Sky Pirates

1980
1h

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Jamie Foreman, Reginald Marsh, Bill Maynard, Michael McVey, Sylvia O'Donnell, and Adam Richens in Sky Pirates (1980)

Adventure film involving two boys who wage a battle against diamond smugglers with radio controlled model Spitfire aeroplanes loaded with darts. When their model plane crashes Mike and Harr... Read allAdventure film involving two boys who wage a battle against diamond smugglers with radio controlled model Spitfire aeroplanes loaded with darts. When their model plane crashes Mike and Harry are befriended by ex-pilot Charlie Bradford and his niece Maggie, who teach them how to ... Read allAdventure film involving two boys who wage a battle against diamond smugglers with radio controlled model Spitfire aeroplanes loaded with darts. When their model plane crashes Mike and Harry are befriended by ex-pilot Charlie Bradford and his niece Maggie, who teach them how to fly radio-controlled planes. When crooks steal Charlie's latest model in an attempt to smu... Read all

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

6User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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User reviews6

6.780

Featured reviews

10alexander_blake

excellent film of the 1970's

A lost gem of a film,with magnificent performances from Bill Maynard and Reginald Marsh.The contrast between the two characters played by these wily old pros could not be greater.Maynard,as an ex fighter pilot is the embodiment of meritocratic decency,a man whose honesty and reliability oozes from every pore.Marsh is his diametric opposite,a latter-day spiv whose war efforts,one supposes,were confined to black marketeering or incarceration in the glass house.They have both since become role models,Maynard as a paragon of virtue to his daughter and her two young friends,while the sleazy Marsh has moulded his equally feckless son into a second-rate replica of himself.A great little film that should be made available on DVD.

10plan99

The best CFF film watched so far.

There must have been a surge in the sales of radio controlled planes when this film came out with every budding young Biggles wanting one. A very interesting plot in which to have the children battling against the adult baddie. The large model spitfires were very impressive. This has to be one of the best CFF films.

9jamesharding

Head and shoulders above usual Children's Film Foundation fare

A very imaginative and well-paced (but a little silly) crime drama from 1977 where diamond thieves steal remote controlled model aeroplanes and then use them to smuggle diamonds. It's not exactly Snakes On A Plane, but it doesn't need to be.

It's now finally available on DVD from BFI in their "Children's Film Foundation Bumper Box Vol. 2".

5nigel_hawkes

Past the Golden Years

I expect that those whose formative years were the '70s will quite enjoy this, but for those slightly older it compares unfavourably with the older, classic, gritty B&W CFF films like "Skid Kids" and "Adventures in the Hopfields".

Still, it's not unenjoyable, though the plot is rather silly. Like many 1970s films the colour-probably almost mandatory by then-is rather fuzzy and adds nothing to the overall quality. Rather embarrassing now to see boys with those ridiculous long hair styles-did we really all look like that!

Nice to see Bill Maynard-always good value-as the kindly father/model aircraft builder...