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The Pirate Movie

  • 1982
  • PG
  • 1h 38m
IMDb RATING
5.4/10
5.1K
YOUR RATING
Christopher Atkins, Kristy McNichol, Ted Hamilton, Bill Kerr, Garry McDonald, and Chuck McKinney in The Pirate Movie (1982)
Home Video Trailer from Anchor Bay Entertainment
Play trailer2:00
1 Video
99+ Photos
SwashbucklerAdventureComedyMusicalRomance

A 1980s take-off of The Pirates of Penzance which centers on a noble pirate who leaves his profession and falls in love with a fiery young maiden.A 1980s take-off of The Pirates of Penzance which centers on a noble pirate who leaves his profession and falls in love with a fiery young maiden.A 1980s take-off of The Pirates of Penzance which centers on a noble pirate who leaves his profession and falls in love with a fiery young maiden.

  • Directors
    • Ken Annakin
    • Richard Franklin
  • Writers
    • W.S. Gilbert
    • Trevor Farrant
  • Stars
    • Kristy McNichol
    • Christopher Atkins
    • Ted Hamilton
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.4/10
    5.1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Directors
      • Ken Annakin
      • Richard Franklin
    • Writers
      • W.S. Gilbert
      • Trevor Farrant
    • Stars
      • Kristy McNichol
      • Christopher Atkins
      • Ted Hamilton
    • 122User reviews
    • 27Critic reviews
    • 19Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 9 nominations total

    Videos1

    The Pirate Movie
    Trailer 2:00
    The Pirate Movie

    Photos325

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    + 319
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    Top Cast72

    Edit
    Kristy McNichol
    Kristy McNichol
    • Mabel Stanley
    Christopher Atkins
    Christopher Atkins
    • Frederic
    Ted Hamilton
    Ted Hamilton
    • Pirate King
    Bill Kerr
    Bill Kerr
    • Major General Stanley
    Maggie Kirkpatrick
    Maggie Kirkpatrick
    • Ruth
    Garry McDonald
    Garry McDonald
    • Sergeant…
    Chuck McKinney
    • Samuel
    Marc Colombani
    • Dwarf Pirate
    Linda Nagle
    • Aphrodite
    Kate Ferguson
    • Edith
    Rhonda Burchmore
    Rhonda Burchmore
    • Kate
    Catherine Lynch
    • Isabel
    • (as Cathrine Lynch)
    John Alansu
    • Chinese Captain
    • (as John Allansu)
    Paul Graham
    • Pirate
    Bernard Ledger
    • Pirate
    Nic Gazzana
    • Pirate
    Richard Boué
    • Pirate
    Chris Hession
    • Pirate
    • Directors
      • Ken Annakin
      • Richard Franklin
    • Writers
      • W.S. Gilbert
      • Trevor Farrant
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews122

    5.45K
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    Featured reviews

    5mighty_pickman

    Arrgh, an Ok film

    Arrgh me hearties, this is an OK movie about singing & dancing pirates.

    The film keeps a fine pace when it involves the pirates, but struggles to keep an interest when there no salty old seadogs involved in the scene.

    Ted Hamilton as the Pirate King, provides a performance that is reminiscent of Errol Flynn at his peak.

    Most of the outdoor scenes were filmed at Werribee Mansion, a site that is one of the most commonly used in Australian TV & film.

    Arrgh I give this little piccy 5/10, a good film for the youngens. Arrgh.
    Jordan_Haelend

    Great satirical musical!

    That this film gets bombed the way it does angers me. The slamming it's gotten is just unwarranted! I like it a lot- it's a musical farce, so why SHOULDN'T it contain parody lyrics of the great Gilbert and Sullivan? The same people who hate it for that reason are very likely the sort of people who bust a gut laughing at the parody lyrics of musicals as penned in MAD Magazine™ by Frank Jacobs. What's the difference so long as it entertains?

    I hate the fact that this did so poorly at the box office and impacted lovely Kristy McNichol's and gorgeous Chris Atkins's careers as negatively as it did. I think it was an excellent film for what it set out to do! It simply was too good a film to be trashed and ignored as it was!
    8Dbusdriver71

    a signpost of the eighties.

    This is one of the movies that still stands out as the perfect example of the movies that was the eighties. It was wonderful and it is still as fun now as it was so many years ago. It's greatest testament is time; how long and how well it has endured. There will always be people (cynics from the 90's) that only measure a movie by the dollars and cents that it made in a certain time span. This movie is over twenty years old and still is that good. The academy awards gave 'million dollar baby' an academy award for best picture; let's see how good it endures twenty years from now! Political correctness is not necessarily that main test of how good a movie is. Like Ghostbusters and Goonies, a must see for movie enthusiasts who LOVED the eighties as much as I and many others do, that want to be entertained by movies and not judge a movie simply on how much dollars a certain movie makes or its political correctness.
    8twirlbananas

    Wonderful, but a bit cheesy

    My parents taped this movie off the TV when I was about 7 years old. We still had the Beta machine back then. I loved this movie and I watched it over and over and over again. I would watch it, rewind it and play it again until my family got so sick of it, they would come in and turn it off on me. I had it practically memorized, but after we got the VHS, I couldn't watch it anymore and I was so disappointed. I meant to transfer it onto a VHS, but I never have. I always thought it was a made-for-TV movie until I found it on this site. After I found it here, I immediately went and ordered the DVD because I was so excited. I'm not sure why it appealed to me so much as a kid, but I loved the corny jokes and the music was very catchy and upbeat. My brothers and I still break into a chorus of Tarantara every once in a while. Plus the movie has a little bit of everything - comedy, romance, adventure, drama. The reason I gave it an 8 rather than a 10 is because some parts of the movie are a little too cheesy, particularly the underwater scene.
    6phaserphil80

    Cheesy and everything 80s

    I had found the movie while searching youtube for something to watch and I found it, at first it felt like a fever dream and didn't feel like it was real but it is quite enjoyable and something I do go back to every now and again... the big dance numbers and singing make this super cheesy and I love it. From the cast and Ruth just being there for comedic value its everything you want, it may be your best princess bride and its worth watching on a rainy day.

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    Related interests

    Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
    Swashbuckler
    Still frame
    Adventure
    Will Ferrell in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
    Comedy
    Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music (1965)
    Musical
    Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942)
    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film started gaining a cult status in the late '80s largely due to repeat screenings on HBO.
    • Goofs
      Mabel remarks rhetorically that they are living in the 1880s, but Frederic's birth certificate in an earlier scene pinpointed the setting as 1877.
    • Quotes

      The Pirate King: What's the age of consent around here?

      Mabel: Eighteen.

      The Pirate King: Good! I'm old enough.

    • Crazy credits
      Before the end credits roll, there are quick outtakes of Kristy McNichol (in a suit of armor) asking someone to take her chewing gum, which one crewman does and another where McNichol says into the camera "I just want to say that...it's not all sunglasses and autographs." with a smile before the visor covers her face.
    • Alternate versions
      CBS edited 3 minutes from this film for its 1986 network television premiere.
    • Connections
      Featured in Musical Hell: The Pirate Movie (2013)
    • Soundtracks
      Happy Ending
      Performed by The Peter Cupples Band

      Produced by David Hirschfelder, The Peter Cupples Band, Jim Barton

      by courtesy Astor Records

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    FAQ20

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 6, 1982 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • Australia
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Pirate Movie
    • Filming locations
      • Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
    • Production company
      • Joseph Hamilton International Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $7,983,086
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $2,528,133
      • Aug 8, 1982
    • Gross worldwide
      • $7,983,086
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 38m(98 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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