LilyDaleLady This was a pleasant surprise. My husband rented it, and I thought we were in for a kind of dull, droning PBS-sort of "talking heads" and "sleepy slides" documentary. Instead, "Blackbeard:Terror at Sea" is mostly filmed like a rather high quality theatrical movie, with a very professional cast, good costumes, sets and realistic ships. It compares very well with theatrical films such as "Master and Commander" or "Pirates of the Caribbean" in terms of look and feel.Where it is lacking is in plot and back story -- they are rather thin. The film uses voice-over from a secondary character to tie together individual scenes, and some kind of lame plot devices (like the age-old "girl in boy's clothing" -- did this ever really occur? biological factors make it seem to me to be nearly impossible). But where the film shines -- and again, where it was most unexpected -- was in some excellent performances. The most notable of course is James Purefoy as Blackbeard: this is outstanding work. In a regular theatrical film, I think he would have been singled out for award nominations for this -- he's sexy and genuinely scary (and unrecognizable under all that beard). Blackbeard is the kind of role, especially in the light of Johnny Depp's indelible Jack Sparrow, that can either be done amusingly OR it can veer dangerously into parody -- it's all too easy for a "pirate" character to seem like something out of a Saturday Night Live skit. Purefoy neatly avoids either of these stereotypes and creates a genuine and believable and unforgettable characterization.One oddity of the documentary (on DVD) was that Purefoy is the ONLY actor credited. I've never seen credits that did not mention the entire cast before and wonder why? The entire cast is excellent, and special mention should be made of Mark Noble for the role of "Mr. Hands", co-star and narrator; he is also very good.Despite some slight shortcomings (such as: there are obvious edits designed around commercials, where scenes and dialog are repeated), this is well worth a rental, or even purchase. It's a bracing antidote to more humorous pirate films, or the sloppy sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean, and enjoyable for anyone who likes sea-themed movies such as Mutiny on the Bounty or Master & Commander.I have renewed respect for National Geographic for producing something of this caliber -- it has the look of a several million dollar production.

mr-insane I watched it on National Geographic it it was great. I was amused how Teach wanted to fight with music and loved it when he joked with Tom about the whole " Isn't the point of a joke to make people laugh?" thing. It was a pretty accurate telling of Teach. I never figured out what happened to Frenchy though and that really would've been nice to know. This movie shows that pirates were not the loving, funny, comedic "Pirates of the Caribbean" nor the stereotypic pirate that both movies displayed. Though close I'm pretty sure Blackbeard was decapitated during the fight instead of it being removed after though. Still no matter how much you prefer comedies or romances(which you will certainly not find here!) you have to love this movie.

grey-37 With the disclaimer that it was the most accurate portrayal on television, I thought I would do a little lookup. I couldn't find much online, I'm assuming most of the backup documentation is in museum or offline locations.A couple of tidbits I did find online conflict with the narrative, but then again, a great deal of stories conflict. It would be interesting to see how the determination of "most accurate" was made.However... The wife and I have a thing for the age of pirates, and looked forward to this eagerly. We weren't disappointed.My only complaint was the backtracking after commercial breaks. It was kind of like we had to be reminded of what we'd just seen not 60-90 seconds ago.Now that this is no longer in production, I think the database should be updated! I also think that a listing of the rest of the cast would be nice. I'm curious about the actors portraying the prominently displayed members of the crew.

tnhelliott When the show started I have to say that it wasn't at all what I expected it to be. I thought there would be documentary and explanation, however it was produced in story form. After I got over the initial shock of changed expectation, the film was quite good. I felt the narrative was a little clunky and jilted, however, the action was exciting and the acting was superb. The Art direction for the film was well researched and the special effects were very believable. It was refreshing to see the beauty and majesty of the ships at sail balanced with the hardship and disease. After the romanticism of Pirates of the Caribean, the reality of this film was nice. I would have liked to have more back story of the men and the reasons for their piracy than was given, but over all I will say that I enjoyed this program.