Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Catherina If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Michael_Elliott The Black Pirate (1926) *** (out of 4) Johnny Depp is a terrific actor and easily one of the greatest of his generation but his Captain Jack would be crying in his mom's shoes if he had to go up against Douglas Fairbanks. The story itself is pretty simple as Fairbanks is the title character who decides to seek vengeance against the pirate (Anders Randolf) who brutally murdered his father. Fairbanks manages to get in with the crew and along the way he must not only seek revenge but also save a Princess (Billie Dove) who has been taken hostage. THE BLACK PIRATE is pure entertainment from start to finish and I think it's one of those silent movies that you could show to someone who hates them and they'd have second thoughts on that. I watched the film just fourteen years before it's 100th Anniversary and it's rather remarkable to see how fresh the movie still is today. I think a lot of this is due to Fairbanks and by the fact that everything we're seeing is real and not just some CGI creation. The stunts in the film are truly a site to behold and especially one sequence where a cannon is pushed into the ocean with a rope attached to it, which carries Fairbanks and another man to the top of the ship. The now legendary underwater attack sequence is also something else that just makes you mouth drop wondering how they were able to pull it off. It should go without saying but Fairbanks is simply excellent in his role as the good guy. You could tell this was exactly the type of film he was born to play and it was great fun seeing him no matter what was going on. The action scenes were superb and the actor also had no trouble with the romance. Dove isn't terrific in her part but she played it nicely. Randolf made for a great villain and we also get Donald Crisp and Sam De Grasse in small parts. THE BLACK PIRATE was also filmed in 2-strip Technicolor, which also helps set this film apart from others of the period. There's no question that this is an incredibly entertaining picture and a must see for film buffs.

JoeytheBrit What with this being a silent film there isn't an 'Ah-harr!' in sight (or within earshot), but this pirate film has pretty much everything else in terms of the usual paraphernalia. We have sword fights, plundering and looting, walking of the plank, buried treasure, a damsel in distress, a lusty hero, a black-hearted pirate captain and a fair amount of energetic fighting in the foc'sles.Douglas Fairbanks is the lusty hero in question here and, while he doesn't skip around gaily as he does in Robin Hood he's still a little, shall we say unconventional, for an action hero. We first meet him after his ship has been plundered by a scurvy bunch of dogs (and no mistake). He and his father are the sole survivors from the ship, but dad croaks the moment they wash ashore on a desert island. Doug's so angry about this that he shakes his fist at the sea then sets about carving a notice to the world that he will avenge his father. Quite who he expects to see his words on a desert island is a little vague, but it was obviously something he needed to get off his chest.The captain of the pirates leads a small party onto the desert island to bury their booty. Doug offers to take on the strongest of them, which just happens to be the captain, so that they will let them be in their gang, and a swordfight follows. It's a shame that the captain had to be killed off so early because I quite liked him. He was certainly more interesting than Doug, with far better dress sense. When we first met him he had a cutlass between his teeth, the way a pirate should, and when he spied a prisoner surreptitiously swallowing a ring he had one of his mates cut the poor soul open to retrieve it. Here was a man who got things done, no doubt about it – although he did have a worrying fondness for offing members of his own crew.Having killed their captain Doug next gets the crew of the pirate ship on his side by taking a vessel single-handed in what is an improbable but quite enjoyable section of the film. Aboard this captured ship is a comely wench whose fate looks sealed when the crew start drawing lots for who gets first dibs. Earlier, we saw them doing the same thing over who got ownership of a cute capuchin monkey, so we're left in no doubt here as to the social status of the fairer sex in Silent Pirate World. Doug takes a shine to this damsel in distress (which, considering his outfit, is something of a relief) and hatches a cunning plan to save her from a fate worse than death.Although The Black Pirate is quite slow-moving by today's standards it's still reasonably entertaining for those with patience. The performances are somewhat broad, but the skulduggery that is constantly afoot is diverting enough to stop that from being a major problem. The set design is quite impressive, with a lot of care clearly taken over getting the ship's interior just right. In fact, the set looks even more impressive than those from some much later films. Fairbanks was certainly an athletic leading man but, other than that, what it was about him that made him such a massive star is something of a mystery to me.

classicsoncall I generally have some reservations about tuning in to a silent film, but once I do, they usually turn out pretty well. "The Black Pirate" was no exception, my first encounter with the legendary silent action-adventure hero Douglas Fairbanks (Sr.). His swashbuckling feats of dynamic swordplay and athletic scaling of ship's rigging were genuine sit up and take notice moments, especially since he was doing all of his own stunt work. It wouldn't be too far off to say he does it all here, including the obligatory 'walk the plank' as a result of trying to help a captive Princess escape her pirate captors.One downside of my experience of this film based on other reviewers - the print I saw was in black and white. Even so, there was enough going on to maintain one's interest, not the least of which was all the cutthroat pirate chicanery. I was surprised how the film intimated how a poor crewman was slit open to retrieve a ring he swallowed to prevent it's becoming booty. That was a nasty piece of business.The one scene that played out amazingly well both visually and the way it was choreographed was the underwater swim by the seamen who arrived by longboat to help Fairbanks' character defeat the pirates. One thing though, once on board the Merchantman, didn't it seem like there was a whole lot more of them than could have arrived in the first place? One curiosity, the pirate crew liked the idea of holding the Merchantman ransom for fifty thousand pieces-of-eight, suggested by Fairbanks' character. However if you freeze the frame on the first part of the ransom note to the Governor, the amount demanded in Roman numerals is XXVII (assuming that what looks like a 'C' is actually a parenthesis). That would only represent twenty seven, as the word 'thousand' is written out.As much fun as the film is, if you're really paying attention, a couple of plot points just don't make much sense. After Fairbanks defeats the Pirate Captain (Anders Randolf) in a sword fight challenge, the Captain falls on a sword and dies. Just like that, the rest of the pirate crew have no trouble accepting Fairbanks as part of their crew. So much for loyalty! Another occurs at the end of the film when Fairbanks and The Princess (Billie Dove) declare their love and announce their wedding. MacTavish (Donald Crisp) suggests digging up the earlier buried treasure for a wedding gift. I don't think so.But let's not get too critical. This is a neatly done sea tale with a lot of well paced action and drama. A surprise in reviewing the cast list reveals Mary Pickford as a stand-in for Billie Dove in the 'final embrace' scene at the end of the story. There really doesn't seem to be any reason for that, other than a chance for Mr. Fairbanks to get Mrs. Fairbanks into the picture. Trivia fans take note.

tedg Many folks believe in the archetype, the notion that deep in the structure of the universe — deeper than we can reach — are certain pure models. There are few of them; they are crisp if not fully definable. And we spend our lives moving fey copies of them around in the patterns they allow.I don't buy that. At least so far as humans, we make our models and since about the time of this movie, movies are where most of them are made. But they stick, some of them, as if God made it so. Because this is something of an exemplar, it is required viewing I suppose.The demure princess (redheaded). The privileged young duke who assumes the role of pirate to seek revenge. Amazing exploits through cunning and some of the most impressive physical stunts on film.Color when it mattered. Romantic love, not invented here, but here first successfully placed in the heroic context of piracy. Rarely can you place your finger on a node of archetypal history and say here, here is where that was born.In keeping with a tradition of recommended pairings, I suggest you see this coupled with Geena Davis in "Cutthroat Island."Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.