The Pirates of Penzance (1983) Compared to The Pirate Movie (1982)

The other day I caught a Bounty paper towel ad written to the tune of "I Am the Very Model" from The Pirates of Penzance. I wondered how many people would even recognize it. Then it occurred to me that I had always wanted to see The Pirate Movie, a takeoff on The Pirates of Penzance, but had never got to see it all the way through. I found a reasonably good copy on YouTube and watched it. The next night I watched, also on YouTube, the 1983 film of The Pirates of Penzance, which I hadn't seen in many years. I expected of course to like it better, but surprisingly there were a number of things I liked better about The Pirate Movie.
Actors: Equally good with some exceptions. Kristy McNichol had an edge for being a favorite of mine for at least fifty years now, but Linda Ronstadt was born to sing those Gilbert and Sullivan airs. Both guys who played Frederic were very cute and good in the role. Angela Lansbury was outstanding as Ruth, the other actress was meh in comparison. No one is ever going to top Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, but the guy in The Pirate Movie was a more appropriate choice for that film.
Sets: Simply no comparison. The Pirate Movie was beautifully and lavishly filmed on location in Australia with fantastic backdrops in every shot. No cardboard sets here. The Pirates of Penzance had all stage sets. Elaborate ones, but patently fake.
Choreography: Both had good moments, but "Let Us Gaily Tread the Measure" in The Pirate Movie really wins out with the clever parasol drill. Kevin Kline in The Pirates of Penzance does some great athletic feats.
Costumes: I liked the Major-General's and police's uniforms in The Pirate Movie much better. I don't know what they were thinking with the drab Major-General's uniform used in The Pirates of Penzance. I don't know which is more historically accurate and I don't care, the one in The Pirate Movie simply looked way better.
Entertainment Value: Depends on what you're looking for. Both very good, but let me say that The Pirate Movie is really good for a few great laughs. Some lyric changes in the Major-General's song made me laugh out loud. The Pirate Movie contains clever send-ups of some popular '60s, '70s, and '80s films. It also contains some '80s power ballads. It's really hard to tell whether these were meant to be serious by the standards of the time or whether they were spoofing the style of music videos of the day. I was very impressed that Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol did their own singing. The style can't compare to the singing in The Pirates of Penzance, but it's good for what it is.
The Pirates of Penzance is mostly a pretty faithful adaptation of the original material, with some omissions--"How Beautifully Blue the Sky" is skipped right over--a bit more slapstick than your average production, and some creative variations in the music probably had Sir Arthur Sullivan spinning in his grave a few times, but it is well worth watching. Although The Pirates of Penzance came out in 1983 and The Pirate Movie in 1982, I would recommend watching The Pirates of Penzance first just to familiarize yourself with what The Pirate Movie is parodying. Both highly recommended.