Sailors who endured the real-life attack by Somali pirates which forms the basis of Oscar-tipped thriller Captain Phillips have condemned the version of events shown in the film.

Crew members of the Maersk Alabama, which suffered the raid off the coast of lawless Somalia in April 2009, told the New York Post the titular hero played by Tom Hanks in Paul Greengrass's critically acclaimed film was far from heroic. The sailors, who are suing their employers Maersk Line and the Waterman Steamship Corp for $50m, said Richard Phillips was a sullen, self-righteous man: their suit claims the captain's wilful disregard for his crew's safety contributed to the attack.

"Phillips wasn't the big leader like he is in the movie," said one crew member who worked closely with the captain, speaking anonymously for legal reasons. "No one wants to sail with him," he told the Post.

The crew member said Phillips, who went on to meet Barack Obama and write a memoir, refused to cut power and lock himself and the crew below deck in line with anti-pirate protocol. "He didn't want anything to do with it, because it wasn't his plan," said the crew member. "He was real arrogant."

Phillips has denied being aware of such a plan.

The sailors' lawyer, Deborah Waters, told the Post: "The crew had begged Captain Phillips not to go so close to the Somali coast. He told them he wouldn't let pirates scare him or force him to sail away from the coast.

"It is galling for them to see Captain Phillips set up as a hero," she added. "It is just horrendous, and they're angry."

According to the Post's report, ships in the area were warned to stay at least 600 miles off the Somali coast because 16 container ships had been attacked by pirates during the prior three weeks in the same region. Phillips' real-life crew member says his captain was just 235 miles off the coast, though Phillips says he was 300 miles off. "I couldn't tell you exactly the miles," Phillips told the Post. "I don't know."

Another crew member, chief engineer Mike Perry, is reputed to have been the real hero of the ordeal, despite having only a small presence in Greengrass's film. At one point he attacked the chief pirate, seizing him and using him as a bargaining chip for the return of Phillips. Perry told the Post he agreed with theories that his captain wanted to be taken captive, and may even have had a death wish. "Yeah," he said. "Because he went through that area, and the company is sending him e-mails, and I know he saw that chart [of prior attacks] 50 times."

Captain Phillips debuted strongly this weekend at the US box office and opened the London film festival last week, as well as screening at the New York film festival. The film, which opens in the UK on Friday, has been tipped to give Hanks a tilt at Oscars glory next March.

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