Several scenes include full frontal male and female nudity of African slaves presented very matter-of-factly in the context of degradation. There are brief scenes on the ship in which the slaves are on the deck and the captors are sexually assaulting the females, but it doesn't show sexual nudity.

There are two sequences on board slave ships which show slaves being whipped and abused. These sequences include, among other things, shootings, slashings, and drownings. (The drowning is graphic: people are chained to a net full of rocks and then one by one pulled by the rocks into the ocean, screaming the whole time.) One of the scenes includes a death in childbirth with the body thrown overboard. These scenes are very bloody indeed, even to the point of blood spraying on a character's face from a lashing. Also a man is shown being run through with a large sword, and the sword being drawn out afterwards. Compared to those sequences, the other incidents of violence are almost inconsequential.

A number of men who have been shot to death in battle are shown.

A woman carrying a baby commits suicide by purposely sitting on the side of the ship and falling off.

A couple of characters smoke a pipe or a cigar during relaxation and reflection. Drinking is presented in such an off-hand manner as to go largely unnoticed.

The scenes of violence as well as the predicaments the slaves find themselves in are very intense.