Pirate Radio

Quirky old great movie! Good music took me back to my high school days Cute story loosely based on historical events Read more

Pirate Radio is a great movie: fun, funny, entertaining with one of the best SOUNDTRACKS of all time! Read more

Funny movie with historical info on the 60's music revolution. Read more

It was fine. Movie was very good. Read more

“Pirate Radio” melds terrific casting with an elite soundtrack, and embeds it in a ship-turned-radio station, circa 1966. When a film champions rock 'n' roll, it's mandatory viewing, and this one takes the baton from music-driven classics like "High Fidelity" and "24 Hour Party People" only to exact its own influence on rock love letters like raunchy record label satire "Stadium Anthems." In its infancy, rock ‘n’ roll was the alleged "devil’s music," and here we visit Britain in its nascent outbreak. Rhys Darby, Nick Frost, and Philip Seymour Hoffman are disc jockeys in the onset stages of the sounds that changed the world. And they’re joined by acting finery no less massive than the great Kenneth Branagh. Rock has always had a gloriously seedy underbelly. Yet when it makes it on screen, it’s often treated to a cinematic gloss which does creep in on “Pirate Radio.” But its sporadic over-stylization can't mar the film's great premise. This is an entertaining music movie. - (Was this review of use to you? If so, let me know by clicking "Helpful." Cheers!) - WATCHED IT? THEN WATCHLIST: "High Fidelity," "24 Hour Party People," "Stadium Anthems." Read more

But this war was a pitched battle, a conflict between feigned British moral principles represented by a Jesuit-acting MP, more characteristic of an American John Bircher or KKKer, wanting to rid the UK's airwaves of evil rock music originating by a band of devoted DJs living aboard a coaster freighter- trawler cruising/anchored in the North Sea. Enjoyable for its peaceful and kindly portrayal of British sexual mores, an easiness between the genders that Americans just don't get, but still lives in pub-crawling today in Britain. So, boat loads of admiring girls visit to listen, chat, make love, and motor away, waving happily. One young hero finds his long lost dad, quietly touching, because of its notable absence of accusations, guilt, and judgments ending in hated partings. As Bill NIghy's character said in "Love Actually" "And your Uncle Billy says kids, don't buy drugs. Become a rock star and you'll get them for free." Funny. Because Brits know that doesn't make kids drug addicts, yet Americans still haven't gotten it. This movie is an easy, loose membrane of music and girl loving DJs living in a insulated island where the real world cannot penetrate but eventually does, in a surprisingly dramatic climax. And, their saving grace, becomes, the very thing that has made their existence economically and socially viable. Us, human beings, who love great music, and who know dancing to the music is about living your life to the fullest. A gentle movie with deep messages for the discerning viewer. Read more

Had to buy a physical copy because it is never on streaming and we had checked it out from the local library enough times. It is a great comedy with a compelling plot. And, you just love to hate the bad guy. Great all around. Read more

Please be aware, the review that follows is for the Brit blu-ray version of this film. For some reason Amazon posted it with the vastly inferior US version, explained below. Trust me, find the mutiple-zone version of the UK blu ray release: Original review: This is the full uncut version of the movie that was released as "Pirate Radio" in the United States. The U.S. version was horrid, had most of the good scenes cut out (for length, I guess) and was an inferior film. This blu ray film, in its full length state, is wonderful. The movie tells the very real story (in fictionalized form, of course) of how off-shore radio stations in the U.K. in the early 1960s introduced Europe to rock 'n roll. It's amazing, but much of the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and other groups of the early rock days (in terms of the Brit Invasion, at least) were not given much airplay on the BBC because the stations (and advertisers) didn't feel it was appropriate. Most music fans got their first dose of great R&R from the off-shore pirate stations. This is a great movie, very fun, with a brilliant soundtrack. The film is a bit too long in some ways, but better than the U.S. version by far. Phillip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) has a great role. Read more