a multi-format release (4K UHD which includes the feature and theatrical trailer, Blu-ray with the feature and bonus materials, and digital code) that is decorated with two key images. On the front is a combination photo with two pirates climbing a ladder from their skiff to the Alabama and Phillips in profile with the title underneath him. The back is a more distanced-image of the lifeboat from the end of the film, Muse standing at its open door, the lifeboat surrounded by various vessels. Inside the package is a case-length image of Muse, Phillips, and Faysal Ahmed’s Najee as the two take over the navigation bridge. The 4K UHD disc is decorated with the art from the front of the steelbook and the Blu-ray with the back. As I don’t have a prior release Blu-ray to compare, it’s difficult to say if the Blu-ray is just a re-skin with 100% certainty, but the prior released disc does appear to have a different, more minimalist design compared to this more decorative edition.
Also new for this edition are the audio and video elements, which mostly apply to the 4K UHD presentation as the Blu-ray appears to be (as noted) the same as before. The 4K UHD disc includes an English Dolby Atmos 7.1 and English 5.1 audio track, as well as a 4K video presentation with Dolby Vision. As the EoM home theater doesn’t allow for Atmos yet, there’s no available feedback on that portion, but the 5.1 does come through clear and clean. The film isn’t exactly explosive as it focuses on character interaction and relationships rather than physical subterfuge, so the soundtrack isn’t entirely immersive, but the significance of sound is not unimportant either. Given that there’re sequences where the wrong noise at the wrong time can lead to deadly consequences, the achieved balance in the home audio track wonderfully keeps the audience glued in. In terms of the video elements, this isn’t necessarily a film which requires 4K UHD with high dynamic range via Dolby Vision until the hijacking occurs and characters are placed in darkly-lit environments. When that happens, the greater distinction between person and darkness aids in tracking movement, enabling the audience to remain locked into the narrative. This is particularly important when the story shifts to the lifeboat and the Navy Seals arrive to save Phillips. Interestingly, where the cinematography differs between the two characters at first, making visual the key differences between the environments the characters come from, the clarity of the picture with Phillips makes it hard not to notice the physical wear Phillips has endured. The increased clarity of color, not necessarily its vibrance, makes his statement of the blood on him not being his as the camera shows us just how much is on him truly devastating in that moment.
Knowing what I know now of the film, I do wish I’d given it a chance sooner. That said, those who already invested in some way with this film, there’s little here in this limited edition to really warrant the upgrade. There’re no new bonus features at all, so it comes down to how important it is to have a remaster in the most modern format and in a trendy package. Considering the usual upsell cost of a steelbook, this is an edition that is worth recommending but to snag when it’s on sale. Yes, it’s billed as a limited edition which may mean that it’s hard to pick up later, but films like Starship Troopers (1997), the Venom films, and several others from Sony, Columbia, and TriStar Pictures, have been re-released, so perhaps the urgency isn’t as great as they make it seem. This edition of the film looks good and sounds good (at least the 5.1 track does), so paying the higher cost really does come down to how valuable you find the film and how enticing you find the packaging.
Captain Phillips Special Features:
4K UHD Disc
- Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision
- English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1
- Special Features:
- Theatrical Trailer
Blu-ray Disc
- Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
- English 5.1
- Special Features:
- Commentary with Director Paul Greengrass
- Capturing Captain Phillips – in-depth behind-the-scenes featurettes on making the acclaimed film
Available on 4K UHD Blu-ray Steelbook Combo and digital July 16th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Sony Pictures Captain Phillips webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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