The Finest Hours Featurette Spotlights The Real Heroes Of ’52

Braving hurricane-force winds and 60-foot high waves, earlier this week we got a peek at the fierce intensity that Craig Gillespie is bringing to real-life maritime drama The Finest Hours, but what of the real heroes that scrambled to save the survivors of the SS Pendleton in 1952?

Walt Disney Pictures has answered that question today with a new featurette for the Oscar hopeful, chronicling the unflinching bravery and courage displayed by the North Eastern coast guard who risked their lives in order to pluck the seaman from the bitter cold waters of the North Atlantic. Leading the charge is Chris Pine’s Captain Bernie Webber, who literally goes through Hell and high water in order to rescue first assistant engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) and his trapped, frightened crew.

Assembling an impressive cast to hit the high seas, Gillespie has welcomed aboard Ben Foster, and Holliday Grainger, while the ensemble is rounded out by Eric Bana, Graham McTavish, Kyle Gallner, Rachel Brosnahan, Josh Stewart, Abraham Benrubi, John Ortiz, and Beau Knapp.

The Finest Hours plots course for theaters on January 29.

On February 18, 1952, a massive nor’easter struck New England, pummeling towns along the Eastern seaboard and wreaking havoc on the ships caught in its deadly path, including the SS Pendleton, a T-2 oil tanker bound for Boston, which was literally ripped in half, trapping more than 30 sailors inside its rapidly-sinking stern. As the senior officer on board, first assistant engineer Ray Sybert (Casey Affleck) soon realizes it is up to him to take charge of the frightened crew and inspire the men to set aside their differences and work together to ride out one of the worst storms to ever hit the East Coast. Meanwhile, as word of the disaster reaches the U.S. Coast Guard station in Chatham, Massachusetts, Warrant Officer Daniel Cluff (Eric Bana) orders a daring operation to rescue the stranded men. Despite overwhelming odds, four men, led by Coast Guard Captain Bernie Webber (Chris Pine), set out in a wooden lifeboat with an ill-equipped engine and little, if any, means of navigation, facing frigid temperatures, 60-foot high waves and hurricane-force winds.