Pirates (1986)

The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

John Brownjohn (screenplay collaboration), Gérard Brach (as Gerard Brach)

Stars:

Walter Matthau, Cris Campion, Damien Thomas

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as Wladislaw Komar)

Storyline

Captain Red runs a hardy pirate ship with the able assistance of Frog, a dashing young French sailor. One day Capt. Red is captured and taken aboard a Spanish galleon, but thanks to his inventiveness, he raises the crew to mutiny, takes over the ship, and kidnaps the niece of the governor of Maracaibo. The question is, can he keep this pace up?

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Plot Keywords:

pirate | pirate ship | swashbuckler | sword | farce | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

PG-13

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie cost over $30 million to make, and took in less than $1 million in ticket sales. It was one of a number of pirate movies made between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s that were box office bombs, including Swashbuckler (1976), The Pirate Movie (1982), Savage Islands (1983), Yellowbeard (1983), and Cutthroat Island (1995).

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Quotes

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

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Alternate Versions

16 secs were cut from the UK theatrical version by the BBFC and the 1987 Warner video was pre-cut by 1 min 30 secs with edits to the attempted rape of María-Dolores in order for the film to receive a PG certificate. The uncut version was released in 1996 with a "15" certificate.

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Connections

Referenced in Caged (1988)

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Soundtracks

Il était un petit navire
(uncredited)
Traditional French song
Performed by Cris Campion and Walter Matthau

User Reviews

An other world fantasy

This is an other world fantasy only Polansky could have invented. Nothing offers any foundation we can get a hold of. Except maybe for the slightly recognizable Matthau nothing in this flick is common movie going experience. Polansky uses everything he can from script to sets to actors and acting to make us feel a total disconnection from days gone by. From yummy hindquarters to yummy rats, from Archibaldo's gout to a lawyer's tongue not to mention bathing in a toilet this is a totally bizzare experience. I rate this a must see to anyone interested in seeing direction gone wild.

Details

Country:

France Tunisia

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pirates

Filming Locations:

Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,035,447, 20 July 1986

Gross USA:

$1,641,825

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,641,825

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carthago Films S.a.r.l., Accent Films, Cominco

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1