Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

40% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 56% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings

Caribbean pirates (Robert Shaw, James Earl Jones) assist a noble damsel and foil a quirky tyrant (Peter Boyle).

Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (1) John Simon New York Magazine/Vulture Several fine performers are perversely miscast in this movie. Jan 1, 2020 Full Review Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (2) Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times It's been a long time since Hollywood gave us a decent pirate movie, and that by itself is one reason for liking Swashbuckler. Rated: 3/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (3) Steve Warren The Barb (Atlanta) It tries so hard not to make fun of the genre that it turns out not to be much fun at all. May 9, 2023 Full Review Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (4) David A. Nardozzi Philadelphia Gay News Be on guard for Swashbuckler, one of the grandest sea adventures ever filmed. May 26, 2020 Full Review Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (5) Jacoba Atlas Los Angeles Free Press The resulting film is a self-conscious attempt that survives only through the good will of the audience. Oct 30, 2019 Full Review Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (6) C. Jerry Kutman Los Angeles Free Press People who go to this film will know exactly what to expect, and they are not going to be disappointed. Oct 30, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Maegan A I grew up watching this movie (it’s 15 years older than I am) and I always loved it. This year it randomly popped into my head so I gave it a rewatch. It was awesome! Maybe it’s partly nostalgia, but I laughed and gasped throughout. I had so much fun! My boyfriend had never seen it, but he enjoyed it as much as I did. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/11/24 Full Review Blu B Once it settles down in the second half it's ok enough but it's loaded with issues. The music isn't bad and probably the best thing but it's overused and some tracks are more generic than others which is a shame given how strong this starts. Everything else is just ok about it. The first ten minutes is really good and on par with the best moments of the Pirates of the Carribean franchise. But it just goes off the rails for quite a while. This jumps around terrible between Ned, The generic villian, the love interest, his sidekick, the pointless major, and it becomes very hard to follow. It feels like at points in the first half it's more of a skit/variety comedy show about Pirates than a coherent movie. The humor that is in this just falls flat nonstop and weighs everything down. Which is unfortunate because there is tons of production value in this, great settings, and the fights are well done. The swordplay is cut from the same cloth as the Errol Flynn flicks of old. But the problem is they don't have a lot of meaning or variety to them. Once you've seen the first few swordplays you've kind of seen them all and it becomes a bit repetitive as a few go on way too long. When this focuses on just Ned in the second half for the most part it settles down and becomes a much more stable affair. That being said the direction isn't anything special, it grows tiring with the swordplay, and the characters aren't anything special. But it's ok enough and makes up for how all over the place the first half is. Most could skip this though. There are much better Pirate flicks of old and new. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/17/24 Full Review T W Tried too hard. Gratuitous. Good actors...poor casting. Very disappointing performances. Tried to be campy, but failed miserably. So sorry to be so bleak. Rated 2/5 Stars • Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Well made but not enough story to keep it going. Predictable. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Just pure fun! This was one of my favorite movies in the 70's. One of my buddies and I went to see it at the theater twice in the same day. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member An odd mix of slapstick and swordplay, Swashbuckler is curio from Hollywood gone by. Made in 1976, it pays homage to pirate films of yore, but with an unsteady hand - this, despite a stellar cast including Jaws' Robert Shaw as the Errol Flynn-like lead (not to mention James Earl Jones as a Caribbean sidekick; Peter Boyle as lead, frumpy baddie; Geoffrey "7-Up" Holder as the knife-wielding pirate & Beau Bridges as a sycophantic royal suck-up). An overpowering musical score is often obtrusive, as the old school A+ action sequences needn't such a sell job, and therein lies the problem. Anything but subtle, Swashbuckler borders on parody in parts - much to its detriment. A fun film at heart that, in more capable hands than TV director Goldstone (perhaps best known as the man behind the pilot episode of Star Trek) could have been a minor classic. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Swashbuckler

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Cast & Crew

James Goldstone Director Robert Shaw Ned Lynch James Earl Jones Nick Debrett Peter Boyle Lord Durant Geneviève Bujold Jane Barnet Harry Basch Banana Man
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Swashbuckler

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Synopsis Caribbean pirates (Robert Shaw, James Earl Jones) assist a noble damsel and foil a quirky tyrant (Peter Boyle).

Director
James Goldstone

Producer
Jennings Lang

Screenwriter
Jeffrey Bloom

Production Co
Universal Pictures

Rating
PG

Genre
Comedy

Original Language
English

Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016

Runtime
1h 41m
Swashbuckler | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)
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