 Click on CAPCon Alert image for explanation |
A service to our youth through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word MAR22114 Ghost Ship (2002), R Analysis Date: October 26, 2002 CAP Score: 13 CAP Influence Density: 3.13 MinMax: -46 |
 |
 | To subscribe to (or unsubscribe from) our FREE text-only versions of our Entertainment Media Analysis Reports as they are calculated, visit our Mailman. If you experience difficulty with Mailman, send us your request. Your email address will NOT be given or sold to other parties. |
GHOST SHIP (R) -- A dance floor full of bouncing passengers are sliced apart Production: Dark Castle Entertainment, NPV Entertainment, Village Roadshow Productions Distribution: Warner Bros. Director(s): Steve Beck Producer(s): Gilbert Adler, Bruce Berman, Stephen Jones, Susan Levin, Richard Mirisch, Steve Richards, Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis Written by/Screenplay: Story: Mark Hanlon. Screenplay: Mark Hanlon, John Pogue Cinematography/Camera: Gale Tattersall Music: John Frizzell Film Editing: Roger Barton Casting: Lora Kennedy Production Design: Graham 'Grace' Walker Art Direction: Richard Hobbs  It just goes to show you that you cannot 100% trust the MoviePhone listings. MoviePhone listed Ghost Ship as a PG-13 when I first checked it. Crunching the numbers for CAP analysis of the movie revealed a final score of 13 which is a score earned by the "R-est" movies made and clearly below the threshold for the CAP scoring range for R (54 and below out of 100). I was ready to launch a nastrygram to the MPAA. But by checking other sources I found that Ghost Ship is rated R <-sigh-> much to my relief ... I think. On a 1962 cruise to America the luxury liner Antonia Graza disappeared without a trace with a full passenger and crew compliment and a full cargo. Forty years later the Antonia Graza is discovered in the Bearing Straits. How the Italian ship traveled without a captain in those 40 years from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic to the North Pacific was not explained. The ship was discovered by a RCAF weather reconnaissance pilot, Ferriman (Desmond Harrington) as he was flying a tour of duty. With faint pictures, Ferriman approached a salvage crew led by Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) with this little gem for a finder's fee of 20% of the salvage take. A reasonable deal. But Ferriman is not the weather spotter looking for a quick buck he seems. Note the name and apply it to your knowledge of myth. The rest of the crew buy into the idea of salvaging the Antonia Graza because of their percentage of the potential millions of dollars in salvage. Second in command is co-owner of the salvage tug Arctic Warrior, Epps (Julianna Marguilies). The rest of the crew is First Mate, Greer (Isiah Washington); Engineer, Santos (Alex Dimitriades); Dodge (Ron Eldard); Munder (Karl Urban). Part of Ferriman's deal with Murphy was to go along on the salvage trip. Aboard the Arctic Warrior everyone is acting as though they are rich already and partying it up when the man at the helm spied an image on the radar and called for the captain to take a look. By the time Murphy got there, the image was gone. After playing hide-n-seek with the image, the Antonia Graza appeared just feet off the bow of the Arctic Warrior. With full astern, a disaster collision with the Antonia Graza was narrowly avoided, just bumping into the side of the ocean liner. Being in the middle of the night, plans are made to board the Antonia Graza in the morning. No one had the slightest idea of what the crew were getting themselves into ... except Ferriman. Why I will not explain in case you decide the level of assault of moral and ethical decency we reveal is acceptable to you and/or your family. The crew finds the Antonia Graza uninhabited but yet not really uninhabited. Things begin to happen that cannot be explained. Doors closing and opening by themselves. A lit cigarette. A fresh glass of whiskey next to an open bottle. Then comes the proof in the pudding. Epps thinks she sees a little girl. Earlier, in a few moments of mood and plot setting, the movie displays what happened to the passengers and crew, what killed them all. At least, part of what killed them all. A dance floor full of bouncing passengers are sliced apart with a thin steel cable. All but a little girl, Katie (Emily Browning) who was dancing with the Captain were sliced. She was too short for the cable to cut her in half as it did for all the others. Then we are treated to upper body halves sliding off the lower host, an upper head sliding off the lower part and other examples of innards. One woman even tries to grab her lower half at her side to put it the two halves back together. Katie is the little girl Epps thought she saw. Forty years later. Also as one of the humans chosen to see things is Greer. He is the one to find the lit cigarette ... with lipstick on it. While inspecting the dance hall, it comes to life with everyone applauding Greer, even Francesca (Francesca Rettondini), the singer on the billboard poster about whom Greer had a sexually disrespectful comment earlier. It appears that Francesca's only purpose was to seduce Greer with her sensuality and her anatomy. Everyone who watches this show will know what Rettondini looks like without any clothes [Gal. 5:19, Rev. 22:15]. There is much more to the story, but I will not get into it for the sake of length of this Summary/Commentary and will move into a briefing of the ignominious content. Leading the Wanton Violence/Crime are the gore in the slicing of a couple dozen dancers, death by crunching between huge gears,death by incineration and a body being blown to pieces. Though very violent, Murder/Suicide leads the sheer numbers. Murder by explosion. Murder by fall. Murder by knife. Murder by hoist hook. Murder by automatic gunfire. Murder by handgun. Murder by poison. And murder by shotgun. [3John 11, Ps. 11:5, Ps. 141:4, Rev. 22:15] Mathematically equal in presence to the violence and murder is foul and vulgar language. Forty eight uses of the three/four letter word vocabulary plus 19 uses of the most foul of the 3/4 letter word vocabulary [Col. 3:8, Prov. 8:13] AND 17 uses of God's name in vain, four with the four letter expletive and 13 without [Deut. 5:11]. There's more. But I will leave them to the listing in the Findings/Scoring section. SCRIPTURAL APPLICATION(S) If needed to focus or fortify, applicable text is underlined or bracketed [ ]. If you wish to have full context available, the Blue Letter Bible is a convenient source. If you use the Blue Letter Bible, a new window will open. Close it to return here or use "Window" in your browser's menu bar to alternate between the CAP page and the Blue Letter Bible page. *******Food for Daily Thought******* As always, it is best to refer to the Findings/Scoring section -- the heart of the CAP analysis model -- for the most complete assessment possible of this movie. |
 Wanton Violence/Crime (W): Impudence/Hate (I)(1): Sex/Homosexuality (S): Drugs/Alcohol (D): Offense to God (O)(2): Murder/Suicide (M)(3): |
 NO service charges!!! Donations to the CAP Ministry are Tax Deductible!!! |
 |
 |
 |
 Christian Media News |
 A Singles Christian Network |
 |
 |
 |
|
| NOTE: The CAP Analysis Model makes no scoring allowances for trumped-up "messages" to excuse or for manufacturing of justification for aberrant behavior or imagery, or for camouflaging such ignominy with "redeeming" programming. Disguising sinful behavior in a theme plot does not excuse the sinful behavior of either the one who is drawing pleasure or example from the sinful display or the practitioners demonstrating the sinful behavior. This is NOT a movie review service. It is a movie analysis service to parents and grandparents to tell them the truth about movies using the Truth. |
| "There are some in the entertainment industry who maintain that 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violent entertainment and aggressive behavior in children, and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy. Unfortunately, they are wrong on both accounts." And "Viewing violence may lead to real life violence." I applaud these associations for fortifying 1 Cor. 15:33. Read the rest of the story. From our nearly seven years of study, I contend that other aberrant behaviors, attitudes, and expressions can be inserted in place of "violence" in that statement. Our Director - Child Psychology Support, a licensed psychologist and certified school psychologist concurs. For example, "Viewing arrogance against fair authority may lead to your kids defying you in real life." Or "Viewing sex may lead to sex in real life." Likewise and especially with impudence, hate and foul language. I further contend that any positive behavior can be inserted in place of "violence" with the same chance or likelihood of being a behavior template for the observer; of being incorporated into the behavior mechanics and/or coping skills of the observer. In choosing your entertainment, please consider carefully the "rest of the story" and our findings. |
