Many people have always had a strange fascination with pirates. Yes they’re foul-tempered, smelly, many of them are rum-soaked louts, and their idea of making a living is often pillaging and raiding any ship that happens to cross the high seas. But for all that they also are reputed to live lives of high adventure and grand, epic tales that are depicted in the movies. Pirates in film have almost always been seen to skirt the line between good and evil, or else simply turn to the most evil acts they can fathom in the attempt to make their way through the world. In other words, they’re interesting because they’re the bad boys that people love to watch.
Here are a few good examples.
5. The Dread Pirate Roberts-The Princess Bride
He wasn’t exactly the bad guy but he had a reputation that preceded him like a cloud that people tended to take note of. Once you met him however you found out that he was actually a decent person and had no intention of really killing anyone to make his way forward. He was uniquely skilled and could handle the best swordsman and the strongest in the land without that much trouble.
4. Captain Hook-Hook
James or Jess, no matter what his first name is in whatever version he’s in, Captain Hook is one of the absolute worst human beings to ever sail the high seas or brandish a blade. He has nothing but contempt for anyone, including those that serve under him, and is always out to serve his own ends. In terms of his feud with Peter Pan he is even more crazed and less likely to stop and think things through.
3. One-Eyed Willie-The Goonies
He doesn’t have the biggest role in the story but he’s definitely the driving force behind why Mikey and the rest of the Goonies decide to risk life and limb to find his treasure. Imagine being sealed away in a cave for all time, knowing that if you tried to escape there was little more than death waiting for you on the outside. Of course, death was the only option for any of his crew at that point.
2. Captain Thorpe-The Sea Hawk
It’s not often that a pirate is the good guy, so this is one film that is beyond the norm since Captain Thorpe has the full backing of the Queen Elizabeth I. He goes through a great deal to harass and worry the Spaniards that are suspected of building an armada to invade England, and eventually reaches the Queen with the plans in hand, thereby outing King Philip II of Spain.
1. Captain Jack Sparrow-Pirates of the Caribbean
Captain Jack Sparrow seems to be the epitome of what a pirate is believed to be all about. He’s crafty, he’s shifty, he’s dishonest, and yet he has a sense of honor buried down beneath the layers of treachery that are an integral part of his character. As a captain he’s bearable and not altogether horrible, but as a person his moral compass tends to swing back and forth like a metronome. That’s what makes him so great though, and so unpredictable.
Pirates in movies are without a doubt the bad boys, and viewers love it.
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