| 15+Cautions: intense violence and brief gore, and some strong language
Captain Phillips is an intense recreation of real men, real threats, real guns, and real blood as the first hijacking of a U.S. merchant ship in almost two hundred years turns into a desperate war between the U.S. Navy and four ruthless Somalian pirates trapped in the middle of the ocean, holding a gun to an American captain’s head. A matter of days turns into intense hours, hours into minutes, minutes into seconds, seconds into deadly split seconds as time runs out and Captain Richard Phillips faces the bloody end of the gripping 2009 hostage situation.
2013 | Paul Greengrass | 134 min Watch Trailer
Intense Violence and Brief Gore
Captain Phillips is intense almost from very beginning to very end, with constant violent threats and some shooting, beating and psychological torture.
In very intense scenes, the villains threaten Captain Phillips and the crew with automatic firearms, screaming and shooting in the air. Captain Phillips and the others are shot at. The villains kidnap men as hostages.
At one point there is a shooting and a small room is covered in a large blood splatter. Bloody cuts are seen a few times. A man is briefly seen dead with his eyes open.
Captain Phillips is violently beaten, kicked and choked. One villain hits another in the head with a wrench, and blood is seen.
During the final struggle with the villains, Captain Phillips, tied up and blindfolded, starts crying out goodbye messages to his family through the radio. At another point, a man goes into shock, is barely able to talk, and begins to sob.
Some Strong Language
J-sus Chr-st
J-sus
J-sus
G-d
G-dd-mn
G-dd-mn
G-d
h-ll
a--
a--hole
a--hole
sh-t
sh-t
sh-t
p-ss
scr-wed up
Note:
Captain Phillips is based on a true story and is accurate in all major points, although a few minor points have been slightly altered.
The U.S. military lies to the villains in an attempt to rescue Captain Phillips. Captain Phillips emails his wife after the first pirate encounter, but leaves out the incident and tells her he’s having “ordinary days”.
A Somalian villain tells Captain Phillips that “maybe in America” there is another way to survive than being a fisherman and kidnapping people. The movie does not, however, in any way diminish the villains’ crime or imply any justification for it.
A man jokingly orders “two beers and a bucketful of sin,” and others laugh. However, Captain Phillips does not approve.
Negatively-portrayed men chew on khat, a mild narcotic. Negatively-portrayed characters smoke cigarettes.
Someone is wished “good luck”, and one of the villains references “bad luck”.
Workers’ unions are mentioned.
Men are briefly seen shirtless.
A couple kisses goodbye.
