Pirate Radio (2009)

A band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that wanted classical music, and nothing else, on the airwaves.

Director:

Richard Curtis

Writer:

Richard Curtis

Stars:

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Hadley	...	Mr. Roberts
Charlie Rowe	...	James
Lucy Fleming	...	Mrs. Roberts
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	The Count
Tom Sturridge	...	Carl
Ian Mercer	...	Transfer Boatman
Bill Nighy	...	Quentin
Will Adamsdale	...	News John
Tom Brooke	...	Thick Kevin
Rhys Darby	...	Angus Nutsford
Nick Frost	...	Dave
Katherine Parkinson	...	Felicity
Chris O'Dowd	...	Simon
Ike Hamilton	...	Harold
Stephen Moore	...	Prime Minister

Storyline

"The Boat That Rocked" is an ensemble comedy in which the romance takes place between the young people of the '60s and pop music. It's about a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that wanted classical music, and nothing else, on the airwaves. The Count, a big, brash, American god of the airwaves; Quentin, the boss of Radio Rock -- a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea that's populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs; Gavin, the greatest DJ in Britain who has just returned from his drug tour of America to reclaim his rightful position; Dave, an ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny co-broadcaster; and a fearsome British government official out for blood against the drug takers and lawbreakers of a once-great nation.

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Plot Keywords:

pirate radio station | pirate radio | pirate broadcasting | jumping from height | loss of virginity | 

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Taglines:

1 Boat. 8 DJs. No Morals.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, and some sexual content including brief nudity

Details

Country:

UK Germany France

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pirate Radio

Filming Locations:

Gambardella's Cafe, Blackheath Standard, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,804,773 (United Kingdom), 5 April 2009, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,904,380, 15 November 2009, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$7,994,115, 1 January 2010

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures,StudioCanal,Working Title Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS (as dts)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The real pirate radio station Radio Caroline lent a great deal of the equipment seen on the ship. Although the turntables and broadcasting equipment is predominantly from the late sixties to the early seventies it wasn't in fact used on Radio Caroline until the 1980's.

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Goofs

Smooth Bob gives a message for Carl to tell his mother that "Muddy Waters Rocks" and vocalizes the familiar riff from "Mannish Boy", Waters's 1955 hit song. When Carl gives this message to his mother she mistakes it for Bob revealing to Carl that he is his father, meaning the song or Waters must have reference to Carl's conception in some way. As the film is set in 1966 and Carl is 18, this would place that moment at at least 1948, long before his fame and seven years before "Mannish Boy" was released.

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Quotes

Angus: She likes the bearded man...
Dave: With a tiny knob...

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Crazy Credits

There is an additional scene after the credits have ended.

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Alternate Versions

US distributor, Universal have chosen to re-title the film as "Pirate Radio" and release it under Focus Features in US territories. This new version will be edited for length by director Richard Curtis after some European reviewers cited its 135 minute running time as a factor in its diminished success.

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Connections

Featured in The 81st Annual Academy Awards (2009)

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Soundtracks

I Can See for Miles
(1967)
Written by Pete Townshend (as Peter Townshend)
Performed by The Who
Courtesy of Polydor Ltd (UK)
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd

User Reviews

A simple "feel good" movie

I'm going to keep this short. Watched it, loved it.

It's a simple, "feel good" movie with the greatest music of the 60's and 70's that will make you smile. Sure it's not realistic when it comes to peoples communications and reactions to certain incidents but thats the charm of it. It even has a little twist of drama but not enough to ruin the comedy.

It was amazing to me how the soundtrack just managed to get better and better, endless amount of rock/pop singles, thoughts like "aaaa i love that song" and " ohh man i had forgotten that one" often occurred to me.

I thought the characters and the actors were great although some of the characters we're a bit useless i liked them after i was about 20 min into the film.

I think we could use some pirate rock stations where i live, stations that will play and say what ever they please.

Final words. A movie witch is fun to watch.