Roman Polanski's Pirates (1986)

AVI: Divx
Runtime: 124 min
Language: English
Country: France / Tunisia
Color: Color


Director: Roman Polanski
Cast:
Walter Matthau … Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red
Cris Campion … The Frog - Jean-Baptiste
Damien Thomas … Don Alfonso de la Torr?
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
Jos? Santamar?a … Master at Arms (as Jose Santamar?a)
Robert Dorning … Commander of Marines
Luc Jamati … Pepito Gonzalez
Emilio Fern?ndez … Angelito (as Emilio Fernandez)
Wladyslaw Komar … Jesus (as Wladislaw Komar in opening credits)

Riding on the success of the highly acclaimed Chinatown, Roman Polanski began to write a screenplay for a swashbuckling adventure film called Pirates. Originally, Polanski intended for Jack Nicholson to play the central role of Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red, a grizzled old pirate, but complications arose partially due to the enormous fees Nicholson was demanding (according to Polanski, when Nicholson was asked what exactly he wanted, he replied, "I want more.") Following this, the production was delayed for a number of years when Polanski was arrested for statutory rape, which caused him to flee the country to avoid sentencing. Production restarted later in Europe, this time with a different production company. The role of Captain Red went to Walter Matthau and the film finally came out in 1986, years after it was first conceived.

The film's original estimated budget while Polanski was aligned with Paramount on the picture, was $15 million, but the final budget is estimated to have cost US$40 million. The reported gross box office revenues in the United States was $1.65 million. Despite the film's financial failures, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

The original ship used in the film, named the Neptune, a reproduction of an actual historic spanish galleon, is on permanent display in the Italian port city of Genoa. Tourists to this city can tour the ship for a price of 5 Euros per person.


This movie has got a bad rap but it is really a pretty good movie and well worth watching.Polanski is no slouch and I really prefer pirates without all the ghosty crap. The costumes are phenominal, as are the sets, the acting, and the writing and a first class sound track. The story itself revolves around Captain Redd, a down-on-his-luck pirate adrift on a raft with his first mate, the Frog. Vulgar, crude, greedy, and scheming, Captain Redd is a walking cliché who shows us why the cliché became a cliché in the first place, capable of shouting such catchphrases as "me hearties" and "by thunder" with ease and gusto. Rescued by the Spanish Galleon, Neptune, Redd and Frog soon grow weary of the ill-treatment they're forced to endure at the hands of the ship's brutal First Officer, Don Alfonso. A pompous peacock of a man, Don Alfonso soon suffers a humiliating defeat when Captain Redd convinces the crew to mutiny and turn to a life of piracy. Control of the ship then changes hands a few more times throughout the Caribbean as Captain Redd and Don Alfonso repeatedly butt heads and take it in turns to reseize the Neptune and, more importanly, its precious cargo of a golden Aztec throne.

And that pretty much sums it up. While it may not sound like much of a plot, it's not the journey that's important here, it's the ride. The action is wonderful, the dialogue a joy. Overflowing with wit, adventure, and daring, this isn't so much a movie as a slice in the life of two pirates, and a juicy slice at that Captain Redd and the Frog try to survive and get rich. Anything further would merely serve as clutter and detract from an absolutely fantastic pirate film.