This will probably only be read by a few people but for those that can see it, it's on BBC1 Monday 26 June http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/listings/index.shtml?service_id=4223&day=monday
Looks like the full version. It'll no doubt be reframed to fit 16:9 but I'll record it anyway to see if it's the same cut as my Polish DVD. I'll post back with how the broadcast was.
I've never seen this and as I like Roman Polanski's movies I'll give it a view. Hopefully it will be a hoot like The Fearless Vampire Killers.
http://www.maverick-media.co.uk
The Radio Times gave it an appalling review, so it's bound to be interesting! Just hope I don't fall asleep half way through.
share20 minutes in -- I love it! Funny, some great pictures, intriguing plotlines nosing around. I'll let you know after an hour, though...
shareA bit like a very, very good joke indeed, told very, very badly. You can still tell it's a good joke, but you wish the punchline was delivered with a bit more punch. Possibly.
shareNo, sorry, this is simply a bad film. I thought Walter Matthau played the part well, with an entertaining British 'eastenders/ seafarer' accent, but the plot was boring and dissjointed. The ending was odd, as though there was to be a sequel. This is one of the worst films I have seen. There just seemed to be no point to making this film.
nick
Yup: turns out to be utterly terrible. The first hour is pretty good, actually, with some amusing piratical dialogue and pantomime-dame shenanigans from Matthau; the costumes are great if you like that sort of thing; it's pleasingly amoral and chaotic. All goes downhill at the first plot twist, though, loses all sense of pace and direction, and finally loses its sense of humour, too. Has some of Polanski's old-skool cool posing in places, but the whole hangs together like a pair of elastic-necked cattle-hustling siamese twins in a zero-gravity orbit: badly. The ending I thought was ok: returning us to the beginning, with our protagonists adrift again on the high seas, alone. What would their next caper bring, we should wonder hilariously. We don't, though. We just slide in Captain Blood or Pirates of the Caribbean, and carry on. Shame, really, and I can see why people get nostalgic and optimistic about this unlucky stinker.
shareI am not ALONE! I found it difficult to get "into" the movie, then wanted to get OUT - staying on to see if it could possibly improve.
WHAT tempted Polanski to squander so much money and talent on a load of total rubbish? Worse, how did he ever talk the brilliant Matthau into signing a contract? Who wrote the script? WAS there one? Dialogue managed to reach the adolescent level from time to time.
I cringed with embarrassment at Matthau's "cockney" accent (with occasional touches of Robert Newton - "Aaaah, Jim lad...") only one shallow step up from Dick van Dyke's chimney sweep!
I was fascinated at the total lack of original plot or thought, failing to switch off because (a) there was sod all else to watch as TV continues to fall apart, and (b) the badness had its own hypnotic quality.
What an utter shambles. Only the cameramen and costume department emerged with credit. One of the worst films I've seen for years.
This celluloid calamity built up to a dismal fade-out finish....which I thought was a break before the "full" ending was upcoming.
Had Matthau had some intimation of his demise I can't help wondering if he wouldn't have liked to leave part of his fortune for buying up and burning every available copy of this tragedy.
I watched it, and enjoyed it, untill the end, where it kinda just went off. Was very strange. I also didn't like how, instead of having a story, half way in or so, it just put a little title on the screen telling you he'd bought a boat... ah well. I couldn't sleep last night, so it passed some time :)
shareI watched one hour then turned it off as it wasn't getting me involved and the washing up the dishes seemed more interesting.
http://www.maverick-media.co.uk
Depends whose dishes you're washing
I only watched a few moments to see the quality and it was a very poor 16:9 image with the picture blown from 2.35:1 approx. I'll stick with my nice DVD. I loved the film and after seeing Pirates of The Caribbean (which I liked a lot) I love Polanski's effort all the more. Whomever wrote POTC had obviously watched Pirates several times as I think it had very similar humour and tone.
Saying that it would be difficult to me a pirate film that's not a bit errr... piratey