Pirates

I'm not writing this to tell the story, but in a few words, there is actually a storyline in this movie. And a good one, not like those movies Private releases. To be completely honest, if they removed every porn action in this movie (like they seem to have done in the R-rated version), this would still be very watchable, even if the sex was completely removed. There is good humor, a good story, some pretty good special effects (considering the budget for the movie was 1 million dollars and that is porn). Did you know that these actors could actually act? Of course, it would not be the best movie ever, but since this is porn, I can say that it is the best porn movie ever done. My girlfriend enjoyed it as much as I did, and she does not usually enjoy porn. Great movie for couples.

The only bad thing about it: the fake breasts. I do not think there is ONE girl with natural breasts. So go rent it or buy it (the DVD set comes with three discs: movie, movie high definition and Extras), it will not let you down.

In case you don't know, there are two versions of Pirates: The R-rated version (which can be bought at Amazon.com and Target, but not Wal-Mart, and can be rented at Blockbuster), and the X-rated version (which can only be bought/rented at adult-fare stores like dvdempire.com and bluedoor.com). I don't know of a store that sells both versions. At Blockbuster, there is a big "R rated, not for children" sticker on the case to keep people from confusing it with Pirates of the Caribbean.

In reviewing the R-rated version, I tried to forget that this movie was made by the porn industry, to keep my review fair. Surprisingly, the costumes, sets, backgrounds, music and special effects were fantastic, especially considering that this movie was reportedly made for only $1 million. (A typical Hollywood movie costs between $15 million and $80 million, with budgets going as high as $200 million.) The drawback here was the acting. About 25% of the actors were very good, about 25% were okay, and about 50% were horrendous. Surprisingly, the porn actors weren't necessarily all bad, and the non-porn actors all good. It was a mixture of both. Evan Stone, the main good guy, was amazing in about every scene. Very Funny. However, Tommy Gunn, the main bad guy, usually made you wince when he was on screen. Kris Slater was not great, but doable. All three are porn actors. The porn girls were a mixed bag, as well. Janine was okay, Jesse Jane was horrible, and Carmen Luvana was pretty good. The only time Jesse was any good was when she was imitating a monk. Granted, the dialogue in a few scenes was pretty poor, so I could empathize with the actors a few times.

It's not hard to tell who the porn actors are from the ones that aren't. They're the ones that get it on, which they do about every 10 minutes, although some scenes would show nothing but a kiss. This movie has more sexual references and nudity than a typical high school-type movie, such as American Pie, but perhaps less than the movies shown late at night on Cinemax which show a lot of simulated sex. Some of these sex scenes would show side profiles of the actors and actresses up against each other, which shows they are completely nude, without showing their private parts. Some scenes would break away to the next scene as the actors would lean forward to kiss. There was a lot of breasts shown in the movie, with a few female butts, just a sliver of full female frontal with the woman walking, with no male frontal or butts. I do feel it was a bit more exciting knowing they were actually getting it on, instead of just faking it. I was pleasantly surprised at the general lack of cursing, and when there was some, it was very funny.

The DVD extras are okay. It includes bloopers, trailer, bios, and an FX part that shows when they put in digital extras, and what it looked like before they did, which was pretty cool. However, no making-of-the-movie, which is usually the best part of a DVD extra. The X-rated version has a completely separate disk for extras, so maybe they have some cooler extras there. This movie doesn't have English closed captioning, neither as an option on the DVD, nor on the film itself, where the TV could show it on it's own, like with a television show. They did have Spanish subtitles available. There has been a report that they didn't put copy-protection on this disk, which isn't true. The back of the movie case is slightly different than the X-rated version, as it doesn't show as much skin, but the difference is hardly noticeable.

If this movie was to be used to introduce someone to a porn movie, this looks like a very good choice. I haven't seen the X-rated version, but they showed enough clips of the love scenes to gather that they were made with women in mind. For example, the first love scene is between a man and his new bride, and they are telling each other how much they care for each other, and that they will love each other forever.

There is no doubt this is a breakthrough in the porn industry, and hopefully, this will lead to more of the same, even just for the opportunity to view the R-rated versions of the movies. They have reported to be making a sequel to Pirates, as well as a sci-fi theme of the same quality. The only drawback is that, regardless of how good the stories and production values are, they are probably going to be limited to the availability of quality actors and actresses in the porn industry, since most of them are under contract to a single studio, as Hollywood was back in the 1940's. This movie brought together two studios, Digital Playground and Adam and Eve, but hopefully there can be arrangements to bring together the best talent in the industry to make these "blockbuster" type of movies.

The bottom line is this looks like a very professional production, with the only drawback being the lack of acting in many scenes. However, I enjoyed the movie as much as I have a lot of Hollywood movies. Out of 4 stars, I would give it 2.5 stars.

I love film, I really do. It fascinates me to see, literally see what works.

Porn baffles me, because it is so popular. Oh, there's porn films from the 70s that really impress, some of them. And you'll often stumble across really intelligent films made by folks with clever ideas that could only get funded if there is panting and jizz in them.

But the modern stuff is just plain boring, visually and every other way. The only porn film I've seen in the modern era that impressed me was "Fashionistas" and that really did. It was actually a movie (a good one) and porn (S&M) where the two blended well. So I anticipated this with some rather high expectations.

And I was partly rewarded. The writing is very clever, with some great lines. One actor alone in this (Evan Stone) is good, but he is very good, on the level of the pros in theater films. With a little bit of attention, this could have been a good movie and maybe even a hit.

The blonds (all blonds!) all looked and acted the same, having gotten their boobs at the same store. Ho hum. Seen one saucersized aureole, you seen em all.

But here's the thing. Porn movies like this follow the model of movie musicals (based on stage musicals). That's where the story chugs along until hitting a tripwire. Then reality shifts and you enter a song, which may have some relationship to the story or not. But the main point is reality shifts. Then it shifts back and the people on the street stop being a chorus and again become passers by.

Same with porn like this. The story chugs along until it is time for sex. But this isn't sex between people. It isn't real sex at all, instead a sort of performance, a display put on for the audience like a song. The same sorts of limits apply, even the same time periods. There's a standard vocabulary: this and then this and then that. Only in this case, the sex has nothing much to do with the story; the story is presumably something to entertain you in between titillations.

Oh well. Give Even his due. He acts, and it even carries over to what he does with his member. I wish him well.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

I for one, loved this porn. Maybe not worth 70$ but if you can find it cheaper, more power to you. A lot of people are saying, wow, the acting was so bad, they need to make it more like a period piece if they want to do this right, I say, accept it for what it is... PORN! I accepted it and LOVED it. It didn't matter that the girls have tattoos, or say slang. Did it get me hot? yes! It's porn first, a movie second, and that is the point. It's not so you can sit back and go. "Hmmm, that movie really reflected the time period really well" No, it's to get you worked up*which it does!*, or to have a good time with your friends. The acting was horrible (but what can you expect, again its PORN!) I watched this with a friend and we were both laughing the whole time. What can you expect with the bad acting and cheesy lines? As a movie, yeah it kinda stinks, but as a porn (which it was meant to be) it rocked.

-also a skeleton sex scene would have been awesome.

Its a pirate porn movie thats actually plays as a decent little movie.

Sue me I liked this film. I'm not sure I liked it because its better than most adult films or because its a good movie in its own right. Certainly the fact the film can have 40 minutes of sex removed and have it survive says a great deal(The full version runs over two hours). Better than many soft-core trash films that play late night on cable this is actually a movie I'd want to see again.

The plot has something to do with a pirate captain wanting to get a magical Incan scepter that will give him great power to this end he kidnaps a recently married man who holds the key to the hereabouts of the scepter and throws the wife overboard. He is pursued by some pirate hunters who pick up the wife and remain close on the heels of the villains.

What can I say the acting is wildly uneven, but the cast is still game. The effects are uneven, but serviceable (and provide a great homage/spoof with a marvelous riff on the skeleton scene in Jason and the Argonauts). The script is actually reasonably good and properly silly (though with some of the cast anything beyond silly might have been a stretch). I'm guessing in mainstream hands this might have been a successful pirate action film.

My only real complaint is that all of the main women look about the same, large breasted blonds of similar stature and builds. They all pretty much blend together. Its an odd thing to do when the film tries very hard to be something other than a stereotypical adult film.

If you're tired of the typical late night fare you find on many pay cable stations give this film a try. You will laugh with and at the movie, especially if you keep in mind the fact that its source is an adult film.