Yellowbeard

I watched this as a kid and it made an impression on me. So much so that I just had to watch it again last week. I was not as disappointed as I was with other movie repeats from my childhood(Popeye comes to mind). Sure things were a bit sketchy and straight up silly at times but it was a fun movie. And of course if you are a Cheech and Chong fan they have a small part too.It ranks up there in the top of my favorite swashbuckling pirate flicks (behind Pirates of the Caribbean) I think it is a classic. "Stagger, Stagger, Crawl,Crawl" will be forever ingrained in the movie quote cache of my brain!(right up there with "Charlie don't surf!")

I'm sure that the cast of this film knew that the story was flat and the overall idea was kind of stupid. Still, with Cheech and Chong, half the cast of Young Frankenstein, and members of Monty Python, how could you not consider this movie funny? The late, and very great, Graham Chapman stars as Yellowbeard. A comic legend next to his fellow Monty actors, Chapman would die of cancer a few years later. Here, he falls into character like no other. From playing King Arthur, to the mis-understood wanna-be Messiah named Brian, Chapman plays a legendary pirate. The last shot of the movie shows himself timeless, standing high up top of the ship, watching the open seas. Much of the movie plays to be a classic pirate film, when in fact, it is a comedy, the likes that no British comedy team had seen before. Overall, yes, the movie fails on many levels, but it is a classic because of the players involved. Check it out for yourself.

I have watched this film many times as a child and it is a favourite of mine. Rarely do we see Pirate romps that are the basis of comedies in the past decade, actually rarely do we 'Pirate' films in general these days.

If you're a fan of the Monty Python films then I recommend you see this film, it has schlock 80s British humour, but in general this is a fun film, and its even got enough action to keep you entertained for an hour and a bit! Also where else would you see so many great actors and classic comedians all in the one film- Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman, James Mason, Madeline Kahn, Peter Cook, Michael Hordern, Peter Boyle, John Cleese, Spike Milligan and Cheech and Chong! Yellowbeard is a classic comic 'Pirate' flick that probably represents a genre of comedy that was for its time. Nevertheless this is worth a look! ***1/2 out of *****!

With this cast and budget, should have been much more of a sustained laugh fest. Nevertheless, many of the lines and visuals are classics, and everyone aboard is such a pro that you can forgive the deader stretches. Marty Feldman does a lot with not much material, while Peter Cook's beyond-deadpan mutterings are frequently hilarious. Disappointing were Peter Boyle and Tommy Chong, the latter to the point of inducing nausea. Cheech Marin fares better, but only because his character is written with marginally more dimension. Loved David Bowie's cameo and Madeline Kahn's pluckiness. James Mason, however, looks vaguely uncomfortable (not to mention feeble) in his few scenes, which, sadly, do not contain any glittering gags.

All in all, you will definitely laugh, cringe, and yawn, but won't regret tuning in.

You may not agree with me, but I absolutely loved this movie. How often can you see this many stars in a movie involving royalty being raped? When you put together Monty Python members (who are excellent), many American comedians, pansies with maps on their scalps, a dirty prisoner who likes jail better than his ex, David Bowie as a human torture shark (with a 10 second cameo), Cheech and Chong, the father from Everybody Loves Raymond (and countless other CBS comedies), and many other amazing roles. I'm very sad to see that the only place you can get a hold of this tape except for waiting for 5 years for a request at Blockbuster (Yes, I requested it in 1995 and didn't receive the tape until 2002) or off of Amazon/E-Bay used (for no less than $35). Bascially, you can't beat Monty Python meets Cheech and Chong comedy.