Amazon Fire TV Stick
8.2
Rate It
Tech Watch
HD Fire Stick: powerful media streaming device plugs into HDTV. TV stick enables access to thousands...
Weather Motion HD
Weather and Utilities
App
To celebrate the new update, Weather Motion application is FREE for the next 24 hours ONLY. Enjoy it...
iStopMotion for iPad
Photo & Video and Education
App
*** Winner Macworld Best of Show 2013 *** *** Winner Macworld Best of Show 2012 and Mac Observer...
Sleep Timer & Nature Sounds
Health & Fitness and Lifestyle
App
Having trouble falling asleep? Insomnia? Snoring partner? NO PROBLEM! Play our carefully selected...
StudioMini XL - Your trusty music recorder
Music and Utilities
App
The recording app used by multi-platinum band Gorillaz on their album 'The Fall' StudioMini XL is a...
Sleep Cycle alarm clock
Health & Fitness and Utilities
App
Waking up made easy. An intelligent alarm clock that analyzes your sleep and wakes you in the...
RəX Regent (349 KP) rated The Black Pirate (1926) in Movies
Feb 18, 2019
Sound would take first, with Technicolor taking just a little longer, mainly due to the technical issues of using it both in front and behind the camera. But as time went on, these issues were gradually dealt with with the rest is cinema history.
So, having gotten the technical bit out of the way, on to the Douglas Fairbanks Jr. blockbuster. And that is precisely want this was. A by-the-numbers acrobatic action movie by the undisputed star of the day, Fairbanks.
The plot follows a Duke (Fairbanks) whose ship is attacked and destroyed by a Pirates. He is the soul survivor and vows revenge. He soon finds himself in the company of the very pirates he is looking for and infiltrates their crew by being the best god-damn pirate there ever was!
He meets a princess (Billie Dove) and saves the day, gets the girl and the evil pirates are dispatched. All, amidst lots of colourful blood, to emphasise the Technicolor I suppose and slides down a few sails with his dagger along the way.
The performances are typical for a Hollywoodland movie of the day, but besides the outstanding physicality of Douglas, I would not say that there was anything particularly noteworthy about the acting, let alone the production on the whole. Having said that, the tone and cliche’s which this film has brought to the genre as whole are legendary and there is that foray into colour of course.
This were it all began folks…
The DVD
Unfortunately my copy was just the cheap R-0 version, whcih was clearly (ironically) taken from a old VHS recording. The colour is vivid but wrong. Greens have replaced blacks and the overall print quality was poor but watchable. I have seen bit s of the KINO HD Blu-ray edition and this looks great.
It also has the original score by Mortimer Wilson, something whcih this bargain basement DVD does not. The music supplied is okay; a mix of classical pieces on a loop but none this is cued and rarely suits the scenes let alone the action on screen. Further proof that there never was such a thing as silent cinema, just no synchronised sound.
For the real experience, get the Blu-ray, though it is very expensive at the moment, but if you just want to see what all the fuss is about, this DVD is quite watchable, at least as an entry version.
Me, I am after the upgrade!
SleepStream Classic - Advanced Sleep Inducer & Energizer
Lifestyle and Health & Fitness
App
NEWS: Please note that this is the description for SleepStream Classic. SleepStream version 2 is...
Talking Thai <> English Dictionary+Phrasebook
Reference and Travel
App
Whether you're on a short trip to Thailand, working with Thais, or studying the Thai language...