Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

SnoopyStyle Mabel Stanley (Kristy McNichol) is a homely shy teenage girl who comes with her outgoing friends to a pirate festival. The bare chested swordplay instructor (Christopher Atkins) invites her on a boat ride. The girls take him and the boat out leaving Mabel behind. She tries to catch up in a small sailboat and falls into the sea. She's washed up on a beach dreaming an old timey pirate fantasy. Frederic (Atkins) is the young apprentice of the Pirate King (Ted Hamilton) but he refuses to join them on his 21st birthday. Pirates had killed his parents and vows to exterminate all pirates. They send him off on a row boat. Mabel is the youngest daughter of Major-General Stanley (Bill Kerr) and by custom must be the last to marry.It definitely is high on the cheesy camp factor. It's fun and delightful if you're in the mood. Who isn't in love with McNichol back then? And Atkins is fully in his hunky beachy curly hair. It is self-aware and a fun broad spoof. If you're a Gilbert and Sullivan purist, this is going to grate on your nerves. How dare they spoof such an institution as 'The Pirates of Penzance'. I say why not. Pumpin' And Blowin' gets the Razzie for the Worst Original Song. It tells me people either get the joke or hate the joke because the song itself isn't bad. It's just ridiculous which makes this movie an easy target.

mark.waltz If you thought "Xanadou" and "Can't Stop the Music!" had gay sensibilities or camp moments then watch this pathetic rip-off of Gilbert and Sullivan's most revived operetta where the film is supposed to be oh-so-straight but ends up as oh-so-stupid and oh-so-offensive. Moments of the original score are tossed together with a new fangled pop score so bad that all those great memories of the early 80's and the fun bad trends that came out of them are all washed away. O.K., so the idea of pairing Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol seemed like a good idea at the time. He was the newest hearth-throb after "The Blue Lagoon" and she was oh-so-cute as Buddy on "Family", the tomboy everybody liked. What they forgot to give them was a script, here so obviously slap-dash that the results are as jaw-dropping as the audience members of "Springtime For Hitler" in "The Producers". (Please don't throw your playbills at me for saying so!).It is obvious to me that this was tossed together so fast not only because of the success of "The Pirates of Penzance" on Broadway but in expectation of the movie version of that show yet to be released. Like previous similarities between similar plotted movies released within months of each other (Think "Black Sunday" and "Two Minute Warning"), it's almost like sabotage. While "The Pirates of Penzance" came and went very quickly when it was released early in 1983, this film had a release the previous summer and obviously soured anybody interested in seeing a mostly faithful movie version of a hundred year old British operetta.McNichol is Mabel, a geeky teen-aged girl hanging around the beach who somehow is obsessed with pirate movies and after being left behind after mean girls prevent her from boarding tour guide Atkins' boat, she ends up dreaming she's the heroine of Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta. He, of course, is the dashing hero, raised by pirates, yet determined to make his own way and find true love with the opposite sex. But the pirate king (Ted Hamilton) isn't willing to let him go and threatens to stand in the way of his heterosexual happiness. A wasted Maggie Kirkpatrick takes the normally scene-stealing role of nurse Ruth and turns it into almost a bit part,lacking the zest of the many veteran comics who played the role on Broadway and Angela Lansbury who showed screen audiences her musical talents in one of the rare times she actually got to use her own singing voice in the movies.The worst Major General ever, Bill Kerr comes on like gang-busters with absolutely no subtly or humor like George Rose was doing on stage and later in the authentic film version. Sprinkled throughout this are spoofs of pop-culture characters popular at the time, such as Inspector Clouseau and Indiana Jones, proving what one critic said about it being "the rip-off movie". While the original operetta at times can be outright silly and sometimes eye-rolling, this version made me roll my eyes so much I was afraid of being able to see out of the back of my head or through my ears.Then, there's the truncated score, an assassination of sorts where only a handful of the original score is used (or misused) and the new songs (with the possible exception of the song in the opening film-within-a-film) are dumber than any of the slobs of the slobs-vs.-the-snobs comedies popular at the time. "Happy Ending" is a bit of a catchy tune, but it's a horribly weak way to wrap up the plot, and McNichols' being forced to pair couples up had me sneering not cheering. "Pumpin And Blowin'" gets my vote for one of the top five worst movie songs ever written, and perhaps in the top ten of all songs ever written. It makes the theme from the original "The Blob" seem like "As Time Goes By" in comparison.

Matthew_Capitano Stupid teen flick with lame references to many other films - those references masquerading as "jokes".A frumpy Kristy McNichol plays a frumpy chick named 'Mabel' who gets conked on the head and subsequently dreams about living in the swashbuckler days surrounded by bisexual pirates and a handsome young man called 'Frederic' (Chris Atkins). As usual, Kristy tries to bluff her way through a film as if she can act, this time asking the audience to believe that she's actually 'hot' and a 'rrrreally gooood singer'.... pffft.The only truthful thing that can be said about the performances of the leads in this movie is that Atkins is better.... and prettier.

bkoganbing For Christopher Atkins The Pirate Movie was a followup to the big hit he scored in The Blue Lagoon. Since his public expected him to look as much as he did in The Blue Lagoon, Atkins spent a lot of time without too many clothes on. And he had his hair curled once again for The Pirate Movie. He never had curls like that naturally, but it was done for The Blue Lagoon and had to be done here as well. Just like Mario Lopez had it done that way on Saved By The Bell.The great sex symbol of the early Eighties was teamed with Kristy McNichol who had a following of her own with the television series, Family. The Pirate Movie is a modern version of The Pirates Of Penzance with some contemporary music added to the score of Gilbert&Sullivan.Of course Gilbert&Sullivan purists will be horrified, but actually if The Pirate Movie inspires some kid to check out classics like the original Pirates Of Penzance, than the making of The Pirate Movie will serve its purpose. In this film you'll get to hear some modern music together with such classics as the Model Of A Modern Major General.The film was shot in Australia and it sports an Aussie supporting cast behind the leads of Atkins and McNichol. I have to say this is one of the few films you'll ever see where the male lead is prettier than the female one. That was Christopher Atkins's problem the rest of his career.