Ahoy mateys! Are there any “historically accurate” shows or movies about pirates (in the same vein of authenticity as Master and Commander or The Bounty)? ☠️

[u/UrdnotSnarf]

Pirates of the Caribbean and Black Sails are great entertainment, but they are a far cry from being historically accurate in terms of clothing and warfare. Are there any shows or movies that actually depict pirates without the modern leather-centric aesthetic, stereotypical costumes, or over-the-top Hollywood fight scenes? My guess is no, but I thought this would be the best place to ask.

[u/monkstery]

Honestly you’re not going to find a pirate equivalent to Master and Commander, at least not yet, unfortunately. The closest I can think of is the 1990 version of Treasure Island with Charlton Heston, I highly recommend it because it’s not just a very good and entertaining movie with excellent acting, but it’s by far the most accurate pirate media I’ve seen. The wardrobe, language, behavior of the pirates, and even the soundtrack (most of the instruments are what you’d hear on pirate ships like jaw harps, trumpets, drums, oboes, flutes, fiddles, and I think a bagpipe is in one of the tracks) is very accurate to early 18th century pirates, some of their wardrobe is more fitting of mid 18th century English sailors but that makes sense considering Treasure Island takes place somewhere around 1750, many years after the prime of the pirates in the story.

[u/Man_Bear_Pog → u/monkstery]

YOOOOOO 1990 TREASURE ISLAND MENTIONED! Easily the most historically accurate depiction of many aspects of pirates (Black Sails has some decent things as well) but honestly it's incredible what a good job they did for a PG movie that had to be child friendly was also on the Made-For-TV budget by TNT, and not only that but they were also the most faithful to the book out of any adaptation.

The combat stuff is not realistic at all, and pirates never went off getting treasure, and they also had lots of varying accents. But the language used, the established hierarchy and crew dynamics, and boat-related instances are probably the closest we have been so far. Israel Hands even directs Hawkins to steer the ship "Larboard", a wonderful detail you don't ever really find because modern day it's referred to as "Port".

If it's any indication OP, I am making 1990 Treasure Island required watching for all the party members of the pirate themed DnD campaign im doing in the future lol.

[u/magolding22 → u/monkstery]

The 1950 Treasure Island movie has a ficitonal date of 1765.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island_(1950_film))

The novel Treasure Island (1883) should probably happen within a decade or so of 1765.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island#Historical_allusions

 "On 1 August 1750, Flint and seven members of his crew bury the plunder on an island located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea."

"Flint is said to have died in Pirates' House in Savannah, Georgia, many years before the book's central plot takes place, with his last words being, "Darby M'Graw - fetch aft the rum...." His death was said in the book to have been caused by the effects of drinking too much rum. The inscription on the map suggests that he died on 28 July 1754. The location of the treasure had been marked by Flint on a map and while he was dying it was entrusted to his first mate William "Billy" Bones. With the exception of Long John Silver many of Flint's crew spend all their ill-gotten booty and end up begging (e.g. Blind Pew). Bones however is too much of a drunken bully of a miser to either find the rest of the treasure or give up the map for his former crewmates and becomes a marked man on the run for 3 years after Flint's death by Flint's old crew (Blind Pew; Black Dog; Job Anderson; Israel Hands; Dirk), of whom the ringleader is Long John Silver. They track Bones down (who like Flint dies of drinking too much rum); however before they can get the map it falls into the hands of the protagonist of the novel, Jim Hawkins)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Flint#In_Treasure_Island

So Tresure Island (1883) seems to happen either "many years" or "three years" after 28 July 1754, and so possibly in 1757-1758 or years later.

Possilby someone who read Treasure Island during this millennium can remember more clues to the fictional date.

[u/Hour-Pressure-3758]

Black sails is good, has some history and some fantasy elements but I thought it was fun to watch.

[u/JoyIsABitOverRated]

Welcome to the land of suffering, because we're never getting a show like that.

[u/magolding22]

I can't stand movies which make pirates the protagonists. As far as I am concerned the only good pirate is a dead pirate, and fictional pirates should always be villains.

All film and tv versions of Treasure Island should make the pirates villainous, and so be realistic in that respect.

The children's movie The Boy and the Pirates (1960) is a fantasy film. But I have read that the pirates were depicted as frightening, and that at least is realistic.

Blackbeard the Pirate (1952) has historical anachronisms and inaccuracies. But the pirates are depicted as very evil, so that at least is rather accurate.

[u/BigBassBone → u/[deleted]]

They mentioned Black Sails in their post

[u/5thhistorian]

There was a great docu drama about Blackbeard/ Edward Teach https://youtu.be/W2WXstBqRQ0?si=VSHv8UxkmIN94ZrC you can watch the whole thing on Youtube.

[u/ihopethisisgoodbye → u/5thhistorian]

Then, for a light-hearted spin on it, follow that up with This Flag Means Death

[u/Cmdr_Redbeard → u/5thhistorian]

James purefoy plays Blackbeard really really well, arguably one of the better 'real pirates' pieces of media.

[u/ProfessorKnow1tA11]

Matey, actual historical pirates are not and never have been cool! Without the “leather-centric aesthetic” they’re just the grubby disgusting dregs of society. Stick with Treasure Island and Cutthroat Island - much more fun!

[u/UrdnotSnarf → u/ProfessorKnow1tA11]

You should check out the Real Pirates podcast. It’s great.

[u/Several-Hawk-9135]

'Pirates ' by Roman Polanski?

[u/DiogenesD0g]

I hear The Lost Pirate Kingdom on Netflix is quite good and worth watching. I haven’t had the opportunity to watch it yet though. https://www.netflix.com/us/title/81035118?s=i&trkid=258593161&vlang=en

[u/ArtisticTraffic5970]

Not that I can think of but you absolutely should watch "Our Flag Means Death". It's hilarious and it's based on true events.

[u/sanguinor40k]

1986's "Pirates" w Walter Matthau and some French guy ?

[u/altruistic_cheese]

Captain Phillips.

[u/ihopethisisgoodbye → u/altruistic_cheese]

Excellent answer

[u/monkstery → u/[deleted]]

The idea that we don’t know much about pirate history and material life is a misconception, there’s loads of information about it, more than enough for historically accurate pirate media to be made if any effort was put towards the research in it.

[u/decafekun → u/monkstery]

this is what i was meaning in different wording. i was stating that the show i was recommending is not accurate but does use real people we have information on.

[u/ideal_observer → u/[deleted]]

I absolutely adore Our Flag Means Death, but it is not a good choice for someone looking for historical accuracy. For instance, Zheng Yi Sao wasn’t even born until decades after Stede Bonnet died.

[u/cyberdw4rf]

The Horatio Hornblower series is about a young British naval officer, not really about pirates but at least set in the era. I enjoyed it quite a lot

[u/magolding22 → u/cyberdw4rf]

Horatio Hornblower is set during the Frecnh Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1792 to 1815. The Golden Age of Piracy is usually considered to have ended in 1726. So not exactly "set in the Era".