Blackbeard (2006/I) (TV)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Kevin Connor

Writer (WGA):

Bryce Zabel (written by)

Release Date:

17 kesäkuu 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama

Tagline:

Pirate, rogue... adventurer.

Plot:

In the Golden Age of Piracy, at the dawn of the 18th century, Blackbeard stood out among the lawless...

Plot Keywords:

Pirate | Wood Plank | Cave | Island | Naval

Cast

Angus Macfadyen	...	Blackbeard
Mark Umbers	...	Lt. Robert Maynard
Richard Chamberlain	...	Governor Charles Eden
Jessica Chastain	...	Charlotte Ormand
Stacy Keach	...	Cpt. Benjamin Hornigold
Rachel Ward	...	Sally Dunbar
Anthony Green	...	Israel Hands
Danny Midwinter	...	Elias Ransom
Bill Fellows	...	Dr. Peter Bruce
Jasper Britton	...	William Howard
Jake Curran	...	Joseph Prescott
Robert Willox	...	Snake Leavitt
Patrick Regis	...	Thatch
Alan Shearman	...	Enoch Sanborn
Niko Nicotera	...	Moses Hobbs

Also Known As:

Pirates: The True Story of Blackbeard (International: English title)

Runtime:

USA:169 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-11 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Thailand

Company:

Hallmark Entertainment

Trivia:

The fight scenes were choreographed by the same choreographer that helped on Ong-bak (2003) and Tom yum goong (2005).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Accordion music is played in the background and a concertina is depicted in the pub scenes. The button accordion was not invented until 1822, with some prototypes appearing around 1810, while the concertina was invented in 1829. Edward Teach died in 1718.

Quotes:

Blackbeard: [to Lt. Maynard who's just been flogged] The sting will go away in a few days. The scabs will take a few weeks.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Raging Mad Sea Dog or Fawning Puppy (2006) (V)

Should have been called The Hunt for Kidd's Treasure

I don't claim to be an expert on Blackbeard, in fact like many of us I really have just a basic understanding of who he was. Not a passing understanding mind you, that would be basically be knowing that he was a pirate and maybe knowing his real name was Edward Teach. A basic understanding would mean knowing the name of the ship he's associated with the most (Queen Anne's Revenge, which was a French ship he captured and renamed), he's associated with the then English colony of North Carolina among other places, that the governor of the colony of Virginia sent Maynard after him because the governor of NC was to friendly with him. Things of that nature.

Now knowing these things, when I saw ads for this movie I was eagerly anticipating this movie. I knew it wasn't going to stick strictly to the facts, what historical movie does? But I expected them to be much more of a guideline than what was presented. Yet for the most part the facts were thrown out the window to present us with a movie that should have been called "The Hunt for Kidd's Treasure." Because that's really what this movie was about, finding Captain Kidd's treasure.

In that they could have used practically any pirate to be alive at any point after Kidd's death. Not only that, they could have created a pirate or said forget the pirates and just use anyone wishing to find the treasure. For that matter they could have set it at just about any time after his death, even today. But by using Blackbeard they ensured there would be a built in audience.

As a movie by itself, if one heavily ignores the director and screenwriter playing fast and loose with history, it's mildly entertaining. The intrigue coming in two ways, firstly Blackbeard and Maynard's interaction in searching for the treasure together, secondly the corrupt governor of an apparent colony in the Caribbean as he looks to hide his truth from his adopted daughter and his citizens. Maynard apparently is sent to deal with Blackbeard by someone else entirely and essentially ends up shanghaied into the pirate's crew, where he hides his real nature, and rather successfully until the time comes for him to save some folks. Meanwhile, the governor and his essentially second in command have been working with pirates for a while now and are willing to team up with Blackbeard so as to get their share of his prizes. Unfortunately for them his adopted daughter falls for Maynard and becomes suspicious of what they are up too.