IMDb RATING
6.0/10
9.5K
YOUR RATING
The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.The adventures of pirate Captain Red and his first mate Frog.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
Tony Peck
- Spanish Officer
- (as Anthony Peck)
José Santamaría
- Master at Arms
- (as Jose Santamaria)
Wladyslaw Komar
- Jesus
- (as Wladislaw Komar)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe movie was the Opening Night Film at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival (where it was screened out of competition). To promote the film, Roman Polanski had the ship "Neptune" sail into the Cannes harbor on the festival's opening day, with all the movie's stars on deck in their pirate costumes. But after Pirates (1986) died at the box office, the "Neptune" remained in Cannes for 16 years, anchored next to a stone jetty in the harbor, because no one was sure what to do with it. In 2002, it was finally moved to Genoa, Italy, where it is now a floating museum in the city's port, near the "Molo Veccio" ("Old Pier").
- GoofsWhen Jean-Baptiste escapes the shark at the beginning of the film, it is quite visible that the "shark" is just a fin in the water.
- 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!
- Alternate versions16 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.
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: Vamp/Pirates/Aliens/A Great Wall (1986)
- SoundtracksThe Maid of Amsterdam (A-Rovin')
(uncredited)
Traditional sea shanty
Performed by Walter Matthau and crew
Featured review
About As Bad As You're Going to Get
Pirates (1986)
BOMB (out of 4)
Captain Bartholomew Red (Walter Matthau) and his assistant The Frog (Cris Campion) are adrift at sea when they spot a ship. The two manage to get on board but run into an even more brutal captain.
After a seven year hiatus, director Roman Polanski had another film on the big screen and it was greeted to very mixed reviews and it turned into a disaster at the box office. In all honesty, I'm downright shocked that anyone enjoyed this picture because to me it was a complete mess from the opening scene to the very last and it's without question the worst thing I've seen from Polanski. I might go even a step further and say it's one of the worst movies that you're ever going to see from a great director.
So, what went wrong? For starters, I'm not even sure what type of movie this was trying to be. Was it meant to be an updated version of the type of film we saw Errol Flynn do back in the day? If so then why on Earth was Matthau cast in the picture? He's certainly not an actor star and it's just downright strange, to say the least, to see him trying to play one. I'm going to guess, at times, the film attempts to be a comedy, which is something Matthau could handle but Polanski has proved that comedy isn't his strong point. What attempts at comedy are here are downright embarrassing and beyond stupid. Just take a look at the long sequence dealing with the rat.
The entire movie just seemed so uneven and so confused as to what it was trying to do that I'm really shocked Polanski got to do another movie. Especially when you consider how badly this one flopped and it's still not gotten an official DVD/Blu release in several major markets. The performances are bland to say the least and poor Matthau just wasn't meant for this role. Sure, the costumes and sets look terrific but that didn't add any entertainment to an incredibly bland, bad and embarrassing movie.
BOMB (out of 4)
Captain Bartholomew Red (Walter Matthau) and his assistant The Frog (Cris Campion) are adrift at sea when they spot a ship. The two manage to get on board but run into an even more brutal captain.
After a seven year hiatus, director Roman Polanski had another film on the big screen and it was greeted to very mixed reviews and it turned into a disaster at the box office. In all honesty, I'm downright shocked that anyone enjoyed this picture because to me it was a complete mess from the opening scene to the very last and it's without question the worst thing I've seen from Polanski. I might go even a step further and say it's one of the worst movies that you're ever going to see from a great director.
So, what went wrong? For starters, I'm not even sure what type of movie this was trying to be. Was it meant to be an updated version of the type of film we saw Errol Flynn do back in the day? If so then why on Earth was Matthau cast in the picture? He's certainly not an actor star and it's just downright strange, to say the least, to see him trying to play one. I'm going to guess, at times, the film attempts to be a comedy, which is something Matthau could handle but Polanski has proved that comedy isn't his strong point. What attempts at comedy are here are downright embarrassing and beyond stupid. Just take a look at the long sequence dealing with the rat.
The entire movie just seemed so uneven and so confused as to what it was trying to do that I'm really shocked Polanski got to do another movie. Especially when you consider how badly this one flopped and it's still not gotten an official DVD/Blu release in several major markets. The performances are bland to say the least and poor Matthau just wasn't meant for this role. Sure, the costumes and sets look terrific but that didn't add any entertainment to an incredibly bland, bad and embarrassing movie.
helpful•43
- Michael_Elliott
- Nov 17, 2017
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Roman Polanski's Pirates
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $40,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,641,825
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,035,447
- Jul 20, 1986
- Gross worldwide
- $1,641,825
- Runtime2 hours 1 minute
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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