Blackbeard the Pirate [LASERDISC]

Blackbeard The Pirate is another example of Hollywood completely butchering history and historic figures, effectively keeping the adolescent mind from ever having any understanding of the past. In other words - do not watch this film for a history lesson - instead watch it for pure swashbuckling entertainment and three enjoyable character actors having the time of their lives. Robert Newton set the bar high for all pirate performances - forever - the beard, the costume, rolling, squinting eyes, growling, laughing, singing and arrr! Skelton Knaggs is perfectly sinister, as one of Blackbeard's un-turstworthy, duplicitous henchmen. "KILL HIM". Shifty eyes, sneering and smirking even when he has no dialogue. Finally, there's William Bendix bringing his blustery charismatic Life Of Riley persona onto a pirate world. The only time this picture sails is when one of these three stars are on the screen. The rest of the cast? Simple - just a bland background curtain for these three great character actors to work off of. The swashbuckling action, seascapes, beautiful model ships, special effects and the out of place forts were great too. But really, this film is simply about three wonderful, ultra-defining pirate performances by three great character actors - whether the director ever knew it or not. Enjoy, arrr.

Just about everything was wrong in this movie. First off Henry Morgan was dead before Edward Teach became a pirate. And second Blackbeard was actually respected by his crews as he command with their consent and he was never known to harm any prisoner. And finally Lieutenant Robert Maynard. was sent by governor of Virginia to capture or kill Blackbeard not Henry Morgan who had retired when Edward Teach was only 8 and dead by the time he became a pirate. It was Maynard and his men that killed Blackbeard not mutineers in Blackbeard's ranks. And there wasn't any woman involved.

Let's start off by writing that Robert Newton did a superb job of creating that classic pirate lingo, accent, and look that everyone else has followed for decades afterward.Linda Darnell was a perfect choice as a beautiful, yet rough and tumble daughter of a pirate turned privateer.This movie is full of twists and turns in the story, mainly from Blackbeard himself and is fully entertaining.

Actiing?? You have to love Blackbeard, everyone else are just on stage as props for Black Beard. If you have ever seen 7 Days and 7 Nights, and wonder where "ARRGH" came from, well, this is one of the actors who used it to the hilt. He used in Treasure Island also. You have to watch this movie just for Blackbeard, not the acting, or the story, or the plot all very thin. Robert Newton is the whole movie.

It's a pity that RKO hasn't released an archive DVD of this movie, because when it plays on TCM, the colors are vivid and the images, detailed. This disc is not on the level of Alpha Video, the company which spends more on the cover art of their cases than on the quality of the picture, but, since the film is in the public domain, this version from Desert Island has faded colors. Does anyone know of the best looking DVD available for this movie?

Ok. This is THE pirate movie to have if you think you are a pirate movie junkie. Robert Newton IS Blackbeard. He s the guy everyone copies when they act like pirates. All the cliche quotes have links to this movie. Great movie,it’s a must have for your collection. Your kids will thank you.

The quintessential pirate Robert Newton delivers an outstanding performance in this classic pirate movie. The DigiComTV transfer is excellent considering the age of the film. A very good transfer encoded at a respectable 6 mbps rate with rich color saturation and good detail. There are some minor artifacts at times but they do not detract from watching and enjoying the action. This is the best transfer I have seen to date, considerably better than the old black and white version I watched as growing up. Kudos to DigiCom for making this hard to find color version available.

Very Campy and overacted but it's perfect. "Robert Newton is over the top just as he was in Disney's "Treasure Island" as Long John Silver but I wouldn't have it any other way. This was a kid favorite of mine and I love it just as much now that I am in my 70s. Complete escapist enjoyment!!

A doctor (Keith Andes) is secretly working to prove that "ex-pirate" Sir Henry Morgan (Torin Thatcher) still engages in piracy. However, he is taken prisoner, along with the beautiful Linda Darnell, by the notorious pirate Blackbeard (Robert Newton). Shot in Technicolor by William Snyder (CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) and directed by the veteran Raoul Walsh, this high seas swashbuckler isn't very inventive though some of it is clearly tongue in cheek, particularly in the back and forth banter between Newton and William Bendix. In actuality, there's not much difference between Newton's playing of Blackbeard and his Long John Silver from TREASURE ISLAND. Andes is a rather stolid hero but the doe eyed Darnell is every boy's dream of a damsel in distress. A minor footnote in the chronology of pirate movies but mildly entertaining. The score is by Victor Young. With Richard Egan, Irene Ryan and Anthony Caruso.The Odeon DVD via Great Britain has an erratic transfer that tends to be overly dark or overly bright but the colors are vivid.

An all time classic and favorite of my Dads, i've wanted to replace his worn out VHS for some time and was overjoyed to find this. The picture is sharp and the film has been well restored

I love this film, typical Robert Newton

Excellent DVD

Brought as part of a Christmas present x really pleased with it

a1

First class love robert newton

Der Film ist von 1952, das ist mir bewusst (ich habe ihn als Kind im Kino gesehen).Die DVD ist aber 2008 erschienen!!! Da erwarte ich, das der Ton wenigstens halbwegs synchron läuft! Teilweise ist der um Sekunden versetzt. Die Bildqualität ist so lausig, das ich vermuten muss, dass der Film von der Leinwand abgefilmt wurde (mit dem Handy ;-)). Nein im ernst, die wirklich sehr schlechte Bildqualität hätte ich noch in kauf genommen, um eine alte Erinnerung aufzufrischen (ich bin kein AV-Freak oder Pixelzähler) Aber der Ton macht diesen Film im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes Ungenießbar!Ich werde den Film wegen technischer Mängel zurückgeben.Apropos technische Mängel: wieso muss ich mit min. einen Stern Berwerten?Ich wollte mit Null Sternen Bewerten!!!Schade

Old time swashbuckler, fast delivery

My husband is a Robert Newton fan. This is the classic old pirate movie - something to be said for that.

If you like treasure Island then you will like this one landlubbers. Robert Newton at his best Arrrrrrrrrrrr! worth peaces of eight.

What more can be said?.Buy this because its RN...and no other pirate persona has come close.Its a nice rip roaring family film

I have searched for this film for some time and the only place i could eventually find it was on Amazon, exactly what I was searching for, perfect!

outdated FILM DVD contents [ if I knew now ] I would not of bought it.. - I like old films, but not this one