Freibeuter der Meere

BLACKIE THE PIRATE is a comic costume swashbuckler designed to cash in on the new-found success of star Terence Hill, but it's not quite on par with the comic westerns that made his name. Instead this is a swashbuckling pirate movie, one that's saddled with a complicated plot involving a number of rival pirates and the inevitable hunt for gold.

Sadly this is rather a dull affair, with the humour limited and the action only so-so. I always found Hill rather a wooden lead, especially when the material isn't great, and such is the case here; he displays little of the charisma of even the peplum actors a decade previously. Even worse, his usual comedy partner Bud Spencer is given the limited role of an antagonist, the kind of part that anybody could have played, limiting the amount of shenanigans the pair can have together.

Much of the fun comes from spotting the names in the cast, such as Alan Collins who plays yet another rival pirate. Edmund Purdom is given a little screen time to chew the scenery as always, while genre favourites like George Martin (who also wrote the lacklustre screenplay) and Sal Borghese are also cast as other naval fellows. Sadly the scripting in BLACKIE THE PIRATE is below par, the action fails to ignite the screen, and the humour just isn't there. This is a juvenile, undemanding type of film.

To me,this is the paragon for the swashbucklers.This is how to do a swashbuckler."Blackie the Pirate" sets a standard for the genre.It gives a concrete idea on how such a movie ought to be.Very picturesque,and visually pleasing,"Blackie ..." has everything that I request from a movie of this kind:humor,fun,a handsome lead (T. Hill),good cast (George Martin,Bud Spencer) ,fluency,attractive music,sexy women (Silvia Monti,Mónica Randall,Diana Lorys),a film made by men who think and have a powerful sense of epic.These Italians used to had an incredible sens of fun. Horrors,westerns,Peplums,crime movies,SF,swashbucklers,WW 2 movies,comedy,sex drama,etc.,they hit the nail on the head.The French failed lamentably to take over all these "commercial" genres,but the Italians hit it.(It is true that I know a few outstanding French genre movies;but,with the Italians,outstanding is the rule.)And they were able to bring in Gemma,Nero,Hill,etc..To me,the Italian cinema is a source of inexhaustible pleasure.The Italians are for the fun what the French are for the novels,or the Germans for the music.They have the skill for doing EVERYTHING right.So,this Italian swashbuckler,"Blackie ...",IS a swashbuckler.

The two Italian actors have a lot of fun in this movie.(But "Blackie ..." is not a buddy film,as Spencer got only a bit part,though an excellent one.)The cast is very good.The girls were some 25-30 years when they appeared in Corsaro Nero.

A movie made out of love for fun.(A bluff like the Granger "Scaramouche" can not bear comparison with "Blackie ...".That "Scaramouche" can not pretend to be "a different kind" of movie;it is only a banal and stupid movie,lacking any charm.)

Gicca Palli did not make many movies.

Now don't get me wrong, I have always been an avid fan of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, but this is a film that does not fit their talents. What made the two so popular was their chemistry on screen, with either playing the idiot at times but it works. That is not the case here, which is a great pity, this film could have been so much more, so what was wrong? Palli lost his way, he could not make his mind up whether this film was going to be a comedy or a drama, unfortunately because of this the film suffers. I have seen Hill play austere parts before, but always there are moments that have shown his humanity and his humour. This movie lacks this, in fact i felt uncomfortable with the character, who seemed to show no appreciation for his crew or the risks they ran for him and even the 20 second speech at the end of the film did little to change that. Bud Spencer, like Terence Hill is an accomplished comedy actor and I firmly believe that he was not comfortable playing this role. His lines could have just as easily been read from a newspaper and his interaction with Hill during negotiations were lacklustre and dull. The reason I have given this film 5 is that it did have some saving graces, mainly the characters that were the crew. Each had special skills, which did interest me and of course George martin who saved the movie from being a complete dirge. Had Hill's character been more like the swashbuckling Errol Flynn type and had there been more interaction between Hill and Spencer, this could have been a great movie.

Anyone who expects a typically buddy movie with Spencer and hill will be totally disappointed, so am I. Maybe this film is from a neutral point of view an average film. But as it is advertised as a buddy movie I will judge it like that. Spencers part is ridiculous. His dumbness is awesome, Hill, on the other hand is some kind of superman pirate which can do everything and whose silliest plans will succeed. Summarized this film is a typically old-fashioned pirate movie spiced up with some kind of humour and some good action scenes.

Watch this movie if you are a hard core fan of old-fashioned pirate movies, but not as Spencer/Hill movie.

No pun intended - Terence Hill and Bud Spencer ... two people that shaped my childhood. Even though they had done movies together way before I was born. But I liked watching their movies - dubbed in German, but they had a great industry back then. Probably still have - for the bigger productions.

This one I probably never saw before. This is not like any other movie they did that I really liked. Their relationship is different in this one, the focus is on other characters .. and you have boats and pirates and sword fighting and other stuff like that. While I reckon it is nice to try something different, maybe this is why it just doesn't feel like ... home (well you know what I mean) ... anyway, nice movie overall but nothing special ... if you are a fan of those two actors you won't mind flaws or other things anyway ...