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Black Sails


CompassRose

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A lot of people are looking forward to this series, I however am not one of them. As much as I love piracy, today's media does not care for historic accuracy. I almost felt guilty not being more excited for this... but I just can't bring myself to feel any sort of enthusiasm towards it. A sad case of judging a book by it's cover I know, but I would rather sit down and watch a documentary on the Battle of St Vincent or Trafalgar than some drama series that happens to take place on board a pirate ship.  :mellow:

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I just watched the premiere, and it's about 200% less trashy than I expected, especially given the Michael Bay involvement.

 

The shocking thing is that it's not just 'drama aboard a pirate ship.' Pirates of the Caribbean is drama aboard a pirate ship, completely divorced from history. It's very clear that while this show may not be particularly historically accurate, it is in fact historically-inspired.

Power struggles between officers on a democratically-run pirate vessel, recruiting disgruntled seaman from prizes, New Providence as a lawless hub (albeit too fortified, with a luxurious plantation house on it), freed slaves everywhere, etc. The basic structure is lifted directly from the history books (not to give them too much credit, as reality has always been better than fiction in regards to this topic). It's just a question of how far they distort it from there. CGI isn't the best; I don't think there are any actual sailing vessels being used. Shooting is done in South Africa.

 

It does make me want to look up how pirates fenced their goods, though. You have to hand it to a pirate series that gives economics and politics such an immediate role.

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I'm enjoying this show.  I wouldn't call it trashy... I think trashy would be a bunch of peg leg, parrot shouldered POTC clones. That would be trashy, but this show seems to want to come off as authentic.  The pirates talk rude, as they were known to do.  They drink and have sex, as they were known to do.  The pirates are violent and fight, as they were known to do. If including sex = trashy, then this show has that.  This next tangent is unrelated to the OP's original post.  I don't quite get why some people get up in arms about sex on tv, but those same people have no problem watching someone get shot in the face on tv.  I would much rather my kids see people loving each other than killing each other...   :)

 

In any case this show is worth at least checking out.

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If anything, the pirates on this show are deliberately un-flambuoyant. The extras would look unremarkable on any merchantman. I wish they would have researched a bit more of the lingo, though. Patrick O'Brian was great at that. The people on this show sound too modern, with their talk of pussies and condoms, when period slang can be really expressive and aggressive without the slightest bit of stilted Shakespearean historico-corniness.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just viewed the premier.

 

it's great!

 

Well, the language is not shakespeare-style but we should remember: Pirates were no poets. Those guys would speak some kind of slang. Imagine a 300 year old slang and lot's of the people who are not native speakers. This could be intersting for linguestic scientist, but I very much doubt, it would be fun for me to watch.

 

The girls are all stunningly beautifull. But hey, try to find an ugly young acress in hollywood. And after all, would you envy a young pirate drawn into bed from three ugly haggs? Maybe not totaly realistic but I liked those pretty girls a lot more!

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  • 1 month later...

They did one big mistake in this series, all pirates have extremely white bleached teeth’s, how that can be possible :)

 

Easy, they drank white rum.  :D

 

Anyways, if anyone didn't see the season finale's climatic battle, I recommend watching the last 15 minutes of the show.

 

http://www.free-tv-video-online.me/player/vidbux.php?id=vmluy2ddx58n

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Yeah, the Treasure Island connection is just a really cute idea. Too bad John Silver is absolutely unsufferable. For the young version of one of the most beloved fictional pirates ever... what a git.

 

Anyways, the finale was a typical mix of good and goofy. The final battle had some Master and Commander-worthy moments in it, even if the other half didn't look right. I especially liked the last scene on the island.

 

Edit: Barberouge, have you read the book that diagram is from (by the way, what do the years signify?)? I read another Redicker book in a class, and it was quite good.

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I like how the young Long John is depicted, it makes sense regarding the book. And if I may, I look forward to watching his legacy ;)

 

I almost finished Villains of All Nations, and like both the description of the facts and their analysis. I intend to read others if I got time. I'd guess the years are an indication of periods of crew activity.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

So... did you prefer Black Sails or Crossbones ?

 

 

Their structures are quite close: an island, a big bad pirate, a new guy and a girl. Black Sails depicts the life on the island a bit more, and the story is wide. Crossbones is centered around Blackbeard, and the guy is intricate.

 

I enjoyed both, but the suspense is better in Black Sails, and Crossbones' scenes are strangely cut.

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Huh, Crossbones entirely went under my radar.

 

I have to ask, though... do they ever, err, sail anywhere on that show?

 

If I were to mute the sound for some of the trailers, I would guess that it is just some gritty reboot of The King and I, with a male love interest.

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I don't quite get why some people get up in arms about sex on tv, but those same people have no problem watching someone get shot in the face on tv.  I would much rather my kids see people loving each other than killing each other...   :)

 

I am in concord.  The state of modern media disgusts me for this reason.  Tangent, it's worth noting that pirates weren't the only ones who spoke trashy and exercised little restraint; life on a commissioned naval vessel was arguably far less desireable, with men of all ranks committing unscrupulous acts abroad.  Of course, there were always exceptions on both sides.  Teach was not a man devoid of decorum, but he leveraged his fierce disposition to win by fear rather than force.  I'm not well-rehearsed on the likes of Roberts, Vane and Rackham et al, but I suspect they were as cruel as they appeared, so it all comes down to context.

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I just wish they would make more hornblower and jack aubrey movies. I like adventure and pirates but like maturin said. usually there is no real story. Just a lot of drama that goes back and forth for 300 episodes and follows a standard script..

My problem with that is that its sail themed but could really be set in the future or the past or anywhere. What I mean to say is they don't give a rats about the setting, that is just back drop for the human drama. Thus you don't learn or enjoy much from the period. Action is minimal also. 

Much like that TV series LOST. 

As for the sex on TV. I am no prude. But I do hate it when modern film needs to have something for everyone instead of being allowed to concentrate on the story or subject matter.

It cheapens and wastes time. I don't want to see people take dumps either. I know they did it and may be interested in seeing how in a 2 minute scene but thats it. Now sex is taking

up almost 50% of programs like game of thrones. Problem is the masses lap it up. It's an excuse not to get in trouble watching pron.

No matter how far from the subject matter these days, there is always a standard script for: love, sex, tokenism to appeal to everybody where ever possible. 

I don't mind if it is realistic, I do mind if it adds nothing to the story but to wet some nerds appetite in his boredom. As they say sex sells. It just means that

there have been no quality movies that are ABOUT something and focus on it for some time. I think Master & Commander came close but that was not

popular at the box office.

The other disappointing thing is that this kind of hollywood mentality is starting to show up in games. But for now thankfully most games are exactly about

what they set out to do. You don't have world of tanks or ARMA3 for instance stopping for a sex scene. 

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The other disappointing thing is that this kind of hollywood mentality is starting to show up in games. But for now thankfully most games are exactly about

what they set out to do. You don't have world of tanks or ARMA3 for instance stopping for a sex scene. 

 

I believe games tend to appeal to a different, smaller crowd, if only slightly.  I am familiar with a number of people who play the kind of games that mimic that which they watch on TV.  Grand Theft Auto stands out among others as a series targeted primarily at the drugs/sex/violence crowd (correct me if I'm wrong), and a lot of plot-driven games offer increasingly strong sex appeal—the "innocent" gateway to further intimacy.  While the mainstream gaming market (which is growing explosively by virtue of desktop/mobile/console accessibility) may lag behind Hollywood in terms of indecency, I suspect that a similar fate is an inevitability.

 

But I don't mean to drag the discussion down.  Master and Commander was, in my opinion, an excellent cinematic portrayal of the period when compared to its contemporaries (POTC, I'm looking at you).  It is always refreshing to see elements other than stereotypical piracy manifested on the big screen.  By extension, life aboard a warship was no picnic, and M&C certainly embraced that reality.  I hope that, one day, history as it really happened can triumph over the fictional archetypes from which POTC and many others were born.  But that may just be wishful thinking.

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Privateer I also thought that life aboard a ship was no picnic especially when you consider some ships were at sea for 9yrs !!! 

But then I started thinking of the alternatives. Some were worse. Some were better. But most were worse lol.

Add to that the fact that almost nobody got to see the world back then.

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