Customer Reviews

Pirates of Tortuga

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"Pirates of Tortuga" is a low-budget swashbuckling flick, released in 1961. It is not particularly memorable, but can provide some good fun as long as the viewer doesn't think too much about classic pirate movies with the likes of Errol Flynn, Burt Lancaster or Tyrone Power. It would also be unfair to compare it to last year's big-budget smash, "Pirates of the Caribbean".

The plot is simple. Captain Bart and his crew have just docked their ship in London harbour after a long voyage. However, British Admiralty has an urgent assignment for our hero. He is asked to deal with the notorious pirate, Henry Morgan, who is terrorizing the Caribbean Sea, blocking sea-lanes and plundering ships. Recruiting some old ship-mates, our hero sets sail with his crew. To complicate matters--and add some romance and pulchritude for the viewer--an "actress" stows away on the ship, in order to escape the law--it seems she was picking too many pockets ! The rest of the movie is fairly predictable, with decent action and the inevitable "tempestuous relationship" between our Captain and the larcenous young lady.

With American actor, Ken Scott, top-lined as the Captain, you can see that this is not exactly a "star-studded" epic. Scott is a handsome, capable actor, but lacks the charisma and physical agility that would have given this film an extra boost in excitement. Leading lady, Leticia Roman, is vivacious and attractive, but over-acts outrageously--then again, this isn't "Hamlet" ! Famous athlete, Rafer Johnson, may get second billing to Scott on the DVD cover, but his role as a crewman is minor--whatever physical feats he was capable of are sadly not used in this movie. Dave King, a popular English singer/comedian, registers as "Pee Wee", the crew's amusing fencing instructor. Finally, Morgan the pirate is played by noted stage actor, Robert Stephens, obviously having fun baring his teeth and grinning maniacly.

The DVD gives you the option of wide or full screen. I found the colour to be impressive--of course, the sound is mono. The extras consist of a trailer for the film, and trailers for other "nautical" films on Fox.

On the whole, "Pirates of Tortuga" is lovely to look at, and good family entertainment, as long as your expectations are as modest as the film's budget. It is also good news that Fox--and hopefully other studios--are releasing lesser-known movies like this one on DVD, rather than re-issuing blockbusters over and over.

In the world of Pirate movies this one falls a little short. The action scenes are well choreographed and the story is allright. This film just can't seem to catch momentum, and at times drags on. The female lead is annoyoing, but cute. If adventure is your thing than give this movie a shot....If your looking for something more classic check out "the sea hawk", or "the Adventures of Robin Hood"

This movie is nothing special, but every once-in-a-while I don't mind "wasting my time" on a movie such as this. The story line is very basic, but it is decent entertainment of its sort. I like a good swashbuckler, and I would call this a decent one.

I like the hero in this. In fact, he reminds me of a cross between Errol Flynn and David Hasselhoff, and for a pirate movie that takes place on the water, the comparison is actually quite amusing. He plays a good role.

Elsewhere, there's a pretty girl who flits and flirts (until she tries to pull her best Eliza Doolittle impression and become a lady) and a seaman with a big dangly earring named Peewee! How could you not like that? This is typical pirate fare with some stereotypes, and that is exactly why this is passable. It pulls the strings it needs to to maintain interest, and when it's over you say, "Not bad."

pirates of tortuga is a moderately entertaing film, altho with pedestrian effects and stiff acting. would have been much improved if they had dropped the dancing girls scene, which slows down the pacing. this they put on dvd but ignore really good films like seven seas to calais and tnt's version of treasure island

This was so humourously bad... Barely a plot, outrageous overacting, not even a remote nod to historical accuracy, ie. in one scene, the pirates are firing RIFLES. If you are looking for a good chuckle, then perhaps you might consider this, but under no circumstances expect a film you could view twice.
Note: redeeming quality - can be played as a game - calling out the glaring absurdities as often as they appear (if you can keep up)

Pirates of Tortuga is chiefly of interest today as an example of how, even in the early sixties, the studio infrastructure could lend even cheap programmers lavish production values. True, most of the sea battles are stock footage from The Black Swan, but the standing backlot sets at Fox give this Sam Katzman quickie a fairly lavish look. Shame it never finds much interesting use to put them to, with the third-rate cast failing to provide any color to offset the clichés, although it does offer a rare opportunity to hear the oft-dubbed John Richardson, the Clive Owen of his day, use his own voice in a supporting role. Once the bookies favorite to take over the role from Sean Connery, just be grateful that George Lazenby got to play James Bond instead!

Fox's DVD offers a good enough 2.35:1 widescreen transfer and includes the original theatrical trailer.