Which were to refrain heroic score for the protagonist, the melancholic cues surrounding the crew of the Alabama and Captain Phillips, the archetypal and ethnic musical palette for the Somalis.

[6] According to Jackman, he refrained from using traditional elements of the score (harmonies, melodies and theme) as it would take away from the realistic aspects of the filmmaking and leaned on providing more neutral music.

"[6] In a mixed review, Filmtracks.com described it as "a synthetic score from start to finish, with a few string soloists heavily processed to give the ambience a foreign sound.

"[7] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Henry Jackman's electronic score throbs underneath most of the action.

[9][10] Tampa Bay Times wrote "Henry Jackman's tasteful musical score doesn't announce tension but frequently enhances it, another measure of the movie's effective understatement.