StrictlyConfidential This pirate's story of guts and glory is, pretty much, a "Robin Hood" tale of the high seas.If you don't take 1935's "Captain Blood" too seriously - Then - Yes. It can actually be quite an enjoyable 2-hour romp of pre-CGI swashbuckling action.Directed by Michael Curtiz (of "Casablanca" fame) - "Captain Blood" stars movie-idol and heartthrob, Errol Flynn (26 at the time) in his first major movie role (as the title character).Set in the 17th century - This $1.5 million production first takes its story to England and then it's onto a high seas adventure to Port Royal, Jamaica where (guess what?) romance is, indeed, waiting for Captain Blood with arms opened wide. (kissy-kissy-smooch-smooch)(And you can be sure that with a name like "Blood" there's gonna be some serious changes made)

matttaylor-65065 This is just a fantastic pirate film. In fact to be honest its just a fantastic film altogether! Something about the film is just as good today as it was when it was made! 80 years ago! Has it really been 80 years! This was like Robin Hood of the sea kind of film. The film is like justice over law, robbing the rich and giving to the poor kind of idea. Flynn is a Doctor who found himself on the wrong side of one of the United Kingdom's many civil wars, he was sent away to be a slave in one of the outer colonies, you only need to just see the way he stares at the judge! It says everything you need to know right their!He didn't choose to become an outlaw and he just does what he needs to in order to survive (maybe get a little revenge).

Zoooma Captain Jack Sparrow has NOTHING on Captain Peter Blood! It's no wonder this film was nominated for Best Director and Best Picture. Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) turns Errol Flynn into a swashbuckling Hollywood superstar (and advances his own career, as well.) There isn't a single bad minute in this whole film. The action and special effects for 1935 are top notch. Paired for the first time with the wonderful Olivia de Havilland. Flynn brings a charm to the screen in a way that is hard to reproduce in a modern color picture. It's been 15-20 years since I saw this last, way too long of time to go between watching such great classic cinema. When it comes to pirate movies, this is at the top of the list, hands down beating anything from the 21st century. Splendid from start to finish.Through the first 142 movies I watched in 2013, this was my 4th Best!8.8 / 10 stars--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

The_Other_Snowman "Captain Blood" was Flynn's first starring role, and it's also his most exuberant and energetic performance. Despite whatever anxiety he might have suffered offstage -- apparently requiring several scenes to be re- shot -- the end result is one of the most spirited swashbucklers ever made, unsurpassed in almost eighty years.Flynn plays an Irish doctor with a Tasmanian accent who, in 1685, gets caught up in the Glorious Rebellion against James II of England, and carted off to Jamaica as a slave. There he's bought by the lovely Olivia deHavilland, the cruel governor's young niece. Eventually he escapes, with the rest of the slaves -- but not before he and Olivia fall in love.Flynn's life of piracy comes to us mostly via montage, cutting out most of the middle third of Rafael Sabatini's novel. A doomed partnership with Basil Rathbone (sporting a magnificently fake French accent) climaxes with a terrific duel on the beach, and reunites the starcrossed lovers in time for a thunderous sea-battle. A handful of shots of the great sailing ships were lifted from older silent films -- I'd love to see the movies that produced that sort of spectacle!Michael Curtiz began his partnership with Flynn with this movie, and I think the animosity between the two was responsible for much of Flynn's rowdy, passionate screen persona. He preferred working with Raoul Walsh, but their collaborations never came up with anything quite as memorable. Curtiz, as usual, creates a beautiful picture, with terrific sets, expressive shadows, and fluid camera-work -- the style is so perfect that you might not even notice how brilliant it is, because every shot and every scene is so intuitively correct. The music, by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, set the high standard for classic Hollywood adventure films that every subsequent composer has tried to live up to.In short, this movie has everything you'd ever want from an old- fashioned action film: romance, heroics, sword fights, pitched battles, humor and villainy.