Pirates (1986)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach (writer)
John Brownjohn (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy

Plot:

Captain Red runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Pirate | Galleon | Governor | Mutiny

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Walter Matthau	...	Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red
Cris Campion	...	The Frog - Jean-Baptiste
Damien Thomas	...	Don Alfonso de la Torré
Olu Jacobs	...	Boomako
Ferdy Mayne	...	Captain Linares
David Kelly	...	Surgeon
Tony Peck	...	Spanish Officer (as Anthony Peck)
Anthony Dawson	...	Spanish Officer
Richard Dieux	...	Spanish Officer
Jacques Maury	...	Spanish Officer
José Santamaría	...	Master at Arms (as Jose Santamaría)
Robert Dorning	...	Commander of Marines
Luc Jamati	...	Pepito Gonzalez
Emilio Fernandez	...	Angelito (as Emilio Fernandez)
Wladyslaw Komar	...	Jesus (also as Wladislaw Komar)
Georges Trillat	...	Pockmarked Sailor
Richard Pearson	...	Padre
Charlotte Lewis	...	María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde
Georges Montillier	...	Duenna
John Gill	...	Carpenter
David Foxxe	...	Cook
Brian Maxine	...	Boatswain
Raouf Ben Amor	...	Armoury Guard
Eugeniusz Priwieziencew	...	Hunchback
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Moonhead
Ian Dury	...	Meat Hook
Bill Stewart	...	Ginge
Sydney Bromley	...	Diddler
Cardew Robinson	...	Lawyer
Roy Kinnear	...	Dutch
Daniel Emilfork	...	Hendrik
Carole Fredericks	...	Surprise
Allen Hoist	...	Fiddler
Denis Fontayne	...	Sailor
Michael Elphick	...	Sentry
Angelo Casadei	...	Sentry
Bill Fraser	...	Governor
Antonio Spoletini	...	Palace Guard
Bill MacCabe	...	Jailer
Smilja Mihailovitch	...	New Duenna
Bernard Musson	...	Passenger
Josine Comellas	...	Passengers Wife
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gina Calabrese	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Roman Polanski

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Gérard Brach		writer (as Gerard Brach)
John Brownjohn		screenplay collaboration
Roman Polanski		writer

Produced by
Tarak Ben Ammar	....	producer
Mark Lombardo	....	co-executive producer
Thom Mount	....	executive producer
Umberto Sambuco	....	co-executive producer

Original Music by
Philippe Sarde

Cinematography by
Witold Sobocinski

Film Editing by
Hervé de Luze
William Reynolds

Casting by
Dominique Besnehard
Mary Selway
Maude Spector

Production Design by
Pierre Guffroy

Set Decoration by
Bruno Cesari		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Anthony Powell

Makeup Department
Jean-Pierre Eychenne	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Pino Butti	....	production manager (uncredited)
Vittorio Noia	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Lvoff	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Taieb Jallouli	....	set dresser: Tunisia (uncredited)
Domenico Mancino	....	blacksmith (uncredited)
Miki Zachar	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jean-Pierre Ruh	....	sound
Ray Gillon	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (uncredited)
Laurent Quaglio	....	sound editor (uncredited)
Laurent Quaglio	....	sound (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Antonio Corridori	....	special effects (uncredited)
Franco Ragusa	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Ryszard Janikowski	....	stunts
Richard Graydon	....	stunts (uncredited)
Zbigniew Modej	....	stunt double (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jürgen Vollmer	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Music Department
Billy Byers	....	conductor (as Bill Byers)
William Flageollet	....	music recording mixer
Orchestre de Paris	....	orchestra

Other crew
William Hobbs	....	fight stager
Albert Galea	....	location manager: Malta (uncredited)
Franco Penna	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Roberto Penna	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Lonnie Ramati	....	production business affairs (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Carthago Films S.a.r.l. (as Carthago Films Paris)
• Accent Films (as Accent-Cominco)
• Cominco (as Accent-Cominco)

Distributors

• Cannon Film Distributors (1986) (USA) (theatrical)
• TF1 Vidéo (2009) (France) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Finnkino (1987) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Pan-Canadian Film Distributors (1986) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1986) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Avid Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Cannon Screen Entertainment (1987) (West Germany) (VHS)
• International Video Entertainment (IVE) (????) (USA) (VHS)
• RCA/Columbia-Hoyts Home Video (????) (Australia) (VHS)
• Sandrew Film & Teater (1987) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Scanbox Entertainment (1996) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2001) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• VTI Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Studio Philippe Sarde  music recording studio

Runtime:

121 min | Argentina:116 min | Sweden:118 min

Country:

France | Tunisia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

UK:PG (original rating/video rating) | Iceland:14 | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Malta

Company:

Carthago Films S.a.r.l.

Trivia:

Opening film at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.

Quotes:

Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: Holy poker! You son of a double-eyed whore from the reeking gutters of Rotterdam!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Clive James Meets Roman Polanski (1984) (TV)

Oh Captain Morgan, where have thou gone ?

When I was a kid growing up I got into this PC game called Sid Meier's Pirates. I wanted to do everything pirate related. For some reason I never fully identified with the Errol Flynn pirate. He was always a good guy, who got caught up in the circumstances and was still trying to be a good guy. He was always chivalrous, clean and relatively good looking. Thank the contents of Davey Jones' locker for Roman Polanski. In all honesty, it was the VHS cover that first attracted me to this movie : Walter Matthau dressed up as a disheveled looking Captain Morgan, cutlass drawn and pointed as us.

The movie revolves mainly around the exploits of the stool-legged Captain Bartholomew Red (Mathau) and his French first mate (who at times resembles dinner), the Frog. On the heels of their last adventure (see Boca del Toro), the movie starts out in the middle of the ocean with our two protagonists on a raft floating around, mad with hunger. After encountering a Spanish galleon (the Neptune) and performing a self-rescue, the story shifts into main gear : the Aztec Throne of Zapotec Anahuak.

This is by far my favorite pirate movie. It has all the right elements - action, adventure, ship battles, wooden appendages, sword fighting, humor, barrels of rum, gold, prison, cross dressing, cockney accents, love, large feathery hats, giant wigs and even the attractive Charlotte Lewis (remember Eddie's love interest from the Golden Child). Walter Matthau is clearly the standout character in this movie. His Captain Red is an amalgamate of various pirates but yet stands on its own because of Matthau. Red is haughty, greedy, ambitious, inspirational, conniving, and single-minded when it comes to gold. This is made all the more apparent by the juxtapose to his highly idealistic first mate. Where as Captain Jack Sparrow is a bit on the weaselly side, Captain Red is more like a scraggly wolf. It was also beneficial that Matthau was a tall 6 foot 3 inches tall, giving Captain Red a larger than life persona. If not for Keith Richards, I think Captain Red could have been more than an appropriate inspiration for Mr. Depp.

Roman Polanski does an excellent job in de-glamorizing the pirate lifestyle. Even Captain Jack Sparrow is a bit on the tame side (Thank You Disney). If Errol Flynn was the prototype, then Walter Matthau is the grittier, colorized version. What Polanski did for vampires with the Fearless Vampire Killers, he does the same for the pirate genre with this movie. On top of the typical "pirate" behavior, Polanski has even added commentary on the day. This would include the class divisions between the officers and crew, the political strife between the English, Dutch, French and the haughty Spanish (the RIAA of the day) and the unquenchable lust for gold.

This movie was maligned by the critics when it came out and has since sunk into anonymity. This should not be so. It contains one of Matthau's best performances and is the best pirate movie ever made. Unfortunately, if you don't like pirates or adventure movies, then you probably will like the English Patient and not this. For everyone else, I highly recommend the Spanish (manga films) region 2 DVD of this movie (presented in anamorphic 16x9).

-Celluloid Rehab