Black Beard on National Geo

[Captain_Finn]

Hey guys what channel is it on??? i cant find it! i have basic cable.. Not the 100 channels .. like from 2-74 etc

[Silkie McDonough]

history channel

[Captain_Finn]

so channel 37?

[Silkie McDonough]

I was wrong NGC 109

[Captain_Finn]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[capnwilliam]

history channel

No, it's on the National Geographic Channel.

Capt. William

[Black Hearted Pearl]

It runs twice on the same channel, so if you missed it the first time....

[Bloody Bill Flint]

Woot, that was firkin' awesome. And thanks to DVR I can watch it again and again and again. Who's te say the devil does not exist?

[JoshuaRed]

It was awesome. Not as accurate as National Geographic would have us believe, but still awesome. I'm just thankful that at last...AT LONG LAST we have scenes of pirates actually committing piracy. The actors did a helluva good job, especially Israel Hands' stoic wisdom. The guy doing Charles Vane in the beginning was great too.

Here's my nitpicks:

1. I don't think they could have picked a location that looks LESS like North Carolina than Malta....what were they thinking there? Also noticed 90% of the land scenes were shot in the same stone tunnel.

And I've been inside the Williamsburg gaol....consisting of small above ground wooden cells, nothing remotely like the cavernous dungeon on the show.

2. Would have been nice to show the infamous "sinking" of the QAR, or Teach lighting the stinkpots in the hold. And Stede Bonnet was noticeably absent. I know they only had 2 hours, but those are some pretty major details to leave out of "the most accurate dramatization of Blackbeard ever seen on television".

3. Did they REALLY have to give Israel the Jack Sparrow "baubles, bangles and beads" look in his hair?

4. Wish they hadn't tried to stuff the extra pirate lore in there, with the "code" stuff, the French girl in disguise, the earrings, etc.

Overall I give them massive kudos for what is certainly the coolest pirate footage/show/reenactment I've ever seen on big or small screen.

4 Skulls!!

Btw, is it just me or did they use the same sloop for all the sloops featured, then just splice 'em together digitally? I tivoed it so I'll have to recheck. Heck I'll be watching this alot, so much of it is so beautiful!

[Red-Handed Jill]

I thought it was pretty good. They did a lot of things really well, but definitely could have improved some areas. In particular, I didn't like the way they chopped it up - 8 minutes of show, 3 minutes of commercials (I timed it.) You just start getting back into the story and you're yanked out of it for the SAME commercials over and over again. I also agree that there were elements that they didn't have to include. The costuming was terrific, though - the pirates were nicely grimy.

And yeah, it looks like they just had one, maybe two boat interiors - the exterior long shots were all CGI.

[JoshuaRed]

Yeah, the CGI was prevalent, but looked really cool...kind of like an old maritime painting come to life.

[Caraccioli]

It was an interesting show, but I agree about the commercials. How many times do I have to see the bike change styles at the click of a mouse? (Ok, I get it - at least show us a different commercial about the bike.) Also, why did they cut Bonnet out? Maybe they didn't have a ship to represent him. Maybe they wanted to be able to get more commercials in. (Maybe I'm being cynical.)

I was pleased to see that they didn't use extra sound effects for the guns. There were several nods to the Hollywood characterization of pirates, though. Beads, earrings, firing pistols into the air (Who would do that with a gun that took so long to reload?) and so on.

Oh...Frenchie? Where did that character come from? I don't recall any historical reference to such a person. Is there a book I should have read?

Did anyone else think that he was sort of channeling Rush playing Barbarossa some of the time? (Of course, Rush's character was based more than a little on Blackbeard, so I guess that's fair.)

For those of you who missed it, it will probably be repeated several times throughout the coming month. Cable stations usually do that.

[Mad Matt]

I saw in the trailer, that Blackbeard wore bucket boots...

I hope they release it soon, on DVD. I don't get the National Geographic Channel, either.

[Silkie McDonough]

Tis then setteled, party at m'house, ya'gents an watch the video n'I kin watch u!

[Pirate Petee]

Oh man was that bad ass, I'm sure after spend so much time and money that a DVD will soon be following.

[JoshuaRed]

Yeah I enjoyed that more than anything since Heston's Treasure Island I think.

[Pirate Petee]

I love the dude that played Billy Bones in that movie, best hollywood pirate in my opinion.

[Rummy3]

I just happened upon it when we crawled into bed after the Irish Festival last night! I thought it was great (all except for the commercials. Wasn't the original promotion for cable tv supposed to be that it was commercial free?) Oh well, great movie - i'd watch it again :)

[Red Maria]

Yes there were many things that weren't correct and many thing I'd love to see (the legendary party at Oroeekokee (sp?) , the skuttliing err I mean the running agorund of the QAR) but one thing I think was done right was the performance of Blackbeard by James Purfoy. It was an amazing perfomance.

No he wasn't channeling Rush as Barabossa he was making Balckbeard what he is usually was considered to be, a Bristol man. That was defiantely a Britstol accent. He made BB the smart, wiely badass he was. It was such a departure from what Purfoy normally does. Kudos to James Purfoy on a job well done. The rest of the cast was equally good.

The only other thing I I had problem with was BB's death scene. Instead of the beheading by highlander with a broadsword with BB saying, one of the best last lines in history "Well done lad" when the higlander first cut BB's neck. to which the higlander replied "If not well done, I'll do better". then he cuts BB's head off. Now that's a death scene! That whole grabbing Maynard and sying the bit about hidtory was incongruous.

I can't wait for the DVD. :)

[JoshuaRed]

Very good point. I agree completely. Purfoy was terrific. Especially in the early years. It will be weird seeing him do Marc Antony again next season on Rome!

[callenish gunner]

watched it twice through .....excellent film!!!!!

i will keep checking to see when it's out on dvd!!!

and since all we have to go on were the official accounts brought out at the trials it's possible that there could have been a female crew member who was otherwise undiscovered ....sure it was added for the effect

[Captain Jim-sib]

Just finished watching the taped show. Twas good...a bit inaccurate in parts...No mention of Hornigold--who gave Teach the QAR. Good models of the QAR & Bermuda sloops. Swell battle scenes. Will be watching it a few more times.

True, Joshua Red, the Ocracoke shoreline looked a bit rocky, and Bath did (& still does) not have a building so big.

[JoshuaRed]

The only spot in the show where I really had to start laughing was the "water torture" scene with Spotswood in the "dungeon". You could have fit the entire population of Williamsburg in that mammoth room!

[Bloody Bill Flint]

I love the dude that played Billy Bones in that movie, best hollywood pirate in my opinion.

I dunno there Petee me lad. I think Tyrone Powers' "The Black Swan" could give it a run for it's money.

[Caraccioli]

No he wasn't channeling Rush as Barabossa he was making Balckbeard what he is usually was considered to be, a Bristol man. That was defiantely a Britstol accent.

It wasn't his accent I was referring to, it was that low growly thing he did with his throat occasionally. Sort of a pseudo "Arrrrr..." If I remember correctly, Rush created that specifically as some sort of balance between the fictional Hollywood pirate cry and reality. (I seem to remember reading or hearing that somewhere.)