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Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critics What's this?

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  • Summary: Utilizing exclusive interviews and access to real pirates, hostages, ship-owners, pirate negotiators and experts on piracy and international policy, Stolen Seas explores the Somali pirate phenomenon - how it came to be and why it will continue.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    May 24, 2013
    90
    Assembled from three years’ worth of visits to one of the world’s most volatile hot zones, the format of Stolen Seas is as every bit as exciting as its content, raising beguiling questions about how the team managed to acquire the footage so stunningly interwoven by editor Garret Price.
  2. Reviewed by: Glenn Whipp
    Apr 18, 2013
    80
    What really elevates the film, though, is the crucial context that Payne provides to explain — but not justify — the pirates' actions.
  3. Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    Jan 16, 2013
    70
    The documentary Stolen Seas is not just a high-energy chronicle of a ship's hijacking; Thymaya Payne's bold debut feature steps back for a view of Somali piracy that's both broader and more incisive than most mainstream news coverage.
  4. Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    Jan 17, 2013
    60
    A documentary that yearns to be an adventure movie, Stolen Seas can't resist drowning its invaluable insights in thundering, drum-heavy music and flashing visuals. Magnificent in its thoroughness and nuance, this dense, multifaceted study of Somali piracy really needs to settle down.

See all 7 Critic Reviews