If you had to Pick One - Captain Phillips or All is Lost?

[kmason]

Send me your address and cover postage and I'll send you my BluRay of 'All is Lost'. There are no words to properly describe my complete and utter disappointment with this movie. But let me try...

First of all, his boat is holed by a half submerged container in the port side of his vessel, not the bow where it would make a lot more sense if you are under sail. That doesn't wake him up from his nap though! No, it's the sneakers floating around in his cabin that wake him up.

From there it just becomes the most boring, drawn-out, painful waste of time a person could possibly endure. I think they were shooting for an epic performance like Tom Hanks in Castaway (Which was just a remake and modernization of Robinson Cursoe) but failed miserably.

There are a lot of other problems like, is his SSB going to a small whip antenna on the mast? How does that work? Did he think to buy an EPIRB? What about a backup hand-held VHF or GPS? I think all he had in his ditch bag was some packets of water and food. I think for an ocean crossing even the most novice of sailors would have thought to be better equipped.

Come-on people... even Forrest Gump could captain a boat better than Bob (an appropriate name for this movie) Redford's character. Now, maybe if they got Morgan Freeman for the lead role.

[kmason]

For Captain Phillips I can't comment on how accurate the story was to the real encounter with Somali pirates but film makers tend to boost the drama for effect. I do know that the movie was entertaining and at times suspenseful even knowing the inevitable outcome.

*************Spoiler alert****read no further if you don't know what happens in the movie***********

The 3 simultaneous head shots from the fantail of a DDG was, in real life, nothing less than perfection from the Navy SEAL team snipers. Happy Easter pirates!

[zeehag]

robin hood.
had no interest in either of the two others mentioned.

[Coops]

Zee only watches films if the men wear tights obviously.

Coops.

[zeehag]

not so much the tights as the bows and arrows and boiling oil and huge rocks... loverly .....

chain mail dont hurt either....

[Coops]

The tights would show any huge rocks I guess.

Coops.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by kmason

*************Spoiler alert****read no further if you don't know what happens in the movie***********

I knew how it ended... was on the evening news a few years ago.
Captain Phillips wasn't so much a movie as a documentary......anybody who doesn't know how it ends hasn't been paying attention....

[Glenn C]

Al is Lost for me, its brilliant on so many levels......not the least being in terms of a training film in thinking about 2nd , 3rd order effects before taking action in some sort of crisis....not to mention the fun to be had with a few mates, a few beers and the 'bingo' competition to spot the technical or decision making stuff-up.

No-one could possibly think that all those stuff -ups were by accident ...takes high quality writing, screen play and indeed acting to make it look like the film was produced by incompetent morons, whereas it has so many sublime messages re the human condition....Bob Redford's finest role by a long shot

[Andy73]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

I'd go with Cap Ron...both were bad with far too many stupid things done.

What he said!

All is lost is not bad is you don't expect single sailing accuracy...

Capt Phil was an ok drama (my wife gave it a thumbs up) but to me just highlights the stupidity of expecting other people to protect you (a huge container ship with a decent sized crew is taken over by 5 guys...)

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by oldragbaggers

I'll go with All is Lost.

According to the crew of Capt. Phillips vessel that movie was complete fiction, Captain Phillips was in real life arrogant and contributed to the situation by his disregard of safety precaution.

Besides, I can look at Bob Redford all day long, even when he's screwing up.

Really? The first thing I thought of when he came on screen was, "HOLY CRAP!! Somebody shoulda been using sunscreen for the last 75 yrs or so!!"

His next gig will probably be as a walking billboard for the American Cancer Society.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by Glenn C

Al is Lost for me, its brilliant on so many levels......not the least being in terms of a training film in thinking about 2nd , 3rd order effects before taking action in some sort of crisis....not to mention the fun to be had with a few mates, a few beers and the 'bingo' competition to spot the technical or decision making stuff-up.

No-one could possibly think that all those stuff -ups were by accident ...takes high quality writing, screen play and indeed acting to make it look like the film was produced by incompetent morons, whereas it has so many sublime messages re the human condition....Bob Redford's finest role by a long shot

Oh, totally!!

I said exactly the same thing about the technical accuracy of all of those "Fast and Furious" movies, like tires screeching on dirt roads, muscle cars doing wheelies on street tires, shifting through 9 gears in a late 60's muscle car's transmission, and of course the proper pronunciation of "NOS."

[gamayun]

I pulled up All is Lost on Netflix tonight. Got as far as when he takes a tumble out of the life raft when it rolls upside down. Had enough and took the dog for a walk instead. I really thought I could get through and possibly like it (even with everything I had read about it), it but it was excruciating. Haven't seen Captain Philips yet, but heard an interview with Tom Hanks and the director on how they shot the film including keeping the actors on the ship from meeting the actors who played the pirates. They never met each other until that scene on the ship to maintain the suspense. There were other interesting stories as well.

[jkindredpdx]

Just watched All is Lost... And I was prepared not to like it, but did. Of course he made a bunch of mistakes... That was the plot! I liked the fact that there was not a running monologue and it seemed plausible.


JimK

[oldragbaggers]

Quote:
Originally Posted by oldragbaggers
I'll go with All is Lost.

According to the crew of Capt. Phillips vessel that movie was complete fiction, Captain Phillips was in real life arrogant and contributed to the situation by his disregard of safety precaution.

Besides, I can look at Bob Redford all day long, even when he's screwing up.

Really? The first thing I thought of when he came on screen was, "HOLY CRAP!! Somebody shoulda been using sunscreen for the last 75 yrs or so!!"

His next gig will probably be as a walking billboard for the American Cancer Society.

Yes....
I have been a Robert Redford fan since I was very young. He is a fine actor, an attractive man, and has given me many hours of enjoyment through his movies. My appreciation of him hasn't changed just because he has gotten older. Last time I looked, so have I.

[Lubber4now]

Originally Posted by MarkSF

Better still, how about the entire boxed set of Hornblower?

For some reason TV makers think they can improve on genius - like rewriting Forrester.

The heroic Capt. Sawyer and Pellew and HH's midshipman nemesis with the Grateful Dead tattoo were pure blasphemy.

Best thing about that series is the special features - if you're an HH reader the series will only majorly make you puke hairballs.