Pirates (film)

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Pirates
Directed by Roman Polanski
Produced by Tarak Ben Ammar
Written by Gérard Brach
John Brownjohn
Roman Polanski
Starring Walter Matthau
Cris Campion
Damien Thomas
Music by Philippe Sarde
Cinematography Witold Sobocinski
Editing by Hervé de Luze
Distributed by AMLF
Cannon Releasing
Release date(s) Jul 18, 1986 (USA)
Running time 124 min. (USA)
Country France / Tunisia
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
This article is about the 1986 film directed by Roman Polanski. For the Hindi film with the same title directed by Priyadarshan, see Pirate (film); for the adult film by Joone, see Pirates (porn film).

Pirates is an adventure/comedy film written by Gérard Brach, John Brownjohn, and Roman Polanski. It was directed by Roman Polański and released in 1986.

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[edit] Production

Riding on the success of the highly acclaimed Chinatown, Roman Polański began to write a screenplay for a swashbuckling adventure film called Pirates. Originally, Polański intended for Jack Nicholson to play Captain Red, a grizzled old pirate, but complications arose partially due to the enormous fees Nicholson was demanding (according to Polański, when Nicholson was asked what exactly he wanted, he replied, "I want more.") Following this, the production was delayed for a number of years when Polański was arrested for statutory rape, which caused him to flee the country to avoid sentencing. Production restarted in 1986 in Europe, this time with a different production company. The role of Captain Red went to Walter Matthau.

The film's original estimated budget while Polański was aligned with Paramount on the picture, was $15 million, but the final budget is estimated to have cost US$40 million. The reported gross box office revenues in the United States was $1.65 million. Despite the film's financial failures, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design.

[edit] Plot summary

The film begins with Captain Red (Walter Matthau) stranded aboard a raft at sea with his firstmate, Frog (Cris Campion), both of whom are presumably close to death from dehydration. They are picked up by a Spanish Galleon and are forced into slavery before instigating a shipwide mutiny with the other prisoners and taking control of the vessel. Frog falls in love with the female love interest, María-Dolores de la Jenya de la Calde (Charlotte Lewis), the niece of the governor of a Spanish colony. Red covets the golden throne that the Spanish have taken from an Aztec king. Lots of explosions and gunfights occur as the duo attempt to win over the gold and the girl throughout the remainder of the film.

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