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 | ship | spanish galleon | governor | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

France Tunisia

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Piratas

Filming Locations:

Malta

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,035,447, 20 July 1986

Gross USA:

$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 (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ironically, the song which Captain Red asks the Frog to sing in the last scene ("You know, that French ditty that I'm fond of") is the traditional song "Il était un petit navire", which is about a group of shipwrecked sailors who are debating how they should cook and eat the cabin boy.

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Quotes

The Frog - Jean-Baptiste: Gold would be your ruin, Captain. It would cost us our heads.
Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: It's easier to live without a head than without gold, you numbskull!
The Frog - Jean-Baptiste: I fight for hatred of the spanish! I fight for glory; not gold.
Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red: Man fights for what he lacks the most!

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Connections

Referenced in Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir (2011)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Oh Captain Morgan, where have thou gone ?

When I was a kid growing up I got into this PC game called Sid Meier's Pirates. I wanted to do everything pirate related. For some reason I never fully identified with the Errol Flynn pirate. He was always a good guy, who got caught up in the circumstances and was still trying to be a good guy. He was always chivalrous, clean and relatively good looking. Thank the contents of Davey Jones' locker for Roman Polanski. In all honesty, it was the VHS cover that first attracted me to this movie : Walter Matthau dressed up as a disheveled looking Captain Morgan, cutlass drawn and pointed as us.

The movie revolves mainly around the exploits of the stool-legged Captain Bartholomew Red (Mathau) and his French first mate (who at times resembles dinner), the Frog. On the heels of their last adventure (see Boca del Toro), the movie starts out in the middle of the ocean with our two protagonists on a raft floating around, mad with hunger. After encountering a Spanish galleon (the Neptune) and performing a self-rescue, the story shifts into main gear : the Aztec Throne of Zapotec Anahuak.

This is by far my favorite pirate movie. It has all the right elements - action, adventure, ship battles, wooden appendages, sword fighting, humor, barrels of rum, gold, prison, cross dressing, cockney accents, love, large feathery hats, giant wigs and even the attractive Charlotte Lewis (remember Eddie's love interest from the Golden Child). Walter Matthau is clearly the standout character in this movie. His Captain Red is an amalgamate of various pirates but yet stands on its own because of Matthau. Red is haughty, greedy, ambitious, inspirational, conniving, and single-minded when it comes to gold. This is made all the more apparent by the juxtapose to his highly idealistic first mate. Where as Captain Jack Sparrow is a bit on the weaselly side, Captain Red is more like a scraggly wolf. It was also beneficial that Matthau was a tall 6 foot 3 inches tall, giving Captain Red a larger than life persona. If not for Keith Richards, I think Captain Red could have been more than an appropriate inspiration for Mr. Depp.

Roman Polanski does an excellent job in de-glamorizing the pirate lifestyle. Even Captain Jack Sparrow is a bit on the tame side (Thank You Disney). If Errol Flynn was the prototype, then Walter Matthau is the grittier, colorized version. What Polanski did for vampires with the Fearless Vampire Killers, he does the same for the pirate genre with this movie. On top of the typical "pirate" behavior, Polanski has even added commentary on the day. This would include the class divisions between the officers and crew, the political strife between the English, Dutch, French and the haughty Spanish (the RIAA of the day) and the unquenchable lust for gold.

This movie was maligned by the critics when it came out and has since sunk into anonymity. This should not be so. It contains one of Matthau's best performances and is the best pirate movie ever made. Unfortunately, if you don't like pirates or adventure movies, then you probably will like the English Patient and not this. For everyone else, I highly recommend the Spanish (manga films) region 2 DVD of this movie (presented in anamorphic 16x9).

-Celluloid Rehab