JoshuaRed

Well now let's see here....actor-wise I think the perfect on-screen pirates would be: Robert Carlyle (Full Monty, Angela's Ashes, Plunkett & Maclane) as a wily Calico Jack type. Gary Oldman was born to play Capt. Morgan, in a Braveheart-level epic, imo. He's not only one of the greatest living actors, he's got the range and physical ability to play several decades of Morgan's life. The perfect secondary character pirate would be played by Vinnie Jones (aka Bullet Tooth Tony in Snatch). He's the real deal. In real life, a perfect pirate would have had the leadership and discipline abilities of a Capt. Roberts, been a master of propoganda/image manipulation like Blackbeard, and been as gung-ho & ambitious as Capt. Morgan.

I have that issue of Witchblade. It's pretty cool. Witchblade is part of Rackham's crew....I forget, but she might even be Mary Read. Anne is there too of course. The "enemy" pirates are Blackbeard and his crew. If I get a chance I'll scan and post some shots here. I also have a very cool Batman issue. I forget the exact name as it was a short running series of "alternate" histories of Batman. This issue is set in the Golden Age of Piracy. Batman is sort of like Capt. Blood - a wronged noble slumming it with pirates and is out for revenge. The Joker is the enemy pirate captain. It's pretty cool actually. Robin is this young wharf rat pickpocket who befriends Bruce Wayne.

Log in to Kazaa or whatever file swapping service ye use, and look fer this: We Were Buccaneers by Hoyt Axton. It's a rip-roarin' countryfied tune about a life on the account that's wonderfully poetic. It's one of my most played pirate tunes that's non-traditional. For those of you on broadband I'd be happy to email it to you if you can't find it.

Absolutely. I would say that the average mid-1600's buccaneer lived a much more violent and combat-filled life than the 1700's pirate who spent 2-3 years capturing merchants.

For the most part pirates hated fighting and avoided it whenever possible. For example, the legendary Bartholomew Roberts who took over 400 ships, only actually duked it out with a few of those. The rest struck colors based on his badass rep alone. So I guess you could say that a pirate's reputation would be his most trusty weapon! However, when pirates did fight, they were nasty foes for sure. Many of the buccaneers were reknowned marksmen from years of hunting wild pigs on Hispaniola. And as many many pirates were ex-navy they must have been well schooled in boardings and gunnery too. Pirates are SO cool aren't they?

I bought a few of those. Pretty good stuff! I'll post some of my art here soon as I can find the time. My little boy is one year old today, and so I'm quite busy with him. :)

Indeed I do! From the rocky shores o' Southern Maine I be! A bit inland from th' coastal haunts of Dixie Bull n' Massacre Pond. Whar might ye be hailin' from sir?

Aye aye, Pirate Queen.... "I always like to sample a bottle of wine before I take it!" I've often dreamt of a wild raucous night at Ye Porker's Sterne....

I just this afternoon finished reading Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck. For those unfamiliar, it's his very first novel, and his only historical novel. It's about the life and times of Capt. Morgan. While it's a blend of fact and fantasy, leaning more toward fantasy, nonetheless it paints an amazing and I'd say believeable biopic of Morgan. HIGHLY recommended!

Actually on second thought perhaps I'd bring one of those hats with a solar powered fan in the brim. And if it had the beer can holders on th' side I could put me grog in thar!

Well mateys, I be doin' all sorts o' piratical stuff....from Wyeth-esque oil paintings (tho I dare not compare my talents to him whatsoevah) to more humorous caricatures. Soon as I can I'll upload some images.

LOL....Astroglide. Hah! Hmmm....what would I take back.... I know! I'd take a modern 20th century blonde bombshell pinup chick like Pamela Anderson with flawless skin, white teeth, clean hair and all her fingers and toes. Then I'd set her up in a tent in Port Royal and charge the buccaneers one piece of eight per peep show. In a matter or weeks I'd be the richest guy on the island and I could live like a king. Those dirty 17th century scrubs would go BONKERS to see a lady like that in such a violent, dirty world! :) I'd also bring along a truckload of TP, cigarettes, lite beer, Slim Jims and 20th century smut to peddle off to the riffraff.

Speaking of rehashing movie music, the original Pirates of the Caribbean teaser used the terrific music from Coppola's Dracula.

Langella was indeed very good. However his costume, 20th century hair and massive serrated-edge cutlass were not so good. My fave thing about that movie was Gov. Ainsley who was portrayed beautifully, imo. He seemed to be the only character with a shred of potential authenticity.

Well while this might get me keelhauled, I vote Cutthroat Island as the worst. It's so far beyond trite that it's laughable. It's ripe with gross historical errors and blunders. It perpetuates this lame Hollywood notion that pirates don't actually rob, they just sail around "Adventuring" and fighting OTHER Pirates. And WHY must there always be a damned treasure map???? It was filmed off Thailand which looks nothing like the Caribbean. Geena Davis was awful. I could go on and on about the ways this movie sucks. In the end though, I just found it inexcusable that with such a huge budget that Renny Harlin could have FINALLY made a movie about the REAL side of piracy, something Hollywood has YET to do. I will say this about Cutthroat Island - the costumes are stellar and the music was amazing.

Indeed you are correct Ms. Rose! Much like Doug Fairbanks modeled the look, colors and costumes of The Black Pirate after Howard Pyle's legendary artwork.

My fave pirate flick besides "The Black Pirate" (one of the only pirate films to actually dare to show pirates ACTUALLY pirating, lol) would have to be the 1990 TNT version of Treasure Island with Charlton Heston as Long John, Christian Bale as Jim, Oliver Reed as Billy Bones and Peter Posthelwaite as George Merry. The film is suprisingly dark, gritty and violent unlike the Disney version or Jackie Cooper/Wallace Beery version. Throw in some amazing original music from the Chieftains and you've got a helluva flick!

The best pirate swordfight HAS to be in the Black Pirate when Doug Fairbanks fights the pirate captain on the desert isle. That particular pirate was played by a sword fighting expert, who trained Douglas for months just for this one scene. The DVD contains some excellent outtakes of both guys actually getting cut and stabbed by mistake cause their fighting was so intense. Count of Monte Cristo is also great. Rob Roy also has an amazing fight with Tim Roth and Liam Neeson in the end.

I reckon that sounds like a right foine time, aye! Wot are ye sum sort o' re-enactor type wot gits hisself on all sorts o' tv and films?

Aye! Redbeard be right sez I!!! I've brung me own special mix o' killdevil grog n' some fat Spaniard prisoners wot we kin hurl broken bottles at when we be good and drunk, aye!!

Well ain't this a right foine harbor!! Been vistin' NQG fer years now, tis one o' me faverite ports o' call. So it warms th' cockles o' me haht ta see a growin' pyrate enclave. Allow me ta buy a round o' killdevil and intreeduce meself. I be Joshua Red, yankee buccaneer and artiste. Currently I be anchored on the southern coast o' Maine, home to loads o' pyrate history an' lore. I greatly enjoy pirate PC games like Cutthroats, Pirates Gold, etc. And like most o' ye, am eagerly awaitin' the Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie. Perhaps ah'll post some o' me pirate art 'ere, ifn' it's ok. Fair winds to ye all!