Surviving crew members of the Maersk Alabama, the ship which served as the backdrop for the film "Captain Phillips" are contending that the movie is "full of lies."

Interviewed by the New York Post, they dispute many details portrayed in the film. The center of the dispute involves the depiction of Capt. Richard Phillips as a hero.

From the NY Post: "Phillips wasn't the big leader like he is in the movie. No one wants to sail with him,"" says one crew member, who, for legal reasons, spoke with The Post anonymously. He worked very closely with Phillips on the Maersk Alabama and was alarmed by his behavior from the beginning. Phillips, he says, had a bad reputation for at least 12 years prior, known as a sullen and self-righteous captain."

After the hijacking, 11 crew members have sued Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp. for almost $50 million, alleging "willful, wanton and conscious disregard for their safety." Phillips is a witness for the defense.

"The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast," said Deborah Waters, the attorney who brought the claim. "He told them he wouldn't let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast."

The real hero was Chief Engineer Mike Perry. He was the one who led the crew downstairs and secured them. He was also the one who attacked and seized the head of the four armed pirates and used that as leverage for Capt. Richard's negotiations.

"We vowed we were going to take it to our graves, that we weren't going to say anything," Perry told CNN in 2010. "Then we hear this p.r. stuff about him giving himself up . . . and the whole crew's like, 'What?' "

The scene in the film where Tom Hanks pleads: "If you're gonna shoot somebody, shoot me!" also didn't happen.

Capt. Richard Phillips arrogant decision to continue sailing into Somali waters despite the pirate warning endangered their lives. To see him depicted as a hero is appalling, to say the least.