Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked) Reviews and Ratings


  • smith44
    December 29, 2009
    smith44
    Funny but dissapointing. Story is all over the place. Bill Nighty is the standout.
  • TexasGuy
    December 29, 2009
    TexasGuy
    The movie had a slow tempo but the lines were fun and the soundtrack as great as ever. If you are a fan of 60's rock and Bitish comday then this is your movie.
  • lefthandofthedevil
    December 28, 2009
    lefthandofthedevil
    What a cast! Great characters. Swell soundtrack. Simply a sweet and lovable story. Didn't mind the sugar at all which is rare. Reminded me of first seing Yellow Submarine when I was younger. Perfect movie to watch to uplift your spirits or some family time.
  • SerTachyon
    December 28, 2009
    SerTachyon
    Good music... so-so movie.
  • MarcLazar
    December 28, 2009
    MarcLazar
    Almost "Almost Famous II" -- anchored by a similar kind of coming of age story, but there is a lack of honest, earned personal growth here; the disillusionment and tough lessons the young hero experiences in "Pirate Radio" are swept aside by generic, feel-good camaraderie. While ...( read more)the movie adequately documents a crucial battle in the history of free speech in Britain, it also seems to revel in the excesses and misogyny of the era's rock and roll culture. This is a scene where the men (typically overweight aging hipsters) get the glory, while the women, all uniformly attractive and young, are all too happy to serve (and service) them. Amazingly, the film expects us to care whether they drown.
  • mannly
    December 26, 2009
    mannly
    Highly enjoyable... I forgot what a great actor Rhys Ifans is to be honest! It's based on the days of Prirate Radio that brought Britain such stars as Kenny Everett. It's a good fun film, and shows you how these pioneers helped us get radio that plays music 24/7. Good fun.
  • cifra2es
    December 24, 2009
    cifra2es
    Good story, good cast, too much sugar.
  • navinpai
    December 24, 2009
    navinpai
    Nice movie...nice acting....nice storyline....everything ensures that this is a great light hearted comedy movie. But this one is not for the kiddies. It has it's fair share of nudity and swearing! Loads of funny moments occur spontaneously throughout the length of the movie, ens...( read more)uring that it never gets boring or monotonous.

    The music throughout the movie is the choiciest tracks from the 60's and I've become a huge fan of 60's music after watching the movie!!

    Brought to my mind memories of sites like ThePirateBay and Mininova, who faced similar problems, and had similar intentions.

    Overall, a recommended watch on a lazy afternoon
  • petei730
    December 21, 2009
    petei730
    Awesome. Good to see Sargony Weaver back on films. Love the visuals, the story was good. It made me feel like I wanted to go to that planet.
  • movieguyryan
    December 19, 2009
    movieguyryan
    After you get over the fact that they wasted a perfectly good opportunity to tell this tale of rock and roll history with some realism and conviction it deserved, I guess it isn't so bad. It is a fun enough time, and is filled with plenty of anarchy and good music that should put...( read more) a smile on your face, though the film suffers a bit from its several subplots and montages.
  • meluzza
    December 18, 2009
    meluzza
    due stelle solo per la stupenda colonna sonora... mezza stella solo per branagh, che è sempre un grande attore, anche quando inciampa in certe pellicole... le commedie inglesi proprio non le mando giù... troppo imparentate con benny hill... 0 stelle per il film!!
  • kenincalifornia
    December 17, 2009
    kenincalifornia
    One of the best movies for 2009
  • nurfarhahhanani
    December 17, 2009
    nurfarhahhanani
    it's must be funny>>>
  • thathys
    December 16, 2009
    thathys
    Luved the movie! Fun and very good music!!!
  • rina145
    December 15, 2009
    rina145
    Watch This Movie Online FREE http://FLY75.com
  • jschartrand
    December 15, 2009
    jschartrand
    Beaucoup moins accompli et réussit que le magnifique et sirupeux, mais ô combien agréable Love Actually, Curtis se perd quelque peu dans ce film au filon mince, mais bien soutenu par une trame sonore complètement parfaite. L'humour bien dirigé et les personnages fortement colorés...( read more), ajoutent à l'intérêt du film, mais on aurait préféré que le tout soit mieux ponctué et mieux centré également.
  • 2Bashful
    December 14, 2009
    2Bashful
    I giggled like there was no tomorrow.
  • CLamor1011
    December 13, 2009
    CLamor1011
    phillip seymour hoffman is amazing
  • ahs15
    December 13, 2009
    ahs15
    Watch This Movie Online FREE
    http://Fly75.com
  • xxmikerayxx
    December 13, 2009
    xxmikerayxx
    I think the Yale Guy from the New york times have this a 4 out of 5 based on that he is more of a music buff and this movie is about Rock and Roll. Maybe they got a class called Rock and roll appreciation in that school because this wasn't all that great. Sure the songs were ...( read more)nice,k the budget made sure eveything was pleasing. I'm sorry but I find is snarky and wild. I'm on the fence of giving this a thumbs down, which I know critics are surely supposed to do for evry other movie. I think I felt really good about it when I first watched it, but after another two times, i think it really wears down on you. That does at least go to show you that it is worth at least a second look.

    Its all about how these English Cats were out at sea in the swinging 60's playing radio. Its somewhat Gawdy.
  • 007Megster007
    December 12, 2009
    007Megster007
    i dont really know what its about
  • peaceloveunlikeme
    December 10, 2009
    peaceloveunlikeme
    IZ DIZ A COMEDY MOVIE..
    IF IT IS, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT
  • jasonflixster
    December 7, 2009
    jasonflixster
    Terrible. I had low expectations... but not low enough.
  • DrMaverickRanger
    December 7, 2009
    DrMaverickRanger
    Maybe I am emotionally defective, but I cried my way through this movie. It just bummed me out so much that the fascist 60s British government was so fearful of that which they did not understand that they all but banned popular music on mainstream radios, and went to massive ext...( read more)remes to try and illegalise and close down the pirate radio stations, operating with minimal funding, and with the sole intention of bringing fun, beautiful, meaningful, and life-defining and -changing music to the British people.
    To grossly misquote Eddie from Empire Records: "Music is the glue of the world, it's what holds it all together, without it, life would be meaningless." There are people in this world who understand this completely, who turn to music when they are ecstatically happy or morbidly depressed; who remember important events in their lives based on the song that was playing at the time; and who feel a deep, unbreakable bond with their favourite musicians because they are the ones who understand what your are going through, whatever that is, and articulate it for you when you are unable to do so. The amazing human beings on whom this movie was based are some of these people, and as a fellow music LOVER, who realised a long time ago that music is life, and life would be nothing without music, I praise these heroes for putting their livelihoods, and indeed their lives, on the line to keep the music playing.
    Great cast, fun and hilarious script, and (as much of a given as it is) AWESOME soundtrack!
  • mattman1989
    December 6, 2009
    mattman1989
    "Cuz if you shoot a bullet, someone dies. When you drop a bomb, many die. You hit a woman, love dies. But... if you say the f-word, nothing actually happens."

    Slammed by critics, presumably due to their bias against director Richard Curtis (Love Actually, Notting Hill), this i...( read more)s actually a little gem of a film. Classic British comedy, mixed with a great cast and a very tallented director. Unlike his previous films, Curtis doesn't inject the usual amount of sentimentality - thank God, as it certainly wouldn't have worked here. Instead, he's created a quirky, classic comedy that has the potential to appeal to a wide audience. There are some very funny scenes and some excellent performances (not surprising with it's impressive cast) - Oh, and don't forget the kick ass soundtrack.

    Take my advice, screw the critics on this one. Give it a go and make your own mind up. It's a quirky, funny, feel good film that you just can't help but love. Give it a go!
  • EMINEMtheledgend
    December 6, 2009
    EMINEMtheledgend
    Im not shure if this is going to be good
  • lacedwithearts
    December 4, 2009
    lacedwithearts
    This movie is pretty amazing. i love Bill Nighy. and Jack Davenport is in this too (Norrington from PotC).
  • xtan09
    December 4, 2009
    xtan09
    want to watch this...
  • mk52
    December 1, 2009
    mk52
    seen, was good, i enjoyed the atmosphere of the whole cast! great cast, mostly english LOVE IT
  • dollymixture01
    November 30, 2009
    dollymixture01
    Good British comedy. Great soundtrack!
  • louisegrassie
    November 30, 2009
    louisegrassie
    The plot is basically paper thin, but it's very funny and the soundtrack is fab.
  • kirstieleigh1
    November 29, 2009
    kirstieleigh1
    haha my whole family but me has seen it! ahh!
  • jasminemolock
    November 29, 2009
    jasminemolock
    loveddddddddddddddd it
  • leomiranda
    November 29, 2009
    leomiranda
    es muy divertida, es super chistosa...
  • mrsmmulder
    November 29, 2009
    mrsmmulder
    fun flick and good cast.
  • gsvirdi
    November 29, 2009
    gsvirdi
    its nice movie, don't expect anything before watching it... u won't be bored. Acting and expression are very nicely picked up by the director.
  • timonthemeerkat
    November 28, 2009
    timonthemeerkat
    The only criticism I have is that the deleted scenes should have been included in the film. Richard Curtis has a gift for making films that take you through this maze of emtions and by the end of them make you feel giddy.
  • paulyn1970
    November 28, 2009
    paulyn1970
    Wonderful coming of age movie with a kick-ass soundtrack.
  • roycemorgan
    November 28, 2009
    roycemorgan
    people need to tell the truth without goverment cover ups
  • Chiefilms
    November 27, 2009
    Chiefilms
    Great music and a good cast of odd Englishmen. The "rock'n'roll" is banned on radio concept is overblown and really insignificant in my opinion because rock music was alive and thriving not only in the UK but especially the US, the biggest market. Richard Curtis is a great writ...( read more)er and director but I think he got too much into this plot, trying to make these 8 DJ's seem revolutionary to the world. Truck that, what about Wolfman Jack Richard? What about Alan Freed Richard? Haha see now I'm sounding silly. This movie is still funny with the quirky British humor and is enjoyable.
  • briley9
    November 27, 2009
    briley9
    When I was a kid, we would occasionally have nights when my mom was extra tired or in a hurry or just wanted a simple meal, and we?d have apple slices and cheese for dinner. It tasted really good and was actually pretty healthy. But it wasn?t a complex flavor, just something yo...( read more)u like. Pirate Radio is like eating apples and cheese for dinner.

    The film tells the story of a rebel radio station off the coast of Britain in 1966, when the BBC only played 2 hours of rock and roll per day. The Pirate Radio boats would sit just outside British waters and broadcast music that would be listened to by many Britons (excepting the cartoonishly stuck-up parliamentarians, apparently). The film follows the adventures of the rag-tag broadcast crew aboard ?Radio Rock.? One review I read criticized the film for its caricatures and shallow characters; I can see the validity of the claim, but ultimately it?s an ensemble movie that doesn?t seek to describe a specific character?s journey, but rather to capture the spirit of an era. In that regard, it succeeds for me.

    Some other thoughts:

    * The cast were just delightful. We saw a return of the old Richard Curtis standbys Emma Thompson (briefly), Bill Nighy, and Rhys Ifans (a personal favorite). We also have Phillip Seymour ?Rue the Day? Hoffman, Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz), Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords? Murray), Catherine Parkinson and Chris O?Dowd (The IT Crowd), and Kenneth Branagh sporting a tiny mustache. The ensemble worked really well, with each person getting a few moments to shine but none overwhelming the story. It reminded me most of Curtis? Love, Actually, which has a similar distributed feeling.
    * I spent the whole movie pondering ?Bob,? played by Ralph Brown. There was something about him that was familiar, but I?ll be damned if I could figure it out. Finally, having returned to IMDB, I discover that he played the legendary roadie Del Preston, in Wayne?s World 2. Check it out below.
    * The film grabs on to an old canard about revolutionary radio ? the idea of lots of people from different walks of life listening to the broadcast. Some other films that do this, off the top of my head: the old Shadow movies jumped from teens necking in cars to businessmen and cafe owners listening to news updates; Elf features a television broadcast at the end of the film that jumps from little girls? bedrooms to biker bars and board rooms; Scrooged visits all its characters in the same way. Of course, we musn?t forget Pump Up the Volume. But the movie this most reminded me of was Private Parts. The jokes about the deejay wielding sexual powers over his listeners became especially prevalent once Gavin (Rhys Ifans) showed up and started (nearly) licking the microphone. Howard Stern?s movie also regularly bounced from listener to listener, highlighting the grocer with a radio over his stand or the business woman listening in her office. The clips for Pirate Radio could have been borrowed from Stern?s film, except for the period clothing.
    * The least effective part of the film, for me, was the cartoonish villainy of Branagh?s character. It?s pretty ridiculous, especially the scene at his house during Christmas dinner.
    * I thought the film?s sexual politics and relationships were the most serious part of the film. The main character?s easy forgiveness of his dream-girl?s betrayal gave me pause, but reflects the adolescent sex drive, perhaps. Chris O?Dowd brings the most powerful performance of the film in the happy/sad/cruel moment shortly after he marries his dream girl. Jenny and I decided that Curtis excels at crafting these tiny nuggets of intense emotion: c.f. Emma Thompson?s discovery of her husband?s wandering eye in Love, Actually.
    * As a media scholar, I can?t help but ponder the role of the government and the place of broadcasters in the film. The movie makes much of the public?s love for the radio station and its rebel attitude. But the government also uses, as an excuse, the deaths of some sailors whose distress call was drowned out by the pirate radio stations. The henchman, named Twat, calls it the ?smoking gun? they can use to shut down the stations and the film follows their evil machinations from there. But I had two thoughts: 1) the reasonable liberty-loving approach would have been to designate an emergency band in which no radio stations may broadcast; this solution isn?t available in this film because it?s a caricature, not the place for reasonable debate. 2) the film placed no emphasis or stress on those deaths. While the villains were cartoonish, they had a point?the behavior of the pirate radio stations was to blame for that distress call going awry and it?s a shame the film didn?t make space for that thought.

    Overall, Pirate Radio offers an enjoyable meal that won?t make you ponder the splendor of the universe or the justice of the world. It won?t make you a better person. But you?ll probably be happy to have watched it. And it might get you to dust off those back-catalog mp3s or to check out a record from The Kinks.
  • sarahgoode
    November 27, 2009
    sarahgoode
    This British comedy, released in Europe as The Boat That Rocked, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost, and Kenneth Branagh. The story, inspired by true events, is about a group of DJs living together on a boat in the middle of the Northern Atlantic in...( read more) the 1960s who broadcasted rock-n-roll music into England, which was illegal at the time and drove British government crazy.

    The film currently has a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, so I guess you could say the reviews have been pretty mixed. I certainly enjoyed the film and thought it was funny, enjoyable, and had some great music. The actors, especially Hoffman and Branagh, gave some great performances and the outrageous personalities of each DJ will certainly make you smile. I also liked up-and-coming British cutie Tom Sturridge. (This London-native is not only one of the U.K.'s rising stars, but also Robert Pattinson's BFF!!)

    I agree Jonathan F. Richard of Film.com who explained that this film is "just a hell of a lot of fun." The movie is not meant to be overly complicated or deep. It's just a good, light-hearted film with a simple plot, good acting, and a great backbeat. "Pirate Radio, the new rock-saturated comedy that proves life is better when it's set to a '60s soundtrack, is, to borrow from the Stones, 'a gas! gas! gas!'" commented Betsey Sharley of the LA Times.
  • myrandak95
    November 27, 2009
    myrandak95
    I haven't seen enough info about this film so im not quite sure if it's a yes or no.
  • mshtivelman
    November 26, 2009
    mshtivelman
    this movie was a bit dumb
    and pordictble but difently
    fun and enjoyable. this a
    great light and fun movie
  • bamadeb77
    November 26, 2009
    bamadeb77
    That was a very good movie, full of good music, some romantic issues,funny and a tricky nice plot..i recommend it to every adult here..good music is to be heard..
  • elvisrlz
    November 26, 2009
    elvisrlz
    Can't wait! Looks hilarious!
  • phubbs1
    November 26, 2009
    phubbs1
    Nice quirky little flick this, decent British line up of the usual top funny people and Hoffman adding an American touch of class. Its a nice film with a great oldies soundtrack but its also alittle dull, nothing too much happening throughout really, just nice musical montages an...( read more)d the odd funny line. Its actually alittle childish in places too, alot of sex jokes that are as dated as the soundtrack haha its a good feeling film with a nice heart warming ending....just nothing special, enjoy!
  • rayman0071
    November 25, 2009
    rayman0071
    Great Rock and Roll movies are hard to come by. Though there are a few expectations-"Almost Famous",and "High Fidelity"-most films revere the genre through character nomenclature and an overabundance of rock references,and in the process forget to be movies. Richard Curtis' "Pira...( read more)te Radio" falls into this category.as stock characters frolic in a 1960's spirit amidst ephemeral subplots and a supposedly glorious revolution against the British government not to mention backing down against British authority. But while this film buoys through 135 minutes that don'r provide anything truly memorable,it still manages to be entertaining and one hell of a good time with a supporting cast the includes the astounding Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy,and Kenneth Branagh. The soundtrack to the movie is absolutely brilliant thanks to track that includes musical legends(The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Animals, and many more)that is worth listening to.

Summary

Pirate Radio (The Boat That Rocked) Summary