WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Mike Willcocks I am currently writing a fictional novel on the life of Edward Teach and in doing so I have been researching this topic for little over a year. I thought I would watch this to get more in sight into the character of Blackbeard. However the research conducted into the period and into Edward Teach himself is very poor, almost as if they have only looked into one source for their research. I am only part way in to watching but am already slightly disappointed on the lack of structure and diffinative lack of depth. It feels more like a taster of a portion of pirate lifestyle than a factual telling of the life of Edward teach, or at least what we know of it. Seeing as this is supposed to be a factual representation and not fiction, very, very bad research.

Joy H Watching this much-repeated UK TV docu-drama serial about the infamous life and times of BLACKBEARD is a very rewarding experience. Factual accuracy can't be guaranteed as so little genuine information survives about this man, but what it does do very successfully is to deliver a new perspective about him that other programmes/films have not; and for this alone it's a very worthwhile production. It's also very competently shot and directed, which is a big bonus. Watching this you definitely get a different insight into the man that recreated himself as BLACKBEARD and went on to market his own persona with great success - unlike the mad savage he's usually portrayed as, we get the impression he must have actually been a very cunning and intelligent man who was perhaps a maverick well beyond his time in terms of understanding how to develop a brand image and how to promote that for best effect. JAMES PUREFOY is absolutely stunning in the role, and personally I find this his best performance to date, simply because he loses himself in it, which I've not seen him do successfully in his other roles. Perhaps it's due to the costume and big beard, and that there's no reliance on his good looks for the role, so he's able to project his performance beyond the facade of his own features. For sure his portrayal of BLACKBEARD is the best I've ever seen from any actor, and it's a real credit to him. As for the pirate accents; definitely they're accurate if any non-UK viewers see this drama - most English pirates of the time (inc. Blackbeard) were from the Bristol area of the English south coast - they did indeed speak this way, and to a lesser degree it's still the local accent today.

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.

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.