Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Black Pirate Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 1, 2023

Note: This version of this film is available on Blu-ray as part of Cohen's Douglas Fairbanks Double Feature: Robin Hood / The Black Pirate release.

There's an old adage that states "the more things change, the more they remain the same", and with regard to hugely budgeted "event movie" epics like Douglas Fairbanks used to star in, that's certainly still the case today, but in terms of a man actually like Fairbanks himself, maybe not quite so much. Fairbanks was a rare commodity in the film world even during his heyday, and you'd be relatively hard pressed to find a suitably analogous person who came along after Fairbanks, since Fairbanks wasn't just at one point the most popular male movie star in the world, he also helped found United Artists, and frequently also contributed to his many films as producer and/or writer (sometimes uncredited or under a pseudonym). Cohen has aggregated two of Fairbanks' best remembered silents on one disc, with this disc evidently offering the Blu-ray debut of Robin Hood.

The Black Pirate had a previous release on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber many years ago, and for some interesting background as well as a plot summary, I refer those interested to Casey Broadwater's The Black Pirate Blu-ray review of that release. I will only add that my aforementioned use of "the more things change, the more they remain the same" is perfectly applicable to this film's depiction of various pirate activities, many of which became almost tropes in subsequent films featuring one eyed and/or appendage-less villains traipsing around with treasure either to be buried or disinterred, and the film features a really appealing sweep as well as some fantastically engaging stunt work by Fairbanks and his team.

The Black Pirate Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Black Pirate is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Cohen Film Collection, an imprint of Cohen Media Group, with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.34:1. Cohen offers only a brief comment that "a 35mm color negative was matered in HD for this presentation", but it's unclear to me whether Cohen did their own work or simply utilized whatever Kino Lorber used for their release. One way or the other, and based solely on screenshots (which can be risky), this looks very similar if not outright identical to the Kino Lorber release. The two strip Technicolor is a bit muted looking, as Casey noted in his review of the Kino Lorber offering, but it's rather gorgeous looking when taken contextually and on its own merits. As Casey also mentioned, two strip Technicolor did "best" with colors either in the red-orange or blue-green spectrums, and those tones are emphasized throughout the production. There are easily visible variances in densities and suffusion throughout the presentation, and there's also quite a bit of damage to wade through, including typical things like scratches and nicks, along with some warped frames and even some kind of odd discoloration that can run down the sides of the frame at time. Grain resolves organically and gives the visuals a nicely textured appearance.

The Black Pirate Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Black Pirate features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 presentation of Robert Israels' recreation of the original score by Mortimer Wilson, in a repeat of one of two audio options Kino Lorber offered on their disc (a lossy organ score was the other choice, and it is not included here). The music is rather bright, if not especially "pirate"-esque, and it sounds nicely full bodied throughout, with some appealing dynamic range and typically excellent clarity.

The Black Pirate Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cohen is offering the two Fairbanks films on one disc, with the following supplements, all of which were previously offered on Kino Lorber's release of The Black Pirate:

• Archival Audio Commentary for The Black Pirate by film historian Rudy Behlmer (HD; 18:05)


• The Black Pirate Outtakes with Commentary by Rudy Behlmer


• Additional Outtakes from The Black Pirate (HD; 29:05)

The Black Pirate Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Black Pirate will probably appear pretty rote to modern day eyes, but that may not take into account how "original" the film was at the time of its release. It's a joy to be able to see two strip Technicolor in such relatively decent shape, and Fairbanks has charisma to spare. Technical merits are generally solid, and the archival supplements are also enjoyable. Recommended.