Pirates (1986)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach (writer)
John Brownjohn (screenplay)

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)

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)

One of Polanski's Most Underrated Films

Pirates is one of Roman Polanski's most underrated films along with The Fearless Vampire Killers and the Tenant. While the latter two films are masterpieces, Pirates is a very good pirate film that's never received it's due.

Polanski redefines the pirate film while still paying tribute to the swashbuckling genre. This film is the perfect companion piece to The Fearless Vampire Killers. Walter Matthau gives an excellent performance as the fearless Pirate and the rest of the cast's performances hit all the right notes. Polanski's direction is masterful as always. The photography and musical score are also very good. From a purely technical standpoint this film is excellent. The script is really the only thing that keeps this film from attaining greatness.

MGM who now hold the DVD rights (they now own the rights to the entire Cannon film library) must release this film as soon as possible in it's uncut, 124 minute widescreen glory (I suggest emailing MGM).

Film rating: 9 out of 10.