5/5 Great actors having a lark
  by Eden Rush (Tallahassee, FL)
Something for everyone here...For starters, it has a film score by John Addison that is by turns juanty, quirky, creepy, heroic and sweepingly romantic. The cast includes the velvety voices of James Earl Jones, Robert Shaw, Genevieve Bujold, and Geoffery Holder (actor/dancer/costume designer/composer famous for his 7-up commericals and numerous voice-overs, including Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.") Anjelica Houston, aptly named "The Woman of Dark Visage", never speaks a word. There is sword play all over the place, much of it done with wide shots - as opposed to today's barrage of tight shots which leaves you feeling like the actors didn't have time to really learn the choreography and the director decided to fake it by cutting in close and often. The characters are acted in heroic proportion: Shaw is the brash, leering outlaw who finds himself uncomfortably in love with a steely girl who is part aristocrat and part spitfire. Boyle's greedy Lord Durant is suitably sleazy and it's hard to decide which is more disgusting - watching him fondle a young boy or the spectacle of Durant getting in his hairy back waxed clean. The film boasts an impressive cast of great actors from another era, all of whom look like they're having more fun than a kid on the first day of summer vacation.

Those of a strongly feminist bent may experience discomfort at the brothel scene, or the swordfight in which Bujold's character loses both her dignity and her modesty at the point of Ned's rapier. (Much like Catherine Zeta-Jones in Zorro.) There are other moments in the film that might overstep both taste and political correctness, depending on your world view. For me, it's such a lark that I don't particularly care. I've always loved this movie for what it is - a romping, stomping, rollicking tall tale of clever brigands and the lovers/villians who cross their path.

5/5 Swashbuckler
  by Judy Cochran (Long Island New York)
This film came out in '76 I believe and was overshadowed by The Godfather and all those others. It is a fabulous gem for those who love swinging around on ropes, the call of the open sea, slashing swords and comraderie that rivals the best of Star Trek! Robert Shaw is mesmerizing in this romantic lead, and a huge surprise! Genevieve Bujold is also a small but plucky rapier wielding delight! Amazing supporting cast with Geofrey Holder as Cujo the knife thrower and his street theatre band, Beau Bridges in his stunning 20's, Peter Boyle in black satin and slicked back hair of the degenerate villain and Angelica Huston in a wordless performance as "Woman of Dark Visage". Astounding! This is not a major film, but an enormous delivery of fun wrapped in some of the best rousing music I've ever heard! Y'gotta see this one!!!! Way too much fun!!!!

3/5 More a disappointment than a disaster
  by Trevor Willsmer (London, England)
In the scathing but short-lived satire of amoral movie producers, Action!, the first and most important thing uberproducer Peter Dragon teaches his daughter is "No pirate movies." Certainly before Pirates of the Caribbean finally broke the curse, the industry was littered with the sporadic wrecks left by those few foolhardy producers who would try at least once a decade to revive the genre only to end up with costly disasters like the rival 1982 versions of The Pirates of Penzance, Roman Polanski's Pirates or Renny Harlin's Cutthroat Island. 1976's The Scarlet Buccaneer (aka Swashbuckler) is certainly no exception to the rule. It even has a pirate called Polanski in it.

On paper it has everything it needs for an enjoyable romp but on screen it doesn't make the most of the hand it's been dealt. The script is more than serviceable, there's no shortage of talent among the cast - Robert Shaw, Genevieve Bujold, James Earl Jones, Geoffrey Holder and Peter Boyle - though none are at their best, the Mexican locations are good, Philip Lathrop's scope photography pleasing, The Golden Hinde, the full scale replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, earns its own above-the-titles screen credit as the kind of galleon any pirate would be proud to command and John Addison's infectiously easygoing score is a treat. Yet as Ned Lynch and the men of his Blarney Cock (it's the name of his ship, and at one time the working title for the film) free the poor people of Jamaica from its corrupt and tyrannical "English" governor you get the distinct impression that while most of the cast had fun making it, it's not particularly infectious, translating more as laziness than a good time had by all.

Shaw may have made his name as a pirate in the low-budget 50s children's adventure series The Buccaneers but as a big screen buccaneer he might have his moments but often lacks lustre. It doesn't help that at times he seems to be modelling the hero on both Albert and Harold Steptoe rather than Burt Lancaster or Errol Flynn. He's also rather visibly a little worse for wear in the finale when a sudden turn very obviously leaves him unsteady on his feet after what you suspect was a long liquid lunch. Still, Genevieve Bujold makes a fine and rather gorgeous heroine, throwing in some gratuitous nudity for good measure (how times have changed: at the time the studio were so worried she might look underweight they put her on a diet of double-helpings to pad her out!).

Holder and Jones overdo it mightily, though neither can compare to Beau Bridges, who displays all the lightness of touch of a stampeding elephant in tap shoes, possessed of the curious delusion that the LOUDER and slllooowwweeerrr he shouts the funnier his lines become. Even Gordon Brown has better comic timing. But the film's biggest problem is the pantomime villain, with Peter Boyle's corrupt and perverted governor so staggeringly hammy and unmenacing that the only ones with anything to fear from him are Jewish cannibals. Spending most of his screen time going through a personal grooming routine or playing with toy boats in the bath with his toy boy while a silent Angelica Huston lurks on the sidelines, he's a less convincing adversary than he is a persistent irritant who all but holes the film below the waterline every time he appears.

With no English actors but Shaw in the cast there are plenty of bad accents on display, the initially clumsy editing does little to disguise the under-rehearsed action scenes and poor swordsmanship, yet somehow despite everything the film somehow manages to right itself enough to improve a lot around the halfway point as it starts to get the tone right and there's finally some real fun to be had. The result is more a disappointment than a disaster, but still a modestly entertaining one if you dial down your expectations.

The Region 1 DVD is a disappointing disc, but those with multi-region players might want to seek out the English-friendly German PAL DVD, which includes trailer, a making of featurette from the film's release, stills gallery and even a 16-minute Super 8mm cutdown version of the film!


5/5 Swashbuckler
  by Jillly Bean (MARKHAM, Ontario Canada)
Came across this by accident, unfortunately after it had started, but that didn't matter as it only takes a minute or two to recognize the plot. It did take me a while to recognize Peter Boyle (not one of his better performances.) It was great fun and passed the time until we left for the airport. Lots of lovely scenery and costumes and characters and the "blood and gore" kept to a very acceptable low level, which imho, makes for an enjoyable fun movie. Good grief I think I'll look for a copy to keep for a visit from the grandchildren!

4/5 Fun and Frivolous
  by John A Lee III (San Antonio, TX)
This is a pirate movie made in 1976 hearkening back to the swashbucklers of old and paying tribute to that genre without quite being of it. The emphases here is on getting treasure, getting the girl, getting the bad guy and showing off fencing skills (or the lack of them). Its all done in good fun and is enjoyable to watch if not taken too seriously.

The story takes place in the Caribbean waters around Jamaica. The island is run by a corrupt governor who does not hesitate to kill political opponents in order to confiscate their estates. He answers to nobody except the crown and the crown is very far away. In short, he is a "legal" pirate and has a penchant for the perverse. He is ably played by Peter Boyle.

The pirate captain is played by Robert Shaw. He is popular with his crew and struts around with a devil may care attitude plundering the governor's interests. He is also quite popular with the common folk of Jamaica and seems to be a sort of seagoing Robin Hood. He is aided by his sidekick/first mate played by a very young James Earl Jones.

Genevieve Bujold plays the daughter of a local nobleman imprisoned by the governor. She does not care for the pirate but is willing to swallow her pride in coming to him with a scheme to free her father. Predictably, she and the captain fall for each other.

Everything in this film is predictable as clockwork but is quite fun to watch. There are some differences between this product of the 70s and the original movies in the 30s. Bujold shows a lot more skin; Errol Flynn did not engage in dirty limerick contests with his first mate and the pirate ship is anachronistic by several centuries. These bits may serve to actually increase the modern viewer's interest factor.