The Pirates Post

Posted Jul 3rd 2006 1:05PM by Scott Weinberg

You’ll no doubt remember all the controversy and skepticism that surrounded the production of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl… Oh wait, maybe you wouldn’t remember it — because it existed only in the deepest realms of mega-movie-geekery. Much of the skepticism and dismissive chit-chat came from the fact that the movie was based on an amusement park ride … but the astute movie nuts knew what the problem was:

There hadn’t been a good pirate movie in about three decades, and we had no reason to think that trend was about to be bucked. I know what I’m talking about, because I was one of the hand-wringers, one of the oh-so-brilliant movie nerds who knew that any sort of pirate movie was doomed from the word go. (Needless to say, in the case of The Black Pearl, I was dead wrong, and I was extremely thrilled to admit how wrong I was.)

So with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest only a few days away (and AWESOME!), I thought it might be fun to dredge back over the past few decades and dig up some of the gold-plated mega-turkeys that managed to keep the pirate genre buried at sea.

7. Yellowbeard (1983) — The flick gets a break because it’s a comedy and it comes packing one helluva cast list, but really: One should expect more than a few stray chuckles from a pirate farce that features Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Peter Cook, Marty Feldman, James Mason, Kenneth Mars, Spike Milligan AND Cheech & Chong! Those who still hold some fond Yellowbeard memories may be pleased to know that the DVD just hit shelves, but they might be better served by skipping a revisit and just holding onto those fond memories.
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Technorati Tags: Pirate Movies

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD
1952 ~ Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton – A mix-up between a love letter and a treasure map has waiters Abbott and Costello on the wrong end a cutlass in this slapstick swashbuckler.

ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN FABIAN
1951 ~ Errol Flynn, Micheline Presle, Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead – Standard swashbuckling romp with the one and only Errol Flynn.

AGAINST ALL FLAGS
1952 ~ Errol Flynn, Maureen O’Hara, Anthony Quinn – A spy for the English (Flynn) infiltrates a major pirate haven.

THE BELOVED ROGUE
1927 (silent) ~ John Barrymore, Conrad Veidt, Marceline Day – The French poet-patriot Francois Villon enters a battle of wits with King Louis XI and fights to save his beloved in this exciting and romantic adventure. An enormous production with lavish sets and costumes. In this swashbuckling story the great John Barrymore truly shows why he was the best of his silent era.

THE BLACK PIRATE
1926 (silent) ~ Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. – A nobleman pushed too far by a mob of cuthroats. Features one of the most famous swordfight scenes ever filmed. Silent with original music score this is the type of film that made Fairbanks a swashbuckling legend on the screen.

THE BLACK SWAN
1942 ~ Tyrone Power, Maureen O’Hare, Anthony Quinn – A high-seas adventure about a dashing pirate intent on rescuing a beautiful woman. Based on the Sabatini book of the same title.

BLACKBEARD’S GHOST
1968 ~ Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones, Elsa Lancaster – Fun Disney film with Peter Ustinov as the infamous Blackbeard.

BLACKBEARD THE PIRATE
1952 ~ Robert Newton, Linda Darnell, Irene Ryan – Newton is rambunctious as a 17th century buccaneer, with lovely Darnell his captive.

THE BOY AND THE PIRATES
1960 ~ Charles Herbert, Susan Gordon, Murvyn Vye – A young boy is magically transported back in time to an 18th century pirate ship on the high seas.

THE BUCCANEER
1938 ~ Frederic March – About Jean Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans.

THE BUCCANEER
1958 ~ Yul Brynner – a good remake of the 1938 film.

CAPTAIN BLOOD
1935 ~ Errol Flynn – A must see classic pirate epic with Flynn starring in his first swashbuckler. Based on Sabatini’s novel of the same name. Dr. Peter Blood is a british physician unjustly sentenced to slavery for aiding a wounded rebel. Bought by the niece of a brutal plantation owner, Blood eventually escapes by overtaking a ship. Once on board, Captain Blood embarks on a series of swashbuckling adventures.

Complete List Here

Technorati Tags: Pirate Movies

Captain Jack Sparrow could be working with his favourite director, if the latest rumours prove to have credence…

One of those rumours that you suspect will be debunked started doing the rounds overnight, but you can see how there could be a glimmer of truth in it. That’s because Disney is rumoured to be circling Tim Burton to step into the director’s chair for the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean adventure, according to a new scoop at Cinema Blend.

Burton is currently attached to his adaptation of Alice In Wonderland for Disney, with Johnny Depp inevitably in the cast. And Gore Verbinski has reportedly indicated that he’s up for directing the fourth film in the series, which you’d imagine would put him in pole position given that he made the first three.

The rumour mill then churns out some casting possibility, with the idea mooted that Captain Jack Sparrow will get a brother in the next film. Russell Brand, sadly, is one name doing the rounds, and Sacha Baron Cohen is also a possibility.

We’re not, again, too sure on the idea of Burton getting the gig, with the brother of Jack idea has more legs to it. More news as we get it.
Here’s the Cinema Blend story.

Technorati Tags: Pirate Movies, Pirates of the Caribbean

Mikey Walsh and Brandon Walsh are brothers whose family is preparing to move because developers want to build a golf course in the place of their neighborhood — unless enough money is raised to stop the construction of the golf course, and that’s quite doubtful. But when Mikey stumbles upon a treasure map of the famed “One-Eyed” Willy’s hidden fortune, Mikey, Brandon, and their friends Lawrence “Chunk” Cohen, Clark “Mouth” Devereaux, Andrea “Andy” Carmichael, Stefanie “Stef” Steinbrenner, and Richard “Data” Wang, calling themselves The Goonies, set out on a quest to find the treasure in hopes of saving their neighborhood. The treasure is in a cavern, but the entrance to the cavern is under the house of evil thief Mama Fratelli and her sons Jake Fratelli, Francis Fratelli, and the severely disfigured Lotney “Sloth” Fratelli. Sloth befriends the Goonies and decides to help them.

Written by Todd Baldridge
More here.

Technorati Tags: Pirate Movies, Pirates, Treasure Hunting