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

Timothy Dalton was to play the part of Don Alfonso de la Torre, but backed out of the movie to make himself available for the next James Bond film, The Living Daylights (1987). He also didn't get on with Roman Polanski. Damien Thomas replaced him in the role on short notice.

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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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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

Spoofed in Captain Jokes Parrot's Disaster of the Caribbean (2017)

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Soundtracks

The Maid of Amsterdam (A-Rovin')
(uncredited)
Traditional sea shanty
Performed by Walter Matthau and crew

User Reviews

Matthau is Superb! One of Polanskis most underestimated movie.

Watch this movie. Walther Matthaus acting is quite superb. People are talking about Pirates of the Carribean these days, and Depps performance, which is also quite funny but it is my opinion that Matthau personifies that which Depp (tries to) plays in PotC. Matthau is the perfect old-school pirate drunkard and simply hilarious. As an extra notable performance is Frog (Cris Campion) playing a french retard which falls in love with the fair Maria-Dolores. This Polanski film is a gem. I cant call it the best pirate movie ever made because i haven't seen them all, but i can tell you that its the best I've seen yet, and i suspect that it will stay that way. Its just a shame that it never got the credits that it deserved.

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