Crossbones

This show feels very low quality.

* Terrible music. It all sounds like it's electronically produced, and poorly at that. I'd put it on par with video game music from the late 90's.

* Absurd portrayals of women. The men wander around filthy, oily, with a week's stubble, while the women are all pristine, with lovely, shaped eyebrows and good foundation. They're simultaneously objectified and unrealistically powerful.

* Generally mediocre lighting, framing, etc. Everything looks like a small set.

* Simple dialog, spiced up with random, unusual words to make it sound vaguely old-timey. The exposition is laughably bad at times.

I like John Malkovich and he doesn't disappoint in this series...his first time doing television. The production quality is excellent and it is filmed on location. The storyline is interesting and intriguing. I will continue watching this series. It is on Hulu+ . I've read some negative reviews here and they mostly centered on the issue of historical accuracy and authenticity. This show is based on a historical figure but the storyline is fictional. As for authenticity, I am not an expert on pirates, nor do I watch or have I watched much in the pirate genre. Perhaps for me ignorance is bliss because this is not an issue for me. Or perhaps the other reviewers were nitpicking. This does not seem to be a huge issue to me at least. It seemed authentic enough for me. The production is high quality. If the story is unbelievable to some it is not to me. This show is highly entertaining and there are any twists and turns in the plot. John Malkovich's portrayal of Blackbeard leaves me hanging on his every word and action. Good show.

Opening with a healthy battle at sea makes a good start to any film about pirates, and 'Crossbones' plays it safe by delivering just that; ship cannons are fired, people get shot up close by muskets, throats get slit and heads get bashed in: welcome to the new NBC-show about one of the most famous – and notorious – pirates ever: Blackbeard.

Enter John Malkovich, the show's star, who delivers yet another great turn playing the outlaw legend. His portrayal of the character is rather original; instead of giving us a stereotypical, larger-than-life performance with a Keith Richards look, we get a coldly calculating older man, well spoken and with a nicely tamed - grey - beard.

Malkovich's portrayal might not even be so far off: according to Wikipedia, Blackbeard was not a tyrannical pirate and he commanded his vessels only with their crews' permission; apparently there is also no known account of him murdering prisoners and he preferred using his cleverly constructed fearsome image to induce terror over committing actual acts of violence.

But that is (probably) as far as historical accuracy will go in 'Crossbones', for this certainly isn't a history lesson (not that I complain), but solid entertainment with a historical background. So far, I'm satisfied with what I've seen. The cast – especially Richard Coyle, who plays the show's protagonist Tom Lowe – is very good, the plot evolves nicely and the set design looks real; fake looking CGI is – so far – mercifully absent. Judging from the first episode, my verdict is a solid (if not overly excited): "Yar!" – 7 stars out of 10.

Favorite Films: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054200841/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite Low-Budget and B-movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/

Thoroughly enjoyed this pirate saga that has many of the elements of "Pirates of the Caribbean": beautiful shots of exotic Caribbean locales, swordplay, and the kind of plot twists that come from a pair of mischievous Jack Sparrowish characters who both possess a near-endless capacity for on the fly.

In one ring, we have Blackbeard (John Malkovich), who in this alternate take on history, faked his death and is now living large as a semi-peaceful ruler of an off-the-grid pirate kingdom of his own making. His main foil is combination doctor/spy/ tactician/lover Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle) who is originally sent to expose/kill Blackbeard but ends up in an uneasy alliance with the semi-erratic despot. There's also a love triangle between Lowe, free-spirited quartermaster Kate Balfour (I could easily write another paragraph about how enchanting Claire Foy is here) and her handicapped husband (Peter Stebbings).

As for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" comparison (a compare/contrast angle is inevitable considering that is the only other pirate film I have seen), this isn't the movies but an NBC show that's relegated to the summer schedule (AKA low-key filler) so adjust your expectations accordingly. It is worth pointing out, however, that while Johnny Depp anchored the Pirates series with a meticulously crafted iconic comic character in Jack Sparrow Jon Malkovich's humor is unintentional: His interpretation of Blackbeard's accent is suspiciously Malkovich-like (worth mentioning other than the accent, Malkovich is fine here). But hey, written history can only tell us so much about the accents of 18th Century pirates. Maybe Blackbeard did sound like John Malkovich?

This is a decent show, overall, but the problem is the doctor isn't nearly as interesting as the pirate, and we spend way more time with the doctor. I think the problem with the show is it takes itself so seriously; Malkovich is the only one with a glint in his eye. Pirate stories aren't supposed to be serious and dark, they're supposed to be fun. Where's Captain Hook?