The Pirate Movie (1982) by director Ken Annakin is a wild, audacious musical comedy based on the operetta The Pirates of Penzance. It includes new musical material as well as rewritten material from this classic tale of young love, pirates, treasure and adventure. Amazingly, this film somehow manages to combine classic Gilbert & Sullivan, cheesy 80's pop songs and silly humor (with plenty of sexual double entendres and numerous pop-culture references thrown in) all jammed together and wrapped up into a most memorable, charming and just plain fun viewing experience.
Kristy McNichol, nearly unrecognizable sporting blonde hair and mullet, stars as Mabel, a rather plain and shy young woman who after being tossed from her small boat during a storm lands unconscious on the beach. There, she dreams of love and a handsome young man that will sweep her away and marry her. In her dreams, the various people that she met during the "pirate week" celebration become characters in her dream. The boy that demonstrated swordplay at the pirate show becomes Frederic (Christopher Atkins), just the young man that Mabel is looking for to bring love and romance to her lonely existence. Frederic has been apprenticed to the Pirate King (Ted Hamilton) his entire life and now that he has reached his 21st year he wants to get out on his own. Frederic leaves his pirate friends to go out into the world, there he meets Mabel and they immediately fall deeply in love. Unfortunately there are several impediments to their romance, the main one being the Pirate King, who isn't concerned about true love and only wants to pillage Mabel's home, her sisters and Mabel herself. Mable's father (Bill Kerr), who is a modern Major General, promises the hand of his daughter to Frederic if he can restore the family fortune (stolen by the pirates) and rid his land of these dreadful cutthroats. Not such an easy task, especially considering that because of a legal loophole Frederic is still indentured to the Pirate King and not only will he be unable to marry the love of his life but he is actually her enemy as well as her entire family's. In addition, there are other problems hindering their love; like finding someone else to lead the General's army against the murderous pirates since Frederic cannot. And then there is also the problem with Mabel's sisters; because of tradition she can't get married and find everlasting happiness unless everyone of her sisters get married first. Will Frederic choose love or duty? Will true love win out in the end? Will the Pirate King slaughter them all? We'll just have to wait and see how it all turns out; but as this is Mabel's dream I think somehow we can expect that everything will work out fine. What kind of fairytale dream would this be without a happy ending?
In all honesty this is a ridiculous comedy, filled from beginning to end with stupid jokes, infantile sexual puns and corny love songs. The only reason that it actually works is because everyone involved realizes this fact and gladly acknowledges it with a wink and nod to the viewing audience; everyone understands what kind of movie this is and they just have fun with it, and a lot of fun at that. This is probably not for ardent fans of Gilbert & Sullivan though as their classic comic opera has been severely rewritten, puréed and reconstituted into this barely recognizable facsimile. The entire cast is great, especially Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins who seem perfectly cast as the star-crossed lovers. Bill Kerr as the Major General does an excellent job as Mabel's bumbling, ineffectual father. Ted Hamilton as The Pirate King brings to the character a playful absurdity that really adds to the comic effect. The rest of the cast, made up mostly of Australian actors, all do a wonderful job and really add to the fun. On a personal note it is also great to see Kristy McNichol in a non-dramatic movie role, she definitely has a talent for comedy and it is great to see her in a role such as this that allows her to really explore her funny side. If you said nothing else about The Pirate Movie you would have to say that yes it is childish and silly, but it is also a lot of fun.
Buying note: This film is available on full screen VHS tape or on wide screen DVD; but without any doubt the DVD is the version to buy. Not only does it have the fully restored picture and sound that this film deserves but also has special features such as director commentary, trailers etc, and all at a very reasonable price too.
1-1-2006
