Powerful

Highly Overrated But Still Good

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I had read the book this was based on, which was very funny, and being a fan of Aardman, was surprised to hear about this movie, which I guess didn't get a lot of promotion.Its a hidden gem, and well worth a look, particularly if you have kids. Being Aardman stop motion animation, the sets and animation is great, and it has the Aardman sense of humour, not to mention some great acting from Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant and Brian Blessed. Storyline was great, and the action sequences towards the end were fun. Overall, a hoot, and I think deserves a rating higher than this on IMDb. Definitely one of Aardman's better works.

When I saw this film the first time around, I was inundated with a lot of "life stuff", and so I sat in the audience not really reacting to much of anything, and thinking and feeling that I could predict every gag and story point that came me. I was just in the wrong frame of mind, and so I failed to enjoy my first viewing.A few days ago I checked out the DVD, and man I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time.Yes, this is borderline cliché in terms of a Pirate-Genre send-up, but it has a lot of good British subtlety in the humor to be both very fresh and highly humorous. Everything from the expressions of background characters, to obvious names for characters, to the occasional British talent of understatement in the dialogue.There is no historical accuracy here, and the pirating is kept appropriately G-rated for a family outing, though the film and its humor occasionally skirt into PG territory.Surprisingly Hugh Grant plays the lead role of the Pirate Captain, and the Hobbit's own Bilbo Baggins in the form of Martin Freeman plays his first mate Number Two, showing the audience that indeed talented actors can do anything, even play stop motion animated pirates for a children's film.The big act III escapade is appropriately Aardmanesque (whom seem to take quite a few of their cues from Lucas's Star Wars and Indy Jones films) as we see the characters do battle to right wrongs and resume their brand of ill-conceived piracy.Good laughs, good animation, lots of subtle and intelligent humor mixed in with good old fashioned gags, this film should entertain everyone in the family on some level.Enjoy.

Although I'm a fan of the "Wallace & Gromit" short films I must admit to being disappointed by the longer made feature films from Aardman Animation (Both "Chicken Run" & "Curse of the Wererabbit" left me a bit cold) so colour me surprised when I picked this up as an impulse buy, popped it into my machine and found myself simply shocked as to how much I enjoyed it.THE PIRATES in AN ADVENTURE with SCIENTISTS is without doubt the BEST British Animated Film of ALL-TIME and these Pirates would put up a great fight with most others.Hugh Grant is awesome as the Pirate Captain as is the hilarious Imelda Staunton as Queen Victoria.Your kids are gonna love the MONKEY too.This movie is always amusing and is filled with great humour & characters, the imagination of the makers runs riot in this film & the animation (mainly stop-motion in the same brilliant vain as Ray Harryhausen's) is nothing short of brilliant.Had I not made this impulsive buy I might have had to wait years to have seen this truly amazing film (it probably helps if your British or a fan of British culture but I still think the humour is World-Wide) Who would have thought a cheap impulse buy would have turned out to be one of my all-time favourite films...for I shall watch this MANY MANY MANY Times in the future as i'm sure there's tons of jokes, quips and in-jokes that I missed first time around.THIS IS A BEAUTY & Rates as one of the BEST Children's / Family Films I've ever seen.If your British expect to see this on Christmas Day on BBC1 probably around 2015 as it's one for ALL the Family to enjoy.WELL DONE AARDMAN ANIMATION....Any chance of a PIRATES 2? RocketeerFlyer Rating of an UP UP & AWAY 9/10

The aptly and unimaginatively named Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) embarks on a mission to claim the prestigious Pirate of the Year Award. Thus he scours the seven seas, avoiding sea monstrosities (as per map) and attempting to grab hold of boot loads of treasure. Luck fails to assist him, instead commandeering ships full of orphans and such. However his ham-loving crew fronted by the Pirate with a Scarf (Martin Freeman) are satisfied and deeply loyal to their awkward captain, despite his apparent lack of success. A chance encounter has him capture Charles Darwin (David Tennant), who brings to the Pirate Captain's attention, that his trusted parrot Polly is in fact a long extinct dodo. Convincing the captain and crew that this is an epic discovery, the ship soon sails into port in London setting up an unavoidable encounter with Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton).Aardman Animations returns with another stop-motion gem, which may not have the same shade of brilliance as some of its other picture, but nonetheless keeps them on top of the international animation pile. Featuring a diverse set of characters with apt names such as The Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate or The Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens, "Pirates" is essentially British humour much influenced by the Monty Python heritage. Despite not bringing about a box office success (possibly due to poor marketing of the end product), the movie is extremely appealing and makes for a satisfying watch regardless of age or intellectual prominence. Jokes range from the silly to the subtly brilliant, at times incorporating both, easily meshing slapstick with witty humour. Nonetheless "Pirates" fail to achieve the same heights as previous outings, as the focus on absurdity is too intense thus failing to create the same dramatic backdrop as earlier entries. Basically the jokes themselves remain and although satisfying and at times audacious they fail to entice with the bigger picture, although it is also briskly laden with action. Nonetheless still my favourite animated feature from 2012 skillfully juggling pirate conventions to create a freakishly silly fanfare.