Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Allissa .Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

esmorr I have always liked Walter Matthau movies, and swash-buckling pirate movies, and comedy movies, so you can imagine that I would be in absolute hog-heaven with this movie which involves all three elements!I had always enjoyed Walter Matthau, from his Odd Couple days when he and Jack Lemmon bounced great acidic lines off each other to his Dennis the Menace days as Mr Wilson, and I also admired his very dramatic efforts in Failsafe and Charade. If something has Mr Matthau in it, I am there on the couch ready.I did not know that he could do accents, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear his efforts at an English pirate's drawl. Of course, I should not have been surprised that such an experienced and professional artist should accomplish such a task; it is, after all, his trade. He makes a great fist of it, and there is no trace of his native lower east-side New York accent at all. He is very convincing as a rather bumbling pirate captain, who somehow commands the respect of his rag-tag bunch of followers.He is ably assisted by "Froggy", his French sidekick, (Cris Campion), who survives their ordeals despite his captain, as they incite a mutiny and take command of the ship which rescues them, and its treasure. They are joined by the beautiful niece of the Governor of Maracaibo, (Charlotte Lewis), who falls for Froggy.This is a hoot of a pirate picture, and a romantic comedy, and the producers actually had the Spanish galleon built to full size by Maltese and Italian craftsmen. I believe that that is typically Roman Polanski though, going all out on the sets and damn the cost!"Pirates" did not do well at the box office due to Roman Polanski's troubles with the U.S. legal system at the time, which was unfair. It should not be ignored by the wider populous, and deserves a fair viewing on its own merits. I believe that anyone who watches it will be pleasantly surprised. I love this movie, and I give it a 10 out of 10.

freedomFrog Directed by Roman Polanski ("Chinatown", "Rosemary's baby", "The pianist" for which he won a best director Oscar), here comes the tale of Captain Thomas Bartholomew Red, one of the most feared pirates on the Spanish main, and his French swashbuckling sidekick, "The frog" (Cris Campion). Stranded at sea, they are saved by a Spanish galleon. They immediately set their goal to commandeer the ship and steal the aztec golden throne it is carrying back to Spain.A huge commercial and critical flop at the time of its release, "Pirates"'s reputation with film critics has not grown other the year. It is still considered a cinematic disgrace on Polanski's resume, exhibit A along with "Cutthroat Island" anytime a terrible god awful pirate movie needs to be mentioned. This has always puzzled me as this is definitely one of the funnier movie I have ever seen and a personal favorite."Pirates" is the equivalent for pirate movies of the Italian western comedies of the 70s ("My name is nobody", "they call me Trinity"). The rule of the genre are respected but the overall tone is clearly parodic with over-the-top characters and slapstick humor. The story is told from the point of view of characters with rather shady moral standards and whose main motivation are far more material and earthly than your traditional movie heroes. Everything and everybody is a little more dirtier and sweater than in your traditional Hollywood fare. This might sound a little but like the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and indeed, they are many similarities: Red is a close cousin of captain Barbossa and share the same devil-may-care attitude as Jack Sparrow; the frog could be Will Turner's long lost brother.Besides the swashbuckling and humorous story, one thing that makes "Pirates" such a blast is the two main characters and their interaction. Red and the frog are almost like the evil ancestors of Tintin and Captain Haddock. Played admirably by Walter Matheau with a clear nod to Long John Silver, Red is a rotten son-of-a-gun whose only interest in life seems to be gold and things made out of gold. Without any moral compass besides his own interest, he is exactly the kind of bad guy we love to root for. Yet, he would not go far without the assistance of the frog, a more idealistic character whose loyalty to Red remains a puzzle during the whole movie and suggests a deep rooted friendship between the two men.The movie has many great scenes: the intro where, stranded on a small raft at sea without any food, Red attempt to eat the frog ("You will go to hell if you do that Captain: cannibalism is a deadly sin," "What do you think confession is for, my boy?"), the part where Red and the frog are forced by the Spanish captain to eat a rat they have put in the crew's soup in an attempt to start a mutiny on the ship or the absolute kick-ass moment: Red shooting a cannonball into his own ship before boarding the Spanish gallion so his crew have no choice but to win the fight (at the same time, of course, he has the frog preparing a row boat full of food so he can get off as soon as he get the throne, leaving his crew fighting the Spanish!). And let's not forget the greed-not-love-conquer-all ending! All in all, this fun swashbuckling critic-hated tale of amoral pirates has to be the one of the most underrated movie of all time. So bad that it is so difficult to find this day in video!

loufalce Essentially a rehash of every pirate movie ever made, it is predictable, somewhat slow moving at times and chock full of historic anachronisms. Thats the bad part. The good part is Matthau.He pulls out all the stops and makes his character come alive!hough it is a comedic performance{its a pirate movie, right} it is one of the best he has ever given, even considering the excellent work he's done with Jack Lemmon.He IS the show and really towers over what basically is a no-name cast, though the Frog ain't half bad. The part with the rat is priceless. There is good scenery, a17th century galleon that looks the part and a great musical score too.So for something a little bit different and unusual, its worth seeing. Hard to believe a "serious" director like Polanski would do a film like this, but thats part of the fun.

Igenlode Wordsmith I assumed no film could be as dire as this one was painted. Well, it has a pretty girl. And, um, a pretty boy. Oh, and the music's not bad. So far as I can see, alas, that is the sum total of things that can be said in its favour....Perhaps its most grievous sin is that it's *not funny*. In fact, Roman Polanski's 'Pirates' has achieved an almost uniquely unfunny status in my experience, equalled only by the first reel of 'Austin Powers'. From the moment the first would-be joke hit the screen -- the fish-hook gag -- I could tell things were going to get wearisome. But I really can't call to mind any another film in which every single joke, from the vinegar enemas to the mute lawyer, has either fallen completely flat or been actively distasteful. The first time I looked at my watch to see if we were near the end yet, it was only 30 minutes in... it just didn't feel that way. The next hour and a half managed to consist of some of the most boring action sequences I've seen. Something is badly amiss with a pirate movie when you find yourself yawning through the fight scenes, let alone rapidly ending up hoping the main character will come to a sticky end. 'Captain Red' is not only disgusting, despicable, greedy and incompetent, he manages to be simultaneously tedious and actively irritating.Humour is an odd and an idiosyncratic thing, but when it completely misses the mark for you the film becomes a real ordeal. Perhaps the millions who loved Austin Powers find this film more amusing than I did. As for caring about any of the principal characters... the luckless 'Frog' and his ladylove are a decorative and occasionally sweet pair; but since any hint of romance is instantly shattered by efforts at coarse comedy, it's hard to get worked up about their fate. Which is just as well, really.'Pirates' is not even bad enough to be good in an Ed Wood sort of way. If you like pirate films -- don't on any account watch this one. If you don't like pirate films, *definitely* don't watch it! Be wiser than I was. Take the advice I ignored... and whoever you are, don't watch this film. A film *can* deserve its reputation as an all-out stinker, and this one does.