The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare | 2024 | R | – 5.7.5

Why is “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violence throughout and some language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes full non-sexual nudity, a woman behaving seductively to distract a man, a woman wearing revealing dresses and tops, many scenes of several men dispatching many armed foes using silenced weapons, arrows and knives leaving bloody wounds and bodies, a dead body hanging by the hands apparently after being tortured, several arguments and discussions of attack plans, and at least 3 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Ostensibly based on a true story and set in 1942: a band of soldiers with special skills undertakes an unsanctioned mission to end the Nazi control of the North Atlantic waters. With Henry Cavill, Alan Ritchson, Alex Pettyfer, Eiza González, Babs Olusanmokun, Cary Elwes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Henry Golding, Rory Kinnear, Til Schweiger and Freddie Fox. Directed by Guy Ritchie. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in German with English subtitles and others without translation. [Running Time: 2:00]

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A fully nude body hangs by the hands in a darkened room and we see her bare back, legs, partial side of her breast and buttocks (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman wears a very low-cut dress with other cutouts that reveal cleavage, partial bare breasts, abdomen, back, sides and partial hips.
► A woman wearing a low-cut dress (we see cleavage, partial side of her bare breast and bare back to the hips) sings and dances seductively on a stage and with the audience, including sitting on a man’s lap and kissing him on the cheek. Men and women dance together at a party. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman’s dress hangs open over her legs and we see part of her thigh. A woman pulls up the hem of her dress to reveal her thighs, stocking tops and garter. A woman wears a cropped top that reveals part of her bare abdomen. Several men are shirtless or their shirts are open to reveal bare chest, abdomens and backs in a few scenes.
► A woman walks past several soldiers in a dining car and one man stands in her way trying to convince her to participate in a game they are playing; she declines. A woman’s role is described as being to seduce and distract a commander stationed at a port. A man tells another man, “You’re too pretty for me,” then turns to another man that he implies would be more to his liking and the other man says, “You’d have to catch me first.”

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – Many armed sailors are shot, stabbed and slashed by a few men on a ship; we see blood splatter and hear slicing, several bodies are thrown overboard as a large vessel fires at the ship from a distance, missing a few times, before the large vessel explodes.
► Several men attack a military compound and one man kills several lookouts and others with arrows, other men enter a couple of barracks and shoot the occupants (we see bodies fall and blood spurts), a hand grenade explodes in a control room, another man uses a rapid firing gun to shoot many men through walls and we see them thrash and fall dead with blood splattering; a man fights with another man slamming him into a glass partition that shatters and he presses his throat down on a sharp shard killing him, continues to fight others using a knife and carves one injured man’s heart out and holds it in his hand (we see the organ and his hand soaked with blood), and a building blows up as the men leave the compound. Several armed men walk through a harbor and shoot many soldiers patrolling (blood splatters as they spin and fall), others plant explosives on vessels and an anchor chain and others use knives and arrows to kill other soldiers. A man plants an explosive in a warehouse containing generators; three armed soldiers find him and threaten him until he shoots two of them and pulls the trigger at the third, but the gun will not fire and after he tries to shoot several times, draws a knife and stabs the third man before he can use a weapon of his own. Lights go out on a ship and sailors scramble through the area to find out what’s happening; they are confronted by several men with guns and a bow and arrows that shoot them as they appear (blood spurts); one man enters an area where there are many soldiers and fights them using a knife and then an axe.
► A man shoots two men at close range and they fall dead. A man is shot in the head and we see blood dribble from the wound in his forehead. A fully nude body hangs by the hands in a darkened room and it is implied that a man has tortured and killed the woman for fun.
► An explosive blows an anchor chain and a large ship is pulled out of a harbor by several tugboats while many weapons on shore are fired at them; one man using a rapid-fire gun on the large vessel is struck in the shoulder and is unable to use the weapon, we see explosions on shore and many guns firing as sirens blare and people scramble onshore. Newsreel footage shows bombs dropping from planes over London and the rubble on the ground as people scatter and fires burn. Many armed sailors board a vessel where two men try to dissuade them from bothering to search, one man is held at gunpoint after he touches a commander’s shoulder and the other is told to put up his hands and the other man tells the officer that he hates Germans. Several men on a boat sail over U-boats underwater fearing that they will be spotted and destroyed. A handcuffed man with his hands tied over his head is seen with battery cable clips attached to his nipples and we see blood stains on his shirt under the clips. A handcuffed man lunges toward an armed soldier causing him to flinch and the man laughs. A commander stops a woman as she walks through a train car and after she has stolen a briefcase with confidential documents; he insists on carrying the case for her until another man takes it from her and they leave the car. A destroyer approaches and tries to waylay a smaller vessel threatening the men aboard; U-boats are spotted and the destroyer launches depth charges as the smaller vessel sails away safely. Many people are locked inside a building as an explosive cuts the lights in a harbor.
► Several people in a prison and handcuffed are taken to a room where a man speaks to them about a recent mission. A man threatens a woman and takes her to a private room where handcuffs are seen hanging from the ceiling; the man tells another man to handcuff her and leave her there. While kerosene is poured on the deck of a ship and on a man’s feet and legs, another man describes having set a ship on fire and left the people onboard to either burn or swim and that one that chose to swim was shot when he reached the shore.
► Men talk about the potential of torture and death at the hands of Germans in several scenes. We hear that a woman’s parents were German Jews and that they were the “first to go.” We are told that a man’s brother was drowned, and another man’s brother was tortured and killed. A man is described as growing up wrestling bears. British military advisors discuss surrendering to the Germans. People discuss a plan to break another man out of a German prison. A man asks a woman how she feels about “dealing with the Jew.” A man appears to be drunk and threatens to kill a man that tries to stop him from drinking more. Several people discuss plans of attack in several scenes. A man angrily yells and pounds on a table. A man says, “I’m not leaving until I have a barrel full of Nazi hearts.” A young sailor holds his hands up as a man with a gun approaches and the man tells him to jump overboard and he does. A woman complains about German cuisine.
► Several men climb a rock face using ropes. A woman takes target practice with a variety of weapons and hits the targets repeatedly. A man takes target practice and misses the target a few times. A man puts a lit cigarette out in his hand.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare LANGUAGE 5

 – About 3 F-words, 1 sexual reference, 1 scatological term, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (dirty hands, dirty drunken animal, crafty Germans, insane, guttersnipe, rats, idiot, perversion, little Jew, old boy, gauche, pirate, criminal enterprise, ruthless, spoilsport, Satanic, blasphemous, a little too smart, fat Spaniards, lazy Spaniards, ideologue, darling, he’s a killer), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. good God, Godspeed, thank God, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man pours a glass of whiskey and drinks some of it, several men on a train dining car drink liquor and a few appear inebriated, people drink heavily in a few party scenes and several people appear inebriated, and three people drink spritzers. A man fills his pockets with cigars and another man’s lighter in a meeting, men smoke cigarettes in many scenes, a man smokes a pipe, a man and a woman smoke cigarettes, and a woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Winston Churchill, World War II, U-Boats, not playing by the rules, the Gestapo, jealousy, greed, disharmony, surrender, chivalry.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare MESSAGE

 – Sometimes unorthodox methods need to be employed to be successful in war.