Pirate Radio

Focus Features | Release Date: November 13, 2009

6.5	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 106 Ratings

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AlexKApr 20, 2010

Curtis takes a fair premise, nice setting, and some great actors, and wipes the whole lot on his bum. I kept looking for the tell-tale tongue-in-cheek looks that these performers should have been sneaking in, but I guess the pay kept them on Curtis takes a fair premise, nice setting, and some great actors, and wipes the whole lot on his bum. I kept looking for the tell-tale tongue-in-cheek looks that these performers should have been sneaking in, but I guess the pay kept them on the straight and narrow; they should be ashamed. I felt dirty and insulted after watching this... and angry. Complete tripe. I can't even imagine listening to The Who for at least 6 weeks.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful

JoseCApr 14, 2010

I expected a Richard Curtis movie and I got a full blown mess. Comparing this movie to "Almost Famous" is a complete lunacy.Yes, the soundtrack is good, but you do not need to waste your time in a movie to listen to good music. And the worst I expected a Richard Curtis movie and I got a full blown mess. Comparing this movie to "Almost Famous" is a complete lunacy.Yes, the soundtrack is good, but you do not need to waste your time in a movie to listen to good music. And the worst part is that it could have been decent, but they made all the wrong choices. This is not a rock n roll movie, this is bad american movie made in the UK.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

GaryHMay 2, 2010

Great soundtrack but did not capture the feel of that time period. First giveaway was a line near the beginning of the movie, "Think outside the box." That phrase was never used until the '90s. Seems like it was written by a 30 year old Great soundtrack but did not capture the feel of that time period. First giveaway was a line near the beginning of the movie, "Think outside the box." That phrase was never used until the '90s. Seems like it was written by a 30 year old who had no idea what he was doing.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful

FrankMay 25, 2010

Judging from the scores some people must like this film, but I turned it off after 40 minutes. Awful script and bad acting.

0 of 2 users found this helpful

BradMApr 13, 2010

If there were anyway I could vote lower I would. What a travesty of a film. Considering the subject material that the film was based on, and the end result, this effort is especially terrible. It

0 of 2 users found this helpful

AlfredBNov 17, 2009

Saw this in April in Amsterdam (the British, uncut release) with a close girlfriend and we were bored to tears. This is a non-starter and it gets worse by the minute - shallow characters, dodgy story (to put it mildly), lame jokes. And a Saw this in April in Amsterdam (the British, uncut release) with a close girlfriend and we were bored to tears. This is a non-starter and it gets worse by the minute - shallow characters, dodgy story (to put it mildly), lame jokes. And a great soundtrack, yes! But that is 1966 for you, the 'magic year' of rock. Mind you, the movie ends in August 1967, with the soundtrack offering tracks from 1968 (Jumping Jack Flash) or later. And the Grateful Dead album that features in the movie's climax wasn't released yet in August 1967. Nitpicking? Hardly, that's the kind of thing you start noticing when all on-screen input is just so d#$% lame... So the rating's pitiful 3 stars are for the soundcheck, the movie is a big fat nought.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

ThomasLNov 19, 2009

This movie was not only awful but it actually p***ed my off. The sound track owes nothing to the movie and should get the only credit for whatever fake coolness this movie manages to allude to. A movie about pirate radio set in 1966 Britain This movie was not only awful but it actually p***ed my off. The sound track owes nothing to the movie and should get the only credit for whatever fake coolness this movie manages to allude to. A movie about pirate radio set in 1966 Britain that has no Beatle music (for whatever reason) and nary a joint or tab of acid is a curious caper indeed. Pretentious twaddle about covers it. I give it one star for Tom Sturridge, young Carl, the Ray Davies look alike and one for Bill Nighy's Peter O'Toole take-off. Take my word for it, this is crap.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

SusannahJ.Nov 15, 2009

Maybe the worst movie I have ever seen, considering my disappointment level. The writing was appalling...didn't at all capture an era I was around for...lazy, stupid...what happened to Curtis, whose films I usuallly love (actually)?

0 of 2 users found this helpful

RobertANov 15, 2009

One of the worst films I have ever seen. It left me feeling ultra-violent. This film should come with a sick-bag and a large bat. But really it just should not exist. Garb.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

Johann_CatSep 8, 2011

This film purports to recreate, as it says in the opening scenes, 1966, a heyday of British rock'n'roll. Pirate radio was shut down in late 1967. So it is baffling that the movie is loaded with references to the late 60s and even the earlyThis film purports to recreate, as it says in the opening scenes, 1966, a heyday of British rock'n'roll. Pirate radio was shut down in late 1967. So it is baffling that the movie is loaded with references to the late 60s and even the early 70s--in its characters, clothes, and songs, esp. (one Dj is an ancient, apparently 55-year old hippie, as though he teleported in from some 1990 film). Two songs associated with American top-40 radio in 1969 (released in late '68) are used as signatures of British Pirate Radio--the Turtles' "Elenore" and Tommy James' "Crimson and Clover." Yeh, when I think 1966 English rock, I think of the Turtles and Tommy James. Uh, no. These weird anachronisms are potentially forgivable, but the script is too full of other inanities to list: it scarcely has a plot, but is a sort of collage of idiotic, disconnected scenes and jokes. The film's real downfall is its script: 80% of the humor--I am not overstating the dumbness here--is a kind of reality-show, babbling toilet/ sex humor that would probably be abjectly eliminated from a Jackass movie. The often sundrenched, high contrast photography is nice and poignantly suggestive of what the film might have been, so I give this two stars. But the script is a no-star, frozen-dog-in-the-night "woof." I have no idea how Philip Seymour Hoffman ended up in this thing. This movie is beyond disappointing: it is rock-solid stupid.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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LeapdayAug 31, 2014

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Loud, obnoxious, offensive pile of rubbish is possibly the worst "rock and roll movie" ever made. Insulting to the actual Pirate Radio DJs who risked life and limb to do their shows on a boat in the middle of the English Channel, this nonsense is full of obscenely anachronistic music. (songs that weren't even released until 1968 or as late as 1970-71 appear in scenes purporting to occur in 1966-7). Kenneth Branagh's Hitler mustache is ridiculous, the staged set pieces of "typical listeners" dancing to the music on their radio is embarrassing, and the film finally gives up any semblance of sanity by ditching the whole storyline to stage an all-hands salute to The Poseidon Adventure. Pirate Radio was destroyed by the Marine Broadcasting Offences Act, a political ruse claiming the stations' signals interfered with legitimate distress signals. While you may enjoy spotting cast members from The IT Crowd, Elementary, and Mad Men (!) in supporting roles, Bill Nighy wisely confines himself offscreen to his cabin as much as possible and this headache-inducing nonsense should be buried at sea.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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