The Crimson Pirate

Rating:
Summary: Still a Great Romp!
Review: Watching Burt Lancaster movies in my youth made me a lover of cinema. I can watch "The Crimson Pirate" and "The Flame and the Arrow" over and over. It was interesting to see how many bits and pieces of "The Crimson Pirate" were incorporated in "Pirates of the Caribbean." This is not to take anything away from Bruckheimer and company as their final product was quite enjoyable. The fact that Lancaster and Cravat did their own stunts along with great costumes, scenery and music, this film does stand the test of time.

The term "when it was a game" often applies to baseball in the 1950's, namely the real deal. No steroids, real grass, no special effects. The same can be said of "The Crimson Pirate."

Rating:
Summary: great pirate spoof!
Review: Yeesh! Burt Lancaster hams it up in this slapstick-heavy pirate movie, which features a ton of acrobatic schtick with him and his real-life childhood pal, Nick Cravat. The athletic stunts are impressive, but the script is not. It's intentionally silly and absurd -- this is a film that was made to amuse six-year-olds during the early Eisenhower era, and would probably still work its charms on the younger set today. But it has a campy, Mel Brooks-ish air to it: don't pick one this up if you're hoping for a straight-up swashbuckler action flick, ala "The Black Swan" etc. It'll just get on your nerves. The belabored (and numerous) comedy routines with Cravat, where he plays a Harpo Marx-ish mute pirate, are particularly excruciating. On the other hand, if you want a film that simply makes fun of the genre, this might be more up your alley...

(PS - film geek note: The scene in which Lancaster & his pals use the air bubble in an empty, upsidedown lifeboat to help them walk on the bottom of a bay is paid homage in an early scene in Johnny Depp's "Pirates Of The Caribbean," a film which does a much better job balancing comedy and action while spoofing this oft-maligned film genre...)

Rating:
Summary: Athletics and pratfalls, but little real drama...
Review: Yeesh! Burt Lancaster hams it up in this slapstick-heavy pirate movie, which features a ton of acrobatic schtick with him and his real-life childhood pal, Nick Cravat. The athletic stunts are impressive, but the script is not. It's intentionally silly and absurd -- this is a film that was made to amuse six-year-olds during the early Eisenhower era, and would probably still work its charms on the younger set today. But it has a campy, Mel Brooks-ish air to it: don't pick one this up if you're hoping for a straight-up swashbuckler action flick, ala "The Black Swan" etc. It'll just get on your nerves. The belabored (and numerous) comedy routines with Cravat, where he plays a Harpo Marx-ish mute pirate, are particularly excruciating. On the other hand, if you want a film that simply makes fun of the genre, this might be more up your alley...

(PS - film geek note: The scene in which Lancaster & his pals use the air bubble in an empty, upsidedown lifeboat to help them walk on the bottom of a bay is paid homage in an early scene in Johnny Depp's "Pirates Of The Caribbean," a film which does a much better job balancing comedy and action while spoofing this oft-maligned film genre...)