26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
10 Pirate Flicks of Public Domain Goodness, November 14, 2007
This review is from: Pirates 10 Movie Pack (DVD)
Pirates is a collection of 10 pirate movies that have only one thing in common: they are all public domain and as such it is possible for them to be presented in highly affordable collections. I paid $9.98 for my set and that comes down to about one dollar per movie. The way that movie tickets cost nowadays, you really cannot complain about this collection.
An added bonus of this collection is the fact that other than Long John Silver starring Robert Newton, hardly any of these movies are available on other public domain collections. Additionally, there are a pair of silent movies, The Sea Lion & The Black Pirate, in this collection. Given the scarcity of good silent films on DVD, this adds to the luster of this collection. All in all, Pirates is a great 10 movie collection.
Anyways, here is how I rate the movies in Pirates:
Great:
In The Wake Of The Bounty (1933)
Long John Silver (1954)
Good:
The Sea Lion (1921)
The Black Pirate (1926)
Phantom Ship aka The Mystery of the Marie Celeste (1935)
Average:
Captain Calamity (1936)
The Mutiny Of The Elsinore (1937)
The Pirate Of The Blackhawk (1952)
Manfish (1956)
Bad:
Mutiny (1952)
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ten swashbucklers, November 6, 2007
This review is from: Pirates 10 Movie Pack (DVD)
St. Clair multi-packs offer transfers that are often a grade above many other DVD box set manufacturers. Sound quality is uniformly strong. On newer products, a small company logo appears at bottom right-hand corner of screen.
The PIRATES 10 MOVIE PACK features stars you would expect to find in a swashbuckler collection (Douglas Fairbanks, Errol Flynn) along with actors not known for this genre (Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney, Jr.). All in all, a fine set of lesser known pirate films.
HIGHLIGHTS:
THE BLACK PIRATE is a classic silent movie, starring Douglas Fairbanks. His acrobatic skills and deftness with a sword are quite amazing to see.
CAPTAIN CALAMITY (aka Captain Hurricane) is an early (1936) full-color movie that's constrained by a small budget, average plot and brief running time. This was also refilmed for Spanish-speaking audiences.
Aussie-made IN THE WAKE OF THE BOUNTY is both a fictionalized account of the famous 18th Century mutiny, and an interesting documentary about the modern inhabitants of Pitcairn Island, the vast majority of whom are direct descendents of Fletcher Christian and his cohorts.
LONG JOHN SILVER stars the inimitable Robert Newton, who basically invented the stereotypical pirate. His "arrrrrrr's!" and "pye-rate" overacting are legendary. This sequel to Disney's Treasure Island (1950) led to the creation of the first Australian TV series, of the same name.
THE PIRATES OF THE SILVER SCREEN COLLECTION is the perfect companion piece to this DVD set.
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Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
DISC ONE:
(4.8) In The Wake Of The Bounty (Australia-1933) - Errol Flynn/Mayne Lynton/Arthur Greenaway (narrator)
(4.5) Captain Calamity (1936) - George Houston/Marian Nixon/Juan Torena/Roy D'Arcy
(5.6) Long John Silver (Australia-1954) - Robert Newton/Connie Gilchrist/Lloyd Berrell
BONUS FEATURE: Pirates in Lore and Legend
DISC TWO:
(4.7) Manfish (1956) - John Bromfield/Lon Chaney Jr./Victor Jory
(4.8) Mutiny (1952) - Mark Stevens/Angela Lansbury/Patric Knowles
(2.5) The Pirate Of The Blackhawk (Italy/France-1952) - Gérard Landry/Mijanou Bardot
(5.7) Phantom Ship ("The Mystery of the Marie Celeste" (UK-1935) - Bela Lugosi/Shirley Grey
BONUS FEATURE: Buried Treasure
Disc 3
(7.4) The Black Pirate (silent-1926) - Douglas Fairbanks/Donald Crisp/Billie Dove
(5.5) The Mutiny Of The Elsinore (UK-1937) - Paul Lukas/Conway Dixon/Kathleen Kelly
(6.3) The Sea Lion (1921) - Hobart Bosworth/Emory Johnson/Bessie Love
BONUS FEATURE: Pirates on the Radio
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Skullduggery on the High Seas, September 15, 2008
This review is from: Pirates 10 Movie Pack (DVD)
While this boxed set promises wall-to-wall pirates, this compilation is longer on mutiny, murder and mayhem on the high seas than on cutlass-waiving cutthroats - but don't let that stop you. There's plenty of maritime mischief and good ol' high-spirited adventure awaiting the viewer. Listed below is a summary of each of the ten films in the set, as well as the film's rating from a popular on-line movie data base:
The Black Pirate (1926) features Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., at his very best as a young nobleman who joins the pirate band responsible for his father's death. His plan to exact revenge gets sidetracked when, as the pirate leader, he captures a beautiful Spanish princess and is promptly smitten. This film has plenty of outstanding action sequences with lavish costumes and special effects to boot. A true classic!
Captain Calamity (1936): When two-fisted mariner Bill Jones (aka Captain Calamity) pays for stores with a gold doubloon he received for services rendered, he allows the shopkeeper to believe its part of a sunken Spanish treasure that only he knows the location of. Unfortunately, the storeowner is a crooked rascal, and soon he has recruited a band of scurvy knaves to steal the non-existent plunder from our stalwart South Seas trader.
In the Wake of the Bounty (1933): Most famous now for being Errol Flynn's first movie role, this movie is as much a documentary explaining what became of the Bounty's mutineers as it a drama depicting the conflict between the cruel Captain Bligh (Mayne Lynton) and the noble Mr. Christian (Flynn). To describe Flynn's performance as wooden would rate his thespian skills too highly - it's amazing to see how much screen presence he developed in the two years between this film and his breakout role as the swashbuckling star of "Captain Blood" (1935).
Long John Silver (1954): In this Australian-made sequel to 1950's Treasure Island, Robert Newton returns to his piratical ways as the one-legged Long John Silver, who schemes, double-crosses and triple-crosses friend and foe alike. This is a pretty low-budget production, but Newton is at his scenery-chewing best while saving a young friend from walking the plank and the governor's beautiful daughter from evil marauders.
Manfish (1956): Two fortune hunters searching for buried treasure among the West Indies reefs take on an equally disreputable partner who claims to know the location of a sunken wreck with a fabulous cargo. Interesting premise and decent acting keep this film afloat, but flaccid direction prevent it from really perking. Another problem with the film is the lack of a single protagonist that the viewer ever really cares about.
Mutiny on the Elsinore (1939): Led by their scurvy second mate, the crew of a sailing ship revolt against their stern captain and his loyal first lieutenant. It's up to the only passenger (Paul Lukas) to protect the captain's beautiful daughter from the lusty crew and bring the ship safely to harbor.
Mutiny (1952): During the War of 1812, an American merchant captain is hired to run the British blockage and bring a desperately need loan from France that will prop up the finances of the wobbling U.S. government. Several crew members learn of the ship's precious golden cargo and plot to steal the treasure.
Pirate of the Blackhawk (1958): A gallant pirate agrees to help a Duke regain his rightful throne and rescue his young son from a usurper and his Saracen henchmen. The Italian/French production was shot in color, but this DVD's version is the black-and-white film shown in the U.S. in the early `60s.
Phantom Ship aka The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935): In 1872, the Mary Celeste was discovered running under full sail but completely abandoned. The reason for the crew's disappearance has never been satisfactorily explained. This film dramatizes what might have happened aboard the vessel (but probably didn't). During a raging storm at sea, crew members of the ship go missing or are murdered one by one. The finger of suspicion points at first one crew member, then another - is the killer the muttering religious fanatic (a nice dramatic turn by Bela Lugosi), the driven captain, the maniacal first mate, or a crew member with a secret grudge? This is one of the rare films that doesn't reveal the culprit until the end, but plays fair with the audience, too.
The Sea Lion (1921): Silent melodrama about a tyrannical sea captain, still bitter over his wife's desertion 16 years after the fact. A crew member brings aboard a man and woman shipwrecked on a barren island and the skipper soon learns the pair has a strange connection with his past.
The Black Pirate (1926/silent): starring Douglas Fairbanks, Billie Dove (7.4/10)
Captain Calamity (1936): George Houston, Marian Nixon (3.9)
In the Wake of the Bounty (1933): Errol Flynn, Mayne Lynton (4.4)
Long John Silver (1955): Robert Newton, Connie Gilchrist (5.6)
Manfish (1956): John Bromfield, Lon Chaney Jr., Victor Jory (4.5)
Mutiny of the Elsinore (1939): Paul Lukas, Conway Dixon and Kathleen Kelly (5.3)
Mutiny (1952): Mark Stevens, Angela Lansbury, Patric Knowles (5.0)
Pirate of the Blackhawk (1952): Girard Landry, Mijanou Bardot (2.7)
Phantom Ship (1935) aka The Mystery of the Mary Celeste: Bela Lugosi, Shirley Grey, George Mozart (5.5)
The Sea Lion (1921/silent): Hobart Bosworth, Bessie Love (6.2)
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