I pirati della Malesia (1964)

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Víctor Andrés Catena (writer)
Jaime Comas Gil (writer)

Release Date:

16 October 1964 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | History

Plot Keywords:

Historical | Beautiful Woman | Swashbuckler | Pirate | Based On Novel

Cast

Steve Reeves	...	Sandokan
Jacqueline Sassard	...	Princess Hada
Mimmo Palmara	...	Tremal-Naïk
Andrea Bosic	...	Yanez
Nando Gazzolo	...	Lt. Clintock
Leo Anchóriz	...	Lord Brook (as Leo Anchoris)
Franco Balducci	...	Sambigliong
Pierre Cressoy	...	Captain of the Young India
Giuseppe Addobbati	...	Muda Hassin
Nando Angelini
Dakar	...	Kammamuuri (as Alejandro Barrera Dakar)
George Wang	...	Sho Pa
Sujata	...	Dancer
Asoka	...	Dancer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fortunato Arena	...	English officer
Domenico Cianfriglia
José Torres	...	Homat
Nazzareno Zamperla	...	Durango (as Nick Anderson)

Also Known As:

Die schwarzen Piraten von Malaysia (West Germany)
Les pirates de la Malaisie (France)
Los piratas de Malasia (Spain)
Meute der Verdammten (West Germany) (video title)
Pirate of Malaya (Australia) (video box title)
Sandokan: Pirate of Malaysia (USA) (dubbed version)
The Pirates of Malaysia
The Pirates of the Seven Seas

Runtime:

Italy:110 min | Spain:107 min | France:90 min | USA:106 min (English dubbed version)

Country:

Italy | Spain | West Germany | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16

Company:

Filmes-Euro International Films

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The last third of this movie starts with a prison escape of the pirates. Sandokan installs a machine gun on a mining wagon and starts immediately with a permanent fire. You can see the smoking gun, but no movement of the ammunitions belt or the ejection of used cartridges.

Movie Connections:

Follows Sandokan, la tigre di Mompracem (1963)

Dissaspointing Reeves!

If you're looking for Steve Reeves to unveil that magnificent torso of his in this movie, then skip it. He's clad from head to toe throughout a decent adventure film that could have starred any number of action stars. Reeves trademark: his phenomenal body remains hidden throughout. Even in the scenes where other men are barechested, Reeves coyly keeps his shirt on. This is akin to movie producers putting Marilyn Monroe in potato sacks to prove her dramatic talents. I loved the earlier Reeves movies, especially his masterpiece, "Giant of Marathon" because it was like studying a marvel of nature: a phenomenal physique with charisma to spare. Perhaps Reeves thought it a good idea to downplay his body to show the world that he could act. In any case, this isn't a typical Reeves movie. In fact, it seems that the more movies he made over the years, the more he tried to hide his torso by cloaking it in capes and tunics and cloaks. So enjoy "Hercules," "Hercules Unbound" and "Giant of Marathon" while you can because his body-beautiful movies began wounding down soon after.