Light-hearted, humorous Pirates of Penzance send up rife with sexual innuendo!
If you're looking for a serious Pirates of Penzance film when you view The Pirate Movie, then you're going to be sorely disappointed. If you are looking for some silly fun in a brilliant send up of the very serious Pirates of Penzance then this is it!
As well as a poke in the eye to those in Hollywood who would have us believe that sex needs to be brought out front and center, this film is rife with sexual innuendo! You get a light-hearted pleasurable feeling watching this movie. The actors all appear to be having such fun and it becomes terribly contagious.
Supposedly the studio that released the film was more than a bit surprised that the film did as well as it did. The critics hated it but the public went - if not in droves.
The stars - by all rights - were never truly film stars: Kristy McNichol was a very hot property on television, but not on film. Christopher Atkins was the current boy pin up of the week who was wildly popular for his pretty-boy looks and his seeming indifference to wearing clothing on film (The Blue Lagoon, A Night in Heaven), but he has never been known for his ability as an actor. His very casting ( and maybe unbeknownst to him) seems to be a wink at his barely clothed reputation, but also to cash in on his pin up status.
Musicals are not terribly popular with boys, but girls love 'em. Casting Atkins guaranteed a steady stream of nubile young girls attending the film, while McNichols' rather unthreatening appeal kept the female filmgoers from feeling jealous. Atkins strikes quite the romantic leading man's presence in and partially out of the fantastic costumes even if he can't act; and McNichol looks more soft and feminine than she's ever been seen before. I don't know if the two got along, but if they didn't, you couldn't swear it by me, because these two seem to be having the time of their life.
There are several songs in the film that are takenly directly (or rathter spoofed) from the Pirates of Penzance. "I am the very model of a modern major general" is absolutely wonderful. "Taren Tara" is beautifully performed. "Pirate King" is fun and silly. "Pumping and Blowing" is a duet with McNichol and Atkins that when heard and viewed cements the reality that this is innuendo. McNichol is actually quite good as a singer. Atkins' singing ability is painful at best - but certainly not cringe-worthy (Heck, even Gene Kelly kept being given roles where he sang and danced - and he couldn't sing - he was a trained dancer!).
Today, more than ever, with so many PG rated films being far more "adult" than need be, this playful, romatic, cheerful, and frankly wholesome for the whole family romp is a breath of fresh air on the DVD circuit.
You'll be tapping your toes to the songs, laughing at the dialogue (as was intended), and viewing this more than once.
Yes, this is a heaping helping of cheese! But for pete's sake if you can't get a kick out of some cheesy filmmaking on the light side, then you're taking yourself far too seriously.
It's a SPOOF, people!
I can't understand why there's a soul from the 80s that doesn't enjoy this movie! If you're looking for a remake of The Pirates of Penzance then this is NOT your flick! This is a SPOOF. This is a hilarious spoof on The Pirates of Penzance and if you can't see that then you don't have a humorous bone in your body. If you want to get deeply involved in meaningful characters - this movie is not for you. If you want to enjoy goofiness and a lighthearted musical then this is most definitely for you! There are way too many people taking this movie way too seriously. I can't imagine that these folks have any fun in their lives b/c THIS is a GREAT movie. It's fun, lighthearted, goofy and it's a great spoof. Airplane is not a remake of Airport 75 - it's a spoof. This is not a remake of The Pirates of Penzance - it's a spoof. And it's a most enjoyable one!
The Pirate Movie
This movie was funny in a most deliciously campy fashion. Not a bad remake.
The amiable sci-fi spoof The Ice Pirates has earned a small but vocal cadre of admirers thanks to its go-for-broke gags and a healthy disrespect for outer space epics like the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises. An atypically goofy Robert Urich stars as the leader of a band of space pirates who kidnap a princess (Mary Crosby of Dallas fame), and then join her quest to find a mythical planet that can solve the universe’s water shortage. A completely game (shameless?) cast (which includes Anjelica Huston in fetching leather gear, Ron Perlman, John Matuszak, and fantastic film icon John Carradine) and Stewart (The Philadelphia Experiment) and Raffill’s breezy direction help sell the funniest bits (most notably, the notorious "space herpy" scene,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Stewart Raffill DVD Release Date: Released the 15 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A wimpy remake of an already anemic movie (the 1947 Rita Hayworth vehicle Down to Earth), this glitzy musical from 1980 improbably stars Olivia Newton-John as a heavenly muse sent here to help open a roller-derby disco. Gene Kelly is mixed up in this well-meaning but goofy effort to fuse nostalgia with late-'70s glitter-ball trendiness, and he looks just plain silly. Directed by Robert Greenwald, the film doesn't even work as decent kitsch. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Greenwald DVD Release Date: Released the 20 July 1999 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The production of Night in Heaven is probably more interesting than film itself. The film was written by Joan Tewkesbury and directed by John Avildsen so how was this 80 minute mess created? It's a bad film, but if you're a fan of 80s cheese, you might like it as a nostalgia trip. The music's actually pretty good. The only extra on the DVD is the trailer and what's interesting about the trailer is that it actually advertises the movie that Night in Heaven could've been. Another nice thing about the DVD is that the main screen features Bryan Adam's song Heaven. I'm not sure but I think the song appeared in this film before it became a number one hit. More Info about this DVD Director(s): John G. Avildsen DVD Release Date: Released the 09 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Throughout the past few decades, superhero television shows suffer from a brand of overexposure. It is a chore to keep cranking out episodes, keeping them fresh and interesting on a very limited special effects budget. With CGI technology finding a home within television productions that effects budget limitation may be extinct, but in 1981 it was a definite issue. One show had a creative approach to that problem: Without short-changing the `super feats' elements, pad the stories with "Welcome Back Kotter" teacher/student relationships. The result was the 3 season GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, now available on DVD.
The first season introduces a red super suit to likable high school teacher RALPH HINKLEY, and then introduces Ralph to the world. The problem is Ralph has lost the... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): William Katt DVD Release Date: Released the 15 February 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Who should a kid's hero be? In this underrated adventure-comedy, that's the central issue. Henry Thomas, fresh from E.T., plays a San Antonio kid whose father (Dabney Coleman) doesn't spend nearly enough time with him. So the boy loses himself in video games--and even has an imaginary friend (also played by Coleman), a super-resourceful secret agent. When he accidentally comes into possession of a spy group's secret plans, and winds up on the run from them, he must learn to rely on himself (and his imaginary pal) to save his skin. But, in the end, Dad proves to be his real hero in this engaging and solid family film. --Marshall FineMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Henry Thomas - Dabney Coleman Director(s): Richard Franklin DVD Release Date: Released the 23 November 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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