Pirates of the 20th Century (1980)

A Soviet cargo ship carrying medical opium gets attacked by pirates of an unknown nationality. The crew is left to die on a sinking ship but they manage to escape and now must fight the pirates for survival.

Director:

Boris Durov

Writers:

Boris Durov, Stanislav Govorukhin

Stars:

Nikolay Eryomenko, Pyotr Velyaminov, Talgat Nigmatulin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikolay Eryomenko	...	Sergej Sergejitsch
Pyotr Velyaminov	...	Iwan Iljitsch
Talgat Nigmatulin	...	Salech
Rein Aren	...	Pirat Captain
Dilorom Kambarova
Natalya Khorokhorina	...	Mascha (as Natalya Kharakhorina)
Dzhigangir Shakhmuradov	...	(as D. Shakhmuradov)
Yuri Kutyrev
Tadeush Kasyanov	...	(as T. Kasyanov)
Maija Eglite
Viktor Zhiganov	...	(as V. Zhiganov)
Georgiy Martirosyan
Leonid Trutnev	...	(as L. Trutnev)
Vladimir Episkoposyan
K. Aminov

Storyline

A Soviet cargo ship carrying medical opium gets attacked by pirates of an unknown nationality. The crew is left to die on a sinking ship but they manage to escape and now must fight the pirates for survival.

---

Plot Keywords:

ship | british pound | thief | sailor | murder | 

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

Soviet Union

Language:

Russian English

Release Date:

14 July 1980 (Soviet Union)

Also Known As:

Pirates of the XXth Century

Filming Locations:

Karagatch, Karadag, Crimea, Ukraine

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kinostudiya imeni M. Gorkogo, Pervoe Tvorcheskoe Obedinenie

Technical Specs

Runtime:

86 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Soviet Union's highest-grossing film of all time.

User Reviews

An interesting movie that might have revolutionized the film industry in the Soviet Union

_Pirates of the XX Century_ was (and is) the highest grossing film in Soviet Russian history. It was released in 1980 and reflected growing interest not only in American and Hong Kong film genres like action and martial arts, but also a desire to see other, more exotic, locations than were physically possible for average Soviet citizens. From the perspective of someone living in the year 2003 and continually bombarded with action-adventure blockbusters that contain nothing apart from advanced special effects, this movie is not incredibly successful. The historical context of the film is absolutely necessary to understand why this film was so radical and so popular in its time and place. Soviet cinema in the 1960s and 1970s was a high art cinema by and large, and was only marginally geared toward so-called popular tastes. _Pirates_ dispensed with narrative development almost entirely, and was more interested in action sequences, the iconography of which attempted to touch upon adolescent fantasy. On another level, the Soviet government's allowance of this film to be made represents greater attention to the profit-making potential of cinematic products. Thus, the appearance of _Pirates_ indicates a certain transformation of notions of the enlightened Soviet film spectator toward a conception of the film-goer as consumer, much as is consistent with views in capitalist countries. In any case, this film is certainly worth your time if you have any interest in the cultural politics of the former Soviet Union