A Few Words About A few words about…™ The Pirate – in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[RichMurphy]

Correct. Amazon knows your request for purchase originated from the link at HTF, so you are supporting HTF by purchasing this way.

Be sure the URL has a reference to "a few words about" or "home theatre forum" in it.

 

[roxy1927]

Anybody else receive the news that though it has a release date of today it will not arrive until Dec 15 through Jan 6?

 

[marcco00]

got an email that they will notify me when The Pirate ships and now Libeled Lady will ship

december 15th

 

[Matt Hough]

Anybody else receive the news that though it has a release date of today it will not arrive until Dec 15 through Jan 6?

Yep. I got the same e-mail yesterday.

 

[ahollis]

My copy is scheduled for delivery from WAC tomorrow Per WAC and UPS.

 

[usrunnr]

"Arriving December 4th through 9th" according to Amazon.

 

[Jay_Z_525]

Supposedly mine will arrive Friday- we shall see.

 

[Harold Chasen]

Mine is supposed to arrive Thursday. Yes, that's Thanksgiving, but I guess it's still possible. I just got my copy of The Flintstones Blu-Ray delivered at 10:30 PM last night!

 

[Justin Ray]

I watched my copy of The Pirate today. In a word- beautiful! I’ve never enjoyed this film more, with its vivid, lush color, the crisp, clear music of Cole Porter, and the FLAWLESS print from WAC. Garland and Kelly haven’t looked or sounded this good since WAC’s Summer Stock blu-ray

 

[JPCinema]

Just watched The Pirate. Astonishingly beautiful restoration!!!! Wow!

 

[Nick*Z]

I still don't get why this movie was a flop. Or even a disappointment. What put audiences off at at the time? Though extremely lavish it is no more sophisticated than any of the Comden/Green musicals. The story is a lot of fun and everybody is at their best.

Respectfully, I disagree with at least one aspect of that assessment. While Garland, Kelly, the Nicholas Brothers, et al, are in peak conditioning, it's really the Cole Porter score that lets us down more often than not and also the truncated way Minnelli handles the Pirate ballet. I mean, Kelly assails the makeshift mast, grabs a torch, tossing it into the fiery abyss then slides down an adjacent rope. Not much there, as per the fantasy elements.

Nina is a showstopper. Ditto for Mack the Black. Be a Clown is okay. But the score really doesn't have any great romantic ballads or even a few of the bouncy tunes we generally associate with this vintage of MGM musical. Too sophisticated? Perhaps. Though I don't really think so. If anything, not sophisticated enough. And the truncated ending, after Minnelli and the screenplay have painted the audience into a narrative corner (tried also in Take Me Out to the Ballgame) doesn't really work here.

The romance between Manuela and Serafin is the weakest part of the story. The only way he can get her to pay him an ounce of attention is through hypnosis. And Walter Sleazak's Don Pedro (a.k.a. Mococco) is a downer rather than a menace. Point blank - the baddie isn't bad. No challenge for Kelly. He's a simpering coward. Kelly's rake is sooooo incredibly the sort Manuela has been fantasizing about, when he actually appears, she chases him away. Odd.

I suspect Porter's heart wasn't in this score or scenario, but far - his weakest contribution to the screen. Visually, lots to admire. Harry Stradling Sr.'s cinematography is gorgeous - period. Bar none, the picture looks great. But it also hints at MGM's cost-cutting measures. The seaside stuff ought to have been shot at a seaside somewhere - even, on the Metro backlot on the wharf set, redressed to look like the Caribbean.

No surf, no sun. All artifice. Sometimes this genuinely worked for MGM musicals - so obviously created - mostly - in a vacuum of their own artistic design. But The Pirate, like Brigadoon, needed something more and didn't really get it. I still love the movie for what it is. But it isn't top-tier MGM. It's second-tier, which is pretty much first-tier everybody else.

 

[Harold Chasen]

Well, now I'm bummed. My delivery date has just been changed to December 12-14. I just hope it doesn't get pushed back again!

 

[roxy1927]

Mine has not changed. Still Dec 15-Jan 6. And interestingly enough right now it is no longer available through Amazon prime and prices through third party sellers have gone up. I realize this can change but for now it looks like it sold out through Prime with no possibility to order at this moment waiting for restocking.
And one seller is selling it used. Ok....

 

[roxy1927]

Double post.

 

[cda1143]

Mine has not changed. Still Dec 15-Jan 6. And interestingly enough right now it is no longer available through Amazon prime and prices through third party sellers have gone up. I realize this can change but for now it looks like it sold out through Prime with no possibility to order at this moment waiting for restocking.
And one seller is selling it used. Ok....

This one may be available on HBO Max if you can't wait.

 

[roxy1927]

This one may be available on HBO Max if you can't wait.

Thank you.

 

[Jay_Z_525]

Got to quickly scan my copy yesterday. I never thought I’d see The Pirate looking this good- it’s absolutely beautiful.

My first copy of the movie was taped off the air when a local station aired it back in the 80’s. Seeing these brighter colors again actually reminded me of that, more so than the washed out DVD. Brought back a few memories I didn’t realize I had!

 

[Joel Arndt]

Nice to read all of the positive thoughts regarding WA's Blu-ray. And I never received a notification from Amazon that my order would be delayed, so I cancelled the Amazon order and bought The Pirate at full price along with other titles in the Archive's 4 for $44 sale.

 

[roxy1927]

I never pre-order. But because of reading some of these posts I did for the first time. I'm glad I did because it seems that the price keeps going up on Amazon. It will still be though a couple of weeks before I get it. So more than 70 years later it's finally a hit and it took Blu-ray technology to do it?

 

[Malcolm R]

I imagine it's a temporary blip caused by demand outstripping current supply. It's not a limited edition, so I'm guessing it's not going anywhere and should be readily available in the future. The current price that comes up in an Amazon search is for a 3rd party seller.

Still showing as available at Best Buy for $17.99 and directly from WB Shop for $21.99, though I'm not sure how fast those are shipping.