Reviews

I found this series on Tubi, where it is edited into film format, so I am not sure if anything has been altered in the process, but here is my take on what I saw...

The designers did a great job of reviving the true 90's aesthetic and vibe, but didn't stoop to overdoing it for the sake of nostalgia-gone-fantasy (I'm pretty sure I owned most of the main character's wardrobe and accessories at various points, and the set details were perfect).

The most critical thing I could say is that there were some editing issues - especially continuity between shots and some lighting issues.

Also, the acting from one of the cast members was a bit distracting but, as a whole, the cast was believable and engaging.

Some of the dialogue was a bit on the after school special side, but that was overcome by most of the cast who kept it authentic and made it sound honest.

The story was interesting and had some tantalizing mysteries which were slowly revealed as the film went along.

The issues faced by the characters, as well as the way people of various ages and backgrounds react to them was believable and realistic and, several times, I found myself reacting to their struggles as I would to a friend or relative.

This is a character study, and it does a great job of remembering to give all of the important characters time to reveal some personal details which make them more than just another person to recite dialogue.

Anyone rating this below a 7 is clearly going in expecting something that this wasn't. This isn't a multi-million dollar Netflix production based on a chart-topping, best selling novel. It is an independent work of love. Overall, I'm not holding the minor issues against the production, in view of what was clearly a limited budget. I have seen FAR worse from big budget productions. It more than kept me in my seat for the duration - it actually left me craving more (in the best kind of way, as evidenced by me posting a rare review and putting real time into it).

I want to see where things go for these characters and to see some more of the mysteries unraveled. I truly hope we get more of this, and soon!

I don't understand all of the negative reviews. The movie is exactly what it intends to be: a bleak tragecomedy (note I don't say "dark" comedy, because it is beyond that).

If you feel like the movie is dragging, maybe you should turn your brain off and go back to watching Avengers. The haters here are probably also the ones who prefer the directors cut for Donnie Darko (aka Donnie Darko for Dummies). They need everything handed to them with full explanation.

Maybe the people reviewing this don't like films that feel like real life turned up to max? But that's what it is. It shows how twisted life can be - just when one thing starts looking up, you find another three reasons why it isn't. And just when you think you know someone, you realize you don't know them at all.

The film has a perfect cast, capable direction and cinematography, a decent script, great music, and it had me engaged from the opening shot. I would like to say that it would be nice for the characters to be expanded a bit (also the runtime) because it is all worth exploring more. But, it is also to be said that the vagueness of it all was intentional for purpose of timed reveal.

I rate it a solid 7/10 (gave it a 10/10 to boost the ratings)

No ghosts. No deranged serial killers. No mutant creatures. Not even a bump in the night. And, yet, this manages to be one of the most stomach-churning, terrifying, and unsettling pieces of cinema I've seen (of thousands). Without spoiling too much, I will say that the depths of an ill or tortured mind can be bleak and disturbing!

I cannot fathom why this film has less than a 7.0 rating - perhaps due other than to the somewhat disjointed and clunky opening. Having seen only the unfortunately trimmed 95 minute version, I cannot speak for the full version. I do feel thst I am missing out on a further incredible performance and a more efficiently fleshed opening (which, if you watch closely seems to have existed before public domain tampering).

If you enjoy films/novels such as Rebecca, My Cousin Rachel, and Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, this film could be for you. If those bore you, then you may be a part of the crowd who bestowed upon this film such an insultingly low score.

The film is easy to find on YouTube and various classic cinema sites, but I do hope that, one day, we will be treated to a proper restoration and dvd/bluray release - I'm looking at you, Twilight Time!

Another reviewer described the movie as being "not very memorable"... this couldn't be further from the truth! Despite not having watched the movie in a minimum of 15-20 years, I found myself constantly stunned by how vividly I remembered every scene, nearly to the point of reciting the lines.

As a kid, I was obsessed with this movie. It was everything I wanted in an adventure - the adventure I wished I could have: fleeing home to set sail on a voyage full of intrigue, curious ports-of-call, kind sailors, exotic tribes, murky pirates, mutiny, tropical exploration, surviving in a strange wilderness, buried treasure, ingenious traps and, overall, seeing the world and growing through it.

30 years since the first time seeing this movie, it is just as enjoyable and just as solid as it ever was. By the end, I was in tears, in no small part due to the relief that it is as good as I remember it being - that is: not just being overriden by childish sentimentality, but also because it is a well-crafted, well-acted, and well-composed piece of cinema.

The only "flaw" I could find is that I wish the film could have been longer. There are a couple of segments which could have done with being fleshed out, as they rather rush to the next element. Despite this, the film still manages to carry the weight of an epic and, by the end, you truly feel that you have been through a long and life-changing experience. It's a 90-minute movie that feels more like a 3 hour epic - and in the very best of ways!

If you have any fondness for adventure - especially the seagoing or global explorer kind, this will definitely be worth your time.

I am trying really hard to comprehend the hate I am seeing on here from some people. I confess: I fully expected this to be a cringy college student's independent film with bad acting and an even worse script. Instead, I was delivered a film clearly written from a place of experience and featuring a carefully selected and completely capable cast - I dare say not a single bad actor among them (some superior to others, but none could be called bad).

How this film could receive anything but love is beyond me. Maybe the naysayers were looking for an Emma Stone romcom with a bunch of goofy faces, pratfalls and a happy ending, but were disappointed to find complicated human characters and real emotions?

It has been a long time since I saw a film that engaged me so completely and made me believe every character and every motivation, no matter how small. It genuinely felt like I was re-living some chapter of my own life - seeing the people I knew and understood, feeling the intimacy and immediacy of each moment, but also stepping back to view it from new, less-biased angles.

This movie will likely appeal most to people who are (as of 2021) in their early 30's-mid 40's. I think, perhaps unintentionally, the film perfectly captured the feeling of being a young, newly independent adult in the early to mid 00's - that last bit of time before social media exploded and everyone became glued to their phones at all times (and therefore detached). In that time, people and emotions mattered so much more and, in a way, you were forced to really face these things. You couldn't simply block so-and-so on instagram and jump on Tindr to find the next one. You were left with a mind full of them and the experiences you've had with them and had to really decide if you wanted to completely remove them from your life or if you wanted to salvage what was good and reshape the relationship to fit that (whatever form that may be); as well as make the choice of whether you are going to continue living as you were or if you are going to search yourself for what it is that you really want in life and what it is that you are capable of.

THAT is what this movie is about.

Anyone rating this less than 7 clearly doesn't understand the film at all. When Gilbert & Sullivan first wrote The Pirates of Penzance in the late 1800's, they were writing it in satire of the operatic idiom. If the film's title wasn't enough of a clue in itself, The Pirate Movie is a satire of the sort of musical adventure cinema we were seeing in the 70's and early 80's (see Grease, Xanadu, The Wiz, Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar, Man of La Mancha, Rock & Roll High School... the list goes on!). Also, it was just meant to be a lot of fun. If you are going in, expecting something with the musical mastery of West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables, you are looking in the wrong place. If a film that could be the lovechild of The Goonies and ABBA sounds intriguing, then you are going to have a blast! So put away your critic's notepad, pop some corn and enjoy!