Sandokan Fights Back (1964)

Original title: Sandokan Alla Riscossa

Pirate/Exotic adventure. Italy/West Germany. Starring Ray Danton, Guy Madison, Mario Petri, Alberto Farnese & Raf Baldassarre. Directed by Luigi Capuano.

Elephant Video (UK). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

I love the Sandokan adventures but this one didn't do much for me. Also, Ray Danton is a lame Sandokan compared with Kabir Bedi, or even Steve Reeves. 2/5

Gordon, the Black Pirate (1961)

Original title: Gordon, il Pirata Nero

Pirate yarn. Italy. Starring Ricardo Montalban, Vincent Price & Liana Orfei. Directed by Mario Costa. Standard Video (Holland). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly).

Italian pirate film that plays everything just the right way. And it has Vincent Price as the villian! 4/5

Surcouf, L'eroe dei Sette Mari (1966)

Pirate. Spain/Italy/France. Starring Gérard Barray, Antonella Lualdi, Terence Morgan, Gérard Tichy, Giani Esposito, Fernando Sancho, Aldo Sambrell & Luis Barboo. Directed by Sergio Bergonzelli & Roy Rowland.

Xphema Video Ltd. (Greece). French language with greek subtitles. Fullscreen.

Un Pirata de Doce Años (1972)

Pirate yarn. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, René Cardona III & Christa Linder. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DVD: DistriMax Inc. (USA). Spanish language with english subtitles. Fullscreen. Watchable quality.

Very obscure pirate flick by René Carona Jr, one of my favorite directors when it comes to stiff genre cinema. A crew of goodhearted English pirates get their ship sunken by the evil spaniards. Their bad luck continues when they are washed ashore on an island used as a Spanish military training camp. Most of the crew are quickly killed off by the spaniards until only the pirates with clear character features remain: The heroic pirate leader (Cardona-favorite Hugo Stiglitz), the kid hero (René Cardona III - aaargh, it never ends!), the Indian (good at scouting and a good listener), the one-eyed brute (good at kicking Spanish asses) and a longhaired, bearded pirate who looks like a overweight middleage hippie (he - uhm- likes to spit a lot). When the pirates realise the spaniards are holding an English noble lady and her kids and chambermaid hostage they decide to go an a rescue mission and try to escape through the jungle. With the Spanish breathing down their neck they encounter cannibals, quicksand and dangerous animals on their way to freedom. I enjoyed this flick quite a lot. The film offers lots of dated swashbuckling fun to be had and there's never long between the swordsplay, crocodile attacks or cannibal ambushs. Fans of bad models will enjoy the sinking of the model ship, Antonio Margheriti would be proud. Add some crisp photography and good locations and you have 90 entertaining minutes. 4/5

Sandokan the Great (1963)

Original title: Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad, Andrea Bosic, Rik Battaglia, Adolfo Celi & Mimmo Palmara. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

DVD: Impulso Records & Films (Spain). English/spanish language options. Widescreen. Good quality, except for a 5-10 minute part in the middle which appears to be sourced from VHS.

Lenzi's first Sandokan flick - 100% classic stuff! My favorite Steve Reeves film. 5/5

Treasure Island (1972)

Pirate. France/Italy/Spain/UK/West Germany. Starring Orson Welles, Kim Burfield, Walter Slezak, Rik Battaglia, Lionel Stander, Maria Rohm, Paul Muller & Aldo Sambrell. Directed by John Hough, Andrea Bianchi (uncredited) & Antonio Margheriti (uncredited).

Guild Home Video Ltd (UK). English language. Fullscreen.

Sandokan 2 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

The second and last part of the feature lenght edit of Sollima's classic Sandokan mini-series. 5/5

Sandokan 1 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly).

Sollima's beloved Sandokan mini-series was also edited down to two feature lengh films. This is the first part and it's a classic all the way: simply the best romantic swashbuckler I have seen in my life! Everything is class A in this film/series: the story, the camera work, the sets, the music, the cast - especially Kabir Bedi, who was born to play this type of swashbuckling hero! I've liked him in everything i've seen him in (even the awful The Archerer and the Sorceress) but as Sandokan he really shines, this is the one he'll be remembered for. My highest recommendation. 5/5

Sandokan the Great (1963)

Original title: Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Pirate adventure/Exotic. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad, Andrea Bosic, Rik Battaglia, Adolfo Celi & Mimmo Palmara. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Lenzi's first Sandokan flick - 100% classic stuff! My favorite Steve Reeves film. 5/5

Treasure Island (1971)

Original title: Ostrov Sokrovishch

Pirate adventure. Soviet Union. Starring Boris Andreyev, Aare Laanemets & Laimonas Noreika. Directed by Yevgeni Fridman.

Scand Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

The Black Pirate (1976)

Original title: Il Corsaro Nero

Pirate yarn. Starring Kabir Bedi, Carole André, Mel Ferrer, Sal Borgese & Dagmar Lassander, Guido Alberti. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Hemvideo Film (Sweden). English dubbed. Widescreen.

Marvelous romantic swashbuckler sharing the same style, cast and professionalism of Sollima's classic Sandokan series. Kabir is the man. A must-see. 4/5

The Corsairs (1971)

Original title: Los Corsarios

Pirate yarn. Spain/Italy. Starring Dean Reed, Annabella Incontrera, Mary Francis, Alberto de Mendoza & Sal Borgese. Directed by Ferdinando Baldi.

Videce (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Lighthearted and highly entertaining pirate yarn. Non stop fun. 4/5

Queen of the Pirates (1961)

Original title: La Venere dei Pirati

Pirate yarn. Italy/West Germany. Starring Gianna Maria Canale, Massimo Serato, Scilla Gabel, Livio Lorenzon, Paul Muller, Moira Orfei & Andrea Aureli. Directed by Mario Costa.

Original Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Gianna Maria Canale is great as the masked female pirate in this fun, colorful pirate swashbuckler. Another Costa winner. I don't know if it's healthy for an adult male to be so exited over this type of pulp adventure film for kids, but I don't care! 4/5

Samson Against the Pirates (1963)

Original title: Sansone contro i Pirati

Peplum/Pirate yarn. Italy. Starring Kirk Morris, Margaret Lee, Daniele Vargas & Tullio Altamura. Directed by Tanio Boccia.

Worldwide Video (Holland). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Another slice of Kirk Morris hokum. Yummy! 3/5

Hawk of the Carribean (1963)

Original title: Lo Sparviero dei Caraibi

Pirate yarn. Italy. Starring Johnny Desmond, Yvonne Monlaur, Armando Francioli, Piero Lulli & Luigi Batzella. Directed by Piero Regnoli.

EKO (UK). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Colorful and highly entertaining pirate-swashbuckler with big band singer Johnny Desmond (of all people) . Johnny's not so much an actor as a bundle of charm, he should have starred in more films! One of the best of its kind! 4/5

Un Pirata de Doce Años (1972)

Pirate yarn. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, René Cardona III & Christa Linder. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Oscar Video (Greece). Spanish language with greek subtitles. Fullscreen.

Very obscure pirate flick by René Carona Jr, one of my favorite directors when it comes to stiff genre cinema. A crew of goodhearted English pirates get their ship sunken by the evil spaniards. Their bad luck continues when they are washed ashore on an island used as a Spanish military training camp. Most of the crew are quickly killed off by the spaniards until only the pirates with clear character features remain: The heroic pirate leader (Cardona-favorite Hugo Stiglitz), the kid hero (René Cardona III - aaargh, it never ends!), the Indian (good at scouting and a good listener), the one-eyed brute (good at kicking Spanish asses) and a longhaired, bearded pirate who looks like a overweight middleage hippie (he - uhm- likes to spit a lot). When the pirates realise the spaniards are holding an English noble lady and her kids and chambermaid hostage they decide to go an a rescue mission and try to escape through the jungle. With the Spanish breathing down their neck they encounter cannibals, quicksand and dangerous animals on their way to freedom. I enjoyed this flick quite a lot. Even though I don't understand Spanish, the plot is easy enough to follow and the film never gets too talky for its own good. The film offers lots of dated swashbuckling fun to be had and there's never long between the swordsplay, crocodile attacks or cannibal ambushs. Fans of bad models will enjoy the sinking of the model ship, Antonio Margheriti would be proud. Add some crisp photography and good locations and you have 90 entertaining minutes. 4/5

The Pirates of Capri (1949)

Original title: I Pirati di Capri

Pirate yarn. Italy/USA. Starring Louis Hayward, Binnie Barnes, Mariella Lotti, Massimo Serato & Alan Curtis. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer & Giuseppe Maria Scotese.

DVD: Allday Entertainment (USA). Fullscreen. English dubbed. Good quality.

Fun pirate/costume flick by Ulmer - the master of the B's. 3/5

Blackie the Pirate (1971)

Original title: Il Corsaro Nero

Pirate/Comedy. Spain/Italy. Starring Terence Hill, Bud Spencer, George Martin, Silvia Monti, Diana Lorys & Edmund Purdom. Directed by Lorenzo Gicca Palli.

VDC (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Lightly likable pirate comedy with Bud and Terence. 3/5

Kara Murat Denizler Hakimi (1977)

Pirate yarn. Turkey. Starring Cüneyt Arkin. Directed by Natuk Baytan.

Sanver Video (Germany). Turkish language. Fullscreen.

Turkish pirate film by the director and star of Lionman. The hero Kara Murat infiltrates a group of bloodthirsty pirates who'se in cahoot with the ruthless spaniards, romances a cute pirate girl and defends Turkeys honour. 90 great, violent, hyper-energic minutes of pirate mayhem! Cüneyt is the coolest actor in the world in this. 4/5

The Pirates of Malaysia (1964)

Original title: I Pirati della Malesia

Pirate adventure/Exotic. Italy/Spain/West Germany/France. Starring Steve Reeves, Jacqueline Sassard, Mimmo Palmara, Pierre Cressoy & Dakar. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

The follow-up to Sandokan the Great is not quite as brilliant as the first movie, but still a wonderful adventure film and one of Lenzi's best! Steve Reeves is at his best, even if you don't believe him as an indian. 4/5