Overlooked Movies -- Swashbuckler
Let me say right away that while it's no Cuttthroat Island, Swashbuckler is nevertheless fun. Robert Shaw as "Red Ned" seems to be having a great time, as does the rest of the cast. And it's a great cast, including James Earl Jones as a pirate, along with Geoffrey (UnCola) Holder as his pal. Peter Boyle is the nutty and wicked island governor, and you also get Beau Bridges and Genevieve Bujold. Plus others. One of the stars is the Golden Hind, a replica of Sir Francis Drake's ship, which serves as Red Ned's ship in the movie. It gets a little silly at times, but it has pretty much everything you could ask for in a pirate movie: sword fighting, sea battles, scheming governors, knife-throwing, romance, great stunts, you name it. I saw this one on the big screen and later on TV. It holds up pretty well if you like pirate movies, which I do. Check it out.
4 comments:
One of my favorites. Beau Bridges as Major Folly...inspired!
I didn't like it as well, but Robert Shaw was always worth watching. His earlier pirate character was Capt. Dan Tempest on the syndicated, British-made '50s series, THE BUCCANEERS.
"He's the bravest man we know,
"Say he's not and you'll be walking the plank, oh!
Let's go a-rovin' to join the Buccaneers!"
Boyle as a non-psychotic villain was underemployed, I suspect. He's solid, both as a talent and a presence.
Saw this one with the whole family on TV.
One of Red Ned's crew members was Tom Clancy - not the novelist, but Tom Clancy of the singing Clancy Brothers. He had quite a run in Hollywood during this time as a character actor in movies and TV, and my dad always got a kick out of spotting him.
Or maybe I should say that I got a kick out of pointing him out to Dad, at least in the early going.
Tom Clancy's gruff voice was unmistakable, though (if you'd ever heard him sing Rising Of The Moon, for instance), and soon enough Dad could spot him too.
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