Customer Reviews

The Crimson Pirate [VHS]

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fans of Bloom and Deep's Pirates of the Caribbean, should check out pirate camp is done by the old pro Burt Lancaster. This is one riotously funny movie with Burt Lancaster and partner Nick Cravat (they were real partners in a circus act, childhood pals, before breaking into film!) and they get to strut them stuff in this really great film. Lancaster and Cravat play Pirates, in the true tradition, and while tweaking the local authorities nose and robing them blind, they come across Consuelo (Eva Bartok). She is the daughter of a local rebel who they are going to hang and she wants Lancaster to help free him. Tossing
James Hayter's absentminded Professor Prudence and Christopher Lee (an actual sword-fighter!! - watch Saruman in his younger days!!) you get all the perfect mix for slapstick humour at its best.

A long neglected classic and is fun for the whole family.

"The Crimson Pirate" is the film that really cemented Burt Lancaster's career in Hollywood as a major player. Aside from the fact that Burt does all of his own stunt work - some of it so harrowing I almost had to close my eyes, this nimble, garishly colorful and thoroughly captivating spectacle really grabs the viewer in. Burt plays a pirate, out for revenge and gold. Stop me if you've heard this one before. But the script moves the story along with witty dialogue and plenty of eye boggling acrobatic routines that will leave you thrilling for more.
Warner Home Video has given us a nice looking DVD. Though age related artifacts are present throughout the transfer, colors are nevertheless rich, bold and well balanced. The film has a decidely "warm" look to it with flesh tones that are perhaps a bit too orangy. But oh, how the Technicolor photography will simply take your breath away. Edge enhancement, shimmering and minor pixelization are all present but at extremely low levels. The audio is mono but nicely cleaned up and well balanced.
EXTRAS: NOT A ONE. I have to say that I'm not really happy with Warner's classic DVD policy of late. While many of the Warner Titles from the library get extra features packed into them the MGM titles of late are generally getting shafted with substandard transfers and no extras (Father of the Bride and Broadway Melody of 1940 come immediately to mind). A classic is a classic, no matter the studio that originally made it. Do them all right or don't do them at all!
BOTTOM LINE: This is the swashbuckler to get. Aside from "Scaramouche", which is bar none, the best sword play movie in this latest crop of Warner DVD's, "The Crimson Pirate" will certainly not let you down and the transfer is pretty good besides!

I've enjoyed this film every time I've viewed it from childhood into middle-age. A charming pirate romp with wonderful humor, terrific stunts (many of which are performed by the multi-talented Burt Lancaster who himself was a circus acrobat in his youth), and an off-beat cast of characters make for solid entertainment. And the musical score is, by turns, thrilling and humorous, perfectly accenting the performances. I enthusiastically recommend this film and eagerly await a DVD version.

OK, the wait is over. Finally someone has decided to bring the classic swashbucklers to the DVD medium and it is about time. "The Crimson Pirate" is one of two Lancaster swashbucklers--the other is "The Flame and the Arrow"--and a wonderful mixture of comedy and acrobats. While not on a par with the older Flynn/Tyrone Power epics, "Pirate" stands above most of the pirate films of the late 1940s and 1950s. It is not to be missed by any fan of Burt Lancaster, especially those who wish to see how good he probably was as a circus performer. This is one to hold on to and, hopefully, will be the beginning of more of these grand entertainments on DVD!!

Burt Lancaster and Nick Cravat teamed up many times in their long careers, but never, I think, as well as in the Crimson Pirate. Both are fine athletes and acrobats and turn the movie into a circus romp of stunts and high jinx. Don't worry much about the plot. From beginning to end Burt, the Crimson Pirate, and his sidekick Ojo, Nick, engage in nonstop action and adventure as they swing from yardarms, dash around town, swim underwater for what seems like hours, and fight continuously all the kings soldiers and all the kings men who fall down like dominoes as Burt and Nick punch and kick them down or overboard. They are kung fu supermen slightly before their time. All in good fun.

The Crimson Pirate is Saturday Afternoon at the Movies at its best. With a bright clear picture and good sound coming from the DVD transfer, all you need is popcorn and a cold drink for an entertaining afternoon with the kids.

I am a shiplover, age 65 and when this movie came to Europe in the mid 50ties it was my absolute favorite Piratemovie. Now, after so many years I was most delighted to see it again and to have it in my DVD collection!!!. Most admirable the technical standard. The fullsize ships, especially the 30 gun frigate are superb.
I was most impressed about the excellent picture quality of the DVD. What about "Captain Horatio Hornblower" with Gregory Peck. It's still only on VHS.

If Pirates of the Caribbean had been made in 1952, it would have looked like this movie.

This movie is a swashbuckling, tongue in cheek romp through the 50's typical Caribbean locale. Lancaster portrays the charismatic pirate captain, taking on all odds, beating the pompous Spanish aristocracy in a fair fight, playing all sides off against each other for the benefit of the pirates (at least until Eva Bartok, captivates his interest). On a historical note: the movie does a decent job of depicting the pirate captain's relationship with the crew by making Lancaster convince them to follow his plan rather than just issue the orders (pirate captains of the Golden Age of Piracy were elected by the crew and continued to serve until the crew felt the need for a change).

The cast is excellent. Nick Cravat, plays a wonderful mute companion to Lancaster's voluble Captain Vallo; Torin Thatcher plays a wonderful double dealing pirate as Humble Bellows. Eva Bartok is a decent romantic interest (the movie isn't all mushy, just a little embracing and couple of kisses). Then there is Professor Prudence, James Hayter, type cast as the absent minded inventor (can you say hot air balloon, submarine and nitroglycerine [although I doubt he invented the cruise ship glimpsed in the background of one shipboard scene]). Overall, this is a wonderful representation of the genre. P-)

This is a light hearted romp of a pirate movie. I wish I had been able to see it on the big screen. I have seen it several times on TV but this cannot compare to the quality of the DVD.The color and sound are brilliant and crisp. A must for your library, this one you will watch over and over again. The music is fun and exciting with great use of the oboe in the score. Who better than Burt and Nick to portray pirates (doing all of their own stunts too). The movie was shot before widescreen was used so you get the full screen image and still see the movie as it was shown in the theater.

Burt Lancasters showbiz start as acrobat is on display in this spirited adventure. Nick Cravat plays his mute sidekick and matches the young actors impressive moves, if not his million-watt smile. Lots of action and color fill this picture, and children should love it.

It's doubtful whether any pirate ever looked like Lancaster, rigged out in a succession of exaggeratedly modish outfits and bleached-blond hair... He is the 18th-century pirate swashbuckler to end all swashbucklers!

With his mute, but athletic side-kick friend Nick Cravat, Lancaster leads an island's people in rebellion against the tyrant Baron Gruda... His damsel is Eva Bartok, the freewheeling European beauty...

I don't know how many times I have seen this buccaneer saga, and still I love it... The film provides lots of thrills and laughs, lots of adventures and excitement ...

Great fun all the time...

Lancaster's sense of comedy was evident enough for critic Alton Cook to call him "one of our most amiable and strenuous comedians."

For me, Lancaster will be always remembered as the actor who has given the modern cinema more "pure enjoyment" than almost any other major star...