Based on a true story, The Finest Hours tells the story of the greatest small-boat rescue in the history of the United States Coast Guard. After a storm rips a T-2 oil tanker in half, 30 sailers find themselves trapped on half a ship that is sinking off the coast of Cape Cod. Coast Guard Captain Bernie Webber (Chris Pine) finds himself in a race against time on a 12-person rescue boat as he attempts to rescue 30 men aboard the sinking ship. Chief Engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) finds himself in the struggle of a lifetime as he attempts to buy the crew of the sinking ship more time.
Quality:
The quality for this movie really gave me mixed feelings. In some ways, it almost looked too good. Having lived through a few winter storms, I had a few times were it was difficult to suspend disbelief. I would like things to have been a little grittier and a bit rougher. All that being said, the movie makers did a decent job recreating this event. The sound actually impressed me more than the video did. It sounded great in my entertainment room.
Extras:
Against All Odds: The Bernie Webber Story – Thisis a look at the Bernie Webber story from the perspective of the town where it happened, his daughter, and the filmmakers. This is a decent little documentary that really gives another way of telling the story that is told in The Finest Hours. In some ways, this was almost more dramatic than the movie. Hearing the story of this event and then the legacy that lives on from it really was cool.
Deleted Scenes – A look at the deleted scenes in the movie gave some interesting perspectives on how the film was made. It definitely seems like the filmmakers made the right moves in deleting these scenes but, definitely interesting to see.
Brotherhood – Brothers were made during the filming of this movie. The cast talks about the bonds that were forged as they filmed this movie together. This was a pretty short extra and almost could have just been a promo for the movie before it came out.
Two Crews – This is an interesting perspective about the two leaders of the crews featured in The Finest Hours from the men who portrayed them. Chris Pine and Casey Affleck share about their respective characters in this brief extra. I personally would have loved to have heard more from them and have this be more of a documentary instead of a promo.
What is Your Finest Hour? – A member of the Coast Guard shares about a rescue that warmed her heart. This was incredibly short, sweet, but also basically a promo video for this movie and not really what I would consider a full on extra.
The Finest Inspiration: The U.S. Coast Guard – This extra offers a look at the members of the U.S. Coast Guard today who are willing to risk their lives for others. This is also a brief extra but was kind of cool.
Overall the bonus features for The Finest Hours really weren’t the strongest collection of extras ever offered. The Bernie Webber Story was easily the strongest extra offered and definitely was worth watching. The Deleted Scenes were also ok but the rest I could have passed on.
Final Thoughts:
The Finest Hours is the retelling of an absolutely incredible moment in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard. Unfortunately. The movie just didn’t match the scope of the story. After giving it some serious thought, I realized that a major problem with this film was the rain just didn’t match the strength of the storm. In an age when we can watch shows like The Deadliest Catch, it is easy to see the difference between a real storm and a controlled one. It was just hard to feel like the storm was really dangerous when the rain didn’t feel dangerous. The story was good. I liked the cast. The soundtrack definitely could have been stronger, as could have the effects. I don’t like looking at a movie and thinking that it is digital. Digital is done best when one doesn’t realize digital is happening. As much as I really wanted to like this movie, it just didn’t reach expectations. It was a movie that fits squarely in the “OK” category. There are some good moments but I would personally have liked to see quite a bit more.
