Ahoy me hearties!

Introduction

Yarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

There's something about pirates. They feature in cinema from time to time (Pirates of the Caribbean most recently). There's an "international talk like a pirate day". We go to a summer camping event called Piratemania, where 200 or so walkers dress up as pirates and play silly games. One of the best Blackadder episodes features a brilliant performance from Tom Baker as Captain Redbeard Rum - "You have a woman's hand, me lord!"

Yellowbeard is a vaguely Pythonesque take on the genre. Written by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook and Bernard McKenna, and featuring Chapman as Yellowbeard as well as Cleese and Idle, you can see the Python connections. But it also features the last big screen performance from Marty Feldman, who died in mysterious circumstances near the end of filming. And it's also the last big screen performance of Spike Milligan, who only had TV roles after this. Also appearing are Peter Boyle, James Mason, Madeline Kahn, Michael Hordern, Beryl Reid, Susannah York and a cameo from David Bowie



The story is a pretty simple swashbuckling tale with some added silliness. Yellowbeard is captured, but will not reveal the location of his buried treasure. Lots of people are interested in it, including the authorities and his old first mate. Instead of releasing him from prison, he is kept in, so that he will escape and lead his pursuers to the treasure. Also in the mix are his wife and son. Who will get to the treasure first?

Video and Audio

We are presented with a 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, which is not bad for its age. There's some dirt, dust and other nasties on occasion. It's another case of this being the best way to own it at this time. Unlike the Python films, or even some of the other side projects (like Wanda or even Jabberwocky) it's not going to get the star treatment, so it will have to do. It was filmed in England and Mexico and there are some nice looking locations on display. There's also some pretty good pirating action mixed in with the funny bits.



A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack which is just the original mono, cleaned up a bit and replayed over both channels. Functional. Nothing to write home about. The only other thing of note is that the theme tune sounds a bit like Star Trek Voyager...

Extra Features

Sadly only a cheese filled trailer.

Conclusion

Another case of something like a sow's ear coming from silk purse ingredients. Great comedy writers at the helm. A cracking set of comedic actors. But this film never really adds up to anything like the sum of its consituent parts. There are some funny scenes and some good ideas lurking around. But there are so many that just don't work. It seems to be another example of Chapman writing without Cleese and lacking quality control.

If you're a Python fan then it's still worth a watch, as it will make you smile and laugh. But it's not really going to win many new fans as it's just not as good as it should have been. Think of what a great spoof of Treasure Island it could have been, and then reflect on the fact that it just didn't work out that way.



If you are a fan of this film and have had it on VHS for years, then you'll be getting this DVD as it's cheap and it's not bad. It could have been so much more, but that would have required someone at a studio to care about it. And as it's not really a lost classic, that was neve going to happen. So if you fancy a few laughs with some pirates, this will do for you too. Just don't expect too much if you've never seen it.