Ahoy me hearties! 19th September is the annual “Talk Like a Pirate Day” so we thought we’d run down the five essential swashbuckling movies you should be watching on this fine bountiful day!
Getting the list together was surprisingly difficult – you’d be amazed at how many dire movies were made in the pirate theme. And, searching for ‘Pirate Movies’ on the internet is not something that you really want to do! Nevertheless, we’ve scoured to the bottom of Davy Jones’ locker, and found these five doubloons to get you in yo-ho-ho mood. So settle down with a bottle of grog and enjoy the bounty!
In reverse order…
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5. Return to Treasure Island
Starring Brian Blessed, this 10 part series was first shown on the Disney Channel way back in the 1980’s but earned a lot of critical aclaim at the time for being a fantastic and well thought out set of programmes. It’s now available on DVD, so enjoy!
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4. Cutthroat Island
Starring Geena Davis as a lady pirate, this fast moving, witty action movie is preferred by many to the more recent Pirates of the Caribbean. The film is possibly more famous for bankrupting its production company, than as a swashbuckling adventure movies, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the fruits of their labour!
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3. Hook
Even with it’s all star cast, I was a little underwhelmed by Steven Spielberg’s modernised version of the classic Peter Pan, but I am most definitely in the minority. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins and Gwyneth Paltrow in her first film role it was well received by almost everyone else. But hey, what do I know?!
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2. Muppet Treasure Island
Starring Tim Curry, Kevin Bishop, Billy Connolly and of course, The Muppets themselves, this fantastic film is a riotous amount of fun and is suitable for all the family, and easily makes it to the runner up spot.
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1. Pirates of the Caribbean – The Curse of the Black Pearl
The film that takes the top spot is Disney’s fabulous Pirates of the Caribbean. With a fantastic cast of Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush and two relative ‘unheard ofs’ in Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom, we are treated to an awesome spectacle of special effects, outstanding sound and fine acting, especially from Rush. Still one of the best movies to really make the most of your home cinema system, Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse of the Black Pearl should be in everyone’s collection. We’ve not mentioned the rest of the franchise you’ll notice – the first film remains, by far, the best.
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Whichever film you watch make sure you join in the madness, and talk like a pirate all day, you scurvy dog!