The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]

The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]
by Wilford Leach

Our Price: $19.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.99 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases

Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada

Product details

Actor: Angela Lansbury, George Rose, Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt, Rex Smith
Director: Wilford Leach
Writer: Wilford Leach
Producer: Andrew Tribe
Producer: Edward R. Pressman
Producer: Joseph Papp
Producer: Stephen Katz
Producer: Timothy Burrill
Writer: William S. Gilbert
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC
Running Time: 112 minutes
Release Date: 1992-03-01
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Publisher: MCA Universal
Studio: MCA Universal

VHS Movie Reviews of The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]

Movie Review: Would have been better on DVD!
Summary: 4 Stars

For the rareness of this production, I am very thankful to have found one at a reasonable price....BUT the quality of reproduction is wishy-washy[technical term] although hugely entertaining!

Movie Review: Whole Family Loves This One!
Summary: 5 Stars

My eldest son just sent an email out to the rest of the family, saying, "Awesome!..." and passing the word about this movie! We all have to have copies! The children watched this dozens of times growing up, and we all still love it! Myriad thanks to the producers for the new DVD release! ~Moonelighte~

Movie Review: DVD Finally?
Summary: 5 Stars

Love the movie. I have it on LD. Why release it on DVD only? I for one have moved on to Blu-ray.

Movie Review: OMG...Yay!
Summary: 5 Stars

...for the past 4-5 years if I've ever wanted to watch this i'd have to huddle over my laptop and watch a dodgy VHS-rip of my own creation, since our house hasn't had a VHS player in the past what 13 years?
So it's about time Pirates is available on an official DVD. Hooray!
Everyone get it for your kids, my grand-dad made us watch it when we were like 6 or something and we'd watch it every christmas after that. Now that I have a neice, we can share it with her too.

Hooray for Pirates Of Penzance!

Movie Review: I like it, but...
Summary: 3 Stars

When I saw this, I was very impressed, except for the way they re-wrote the music for Mabel to suit Linda Ronstadt. They modified, adjusted, changed melodies to lower keys to suit her abilities. I really like Ronstadt, but this was very disappointing. Kevin Kline is hilarious the perfect Pirate King; never heard of Rex Smith before or since, and honestly, that voice... well, enough said.

Broadway is doing this a lot these days to revivals (look at the travesty they made of Kiss Me, Kate) so they can cast people (celebrities) who either can't or are unable to sing the original show. It's sad.

Write your own review

Summary of The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]

When New York theatrical producer Joseph Papp decided to bring Gilbert and Sullivan to Broadway, he added typically broad, bold strokes to make their singular operetta format meaningful to 1980s audiences. In The Pirates of Penzance, Papp had a story that offered a mixture of potential action and comedy that was less arcane than other G&S chestnuts, which Papp's production underlined by playing up its antic conflict between its hapless, titular pirates and the citizens of Penzance, the Cornish town targeted for plunder. Adding to the new production's mainstream allure was the theatrical debut for erstwhile country-rock siren Linda Ronstadt as the virginal Mabel, along with a plum role for another putative pop heartthrob, Rex Smith, as the "good" pirate, Frederic.

Naturally, such amendments piqued complaints from self-appointed G&S purists, for whom the duo's original satirical edge and theatrical innovation were obscured (if not ossified) by their canon's patina of respectability. Happily, for the rest of us, Papp's cheeky revisions are generally on the money, and this 1983 film version preserves them with unusual fidelity. Instead of opening up his production with location shooting or intricate editing, director Wilford Leach savors the artifice of its stage sets and hokey, colorful costuming, celebrating the genre's proud theatrical legacy.

The cast, meanwhile, tears into the farcical plot with elan, led by Kevin Kline as the Pirate King, a role perfect for his skill at lampooning masculine bravado (not to mention his underexposed, generally strong singing). Broadway veteran George Rose proves the very model of the modern Major-General Stanley, and Angela Lansbury, added to the film's cast for marquee value, again shows her mettle as the ditzy maid, Ruth. Ronstadt justifies Papp's gamble, having trained rigorously to meet Sullivan's acrobatic melodies--indeed, this project marked her commitment to grow beyond rock, confirmed with her subsequent exploration of classic pop with arranger-conductor Nelson Riddle. --Sam Sutherland

Costume Adventures Video

Video Genres

Movies most talked about in Costume Adventures Video

The Three Musketeers (Walt Disney Pictures Presents) [VHS]
Walt Disney Home Video; Release date: 1994-11-11; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: ~~$9.99~~

The Man in The Iron Mask: Literary Masterpieces [VHS]
Live / Artisan; Release date: 1996-05-21; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.34
Price in other shops: ~~$14.98~~

The Last of the Mohicans [VHS]
20th Century Fox; Release date: 1996-01-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: ~~$9.98~~

Adventures of Robin Hood / Movie [VHS]
MGM (Video & DVD); Release date: 1993-12-23; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.69
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

The Pirates of Penzance [VHS]
MCA Universal; Release date: 1992-03-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $48.00

Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves [VHS]
Warner Home Video; Release date: 1992-05-13; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $5.18
Price in other shops: ~~$6.98~~

Treasure Island (Walt Disney Film Classics) (The Fantastic Adventure Series) [VHS]
Walt Disney Home Video; Release date: 1997-03-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.02

Journey to the Center of the Earth [VHS]
20th Century Fox; Release date: 1996-01-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.95

Treasure Island (1990) [VHS]
Turner Home Ent; Release date: 2001-12-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $129.99

Around the World in 80 Days [VHS]
Warner Home Video; Release date: 1992-12-04; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $18.88
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Similar Video, DVDs, Audio CDs

The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $26.11
Price in other shops: ~~$49.95~~

Gilbert & Sullivan - Patience
Release date: 2008-03-25; DVD
Best price: $16.48
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Gilbert & Sullivan - The Mikado / Reed, Adams, Potter, Masterson, Godfrey, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company
Release date: 2003-09-30; DVD
Best price: $21.80
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

The Pirates Of Penzance
Broadway; Release date: 1998-02-24; Music CD
Best price: $17.48
Price in other shops: ~~$24.98~~

The Mikado- Gilbert And Sullivan / Australian Opera
COUSENS,PETER; Release date: 2008-08-26; DVD
Best price: $16.49
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~