Starz's BLACK SAILS (Season 4 Discussion)

[achillesdave]

The script and casting sucks. It certainly shouldnt be compared to spartacus.

 

[xaoz]

Such a crappy pilot episode. Cast and crew didn't mesh well. Dialogue/script were atrocious.

I'll give this 2 more episodes but unless the show improves, this probably won't get a 2nd season.

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Still haven't watched it yet, but based upon the two above posts, it seemed like a lame pilot.

I remember the initial impressions for Spartacus's pilot weren't exactly enthusiastic. It took a few episodes to really get in the groove. Many shared my response of 'Seems like it'll be a guilty pleasure to watch when there's nothing else on.' Then by the 4th or 5th episode, we were all like 'This is one of the best shows on TV!'

That said, the above posters actually seen the pilot, I haven't.

 

[xaoz]

Still haven't watched it yet, but based upon the two above posts, it seemed like a lame pilot.

I remember the initial impressions for Spartacus's pilot weren't exactly enthusiastic. It took a few episodes to really get in the groove. Many shared my response of 'Seems like it'll be a guilty pleasure to watch when there's nothing else on.' Then by the 4th or 5th episode, we were all like 'This is one of the best shows on TV!'

That said, the above posters actually seen the pilot, I haven't.

The thing w/ Spartacus is that the characters on the pilot and the pilot itself showed promise. The actor's played their part well and you actually "cared" as to what would happen to them.

Black sails on the other hand was not so memorable. The characters feel bland. There weren't enough action sequences except for that "duel" b/w one of the main chars and a sub-char that was forseen during the first mention of the "main conflict" of the pilot.

The lead actor playing the Captain looked more like a washed out Damian Lewis look alike.

 

[Dragonlordxxxxx]

It was a pretty decent first episode. Better than the first episode of Spartacus imo. Will stick around to see where the story goes. Want to see more of Hannah New.

 

[HereticBD]

The thing w/ Spartacus is that the characters on the pilot and the pilot itself showed promise. The actor's played their part well and you actually "cared" as to what would happen to them.

Is this a joke? The pilot for Spartacus was terrible. You basically have to warn people how shitty it is when you recommend the series, just to make sure they'll stick with it.

 

[nixkid]

The pilot for Spartacus was among the worst television I've ever seen. The first season ended up decent and the prequel season was excellent. Everything after that was complete and utter trash. I lost faith in humanity's ability to produce art during the scene when Tiberius raped Julius Caesar.

 

[Graves The Elder]

hm, interesting comments.

 

[WalkenWouldOwn]

After Camelot I have a hard time taking starz seriously. That show was a joke.

Never watched Spartacus. My fiance reads these outlander books they are making a show on.. She is looking forward to it. That will probably be shit too.

 

[44nutman]

First episode was not bad. Had two chicks hooking up, which is always good. Got a decent feel for the characters, plus I am a history buff. The action was good.
Will watch episode 2.

 

[mmascene]

Will keep watching.

 

[Task]

Looks interesting, I like how starz is seemingly going for older stories (spartacus) to tell.

Hopefully this works out well.

 

[TardStrong]

Stars free preview this weekend or what?

 

[greygoose]

Saw it was available OnDemand, but not in HD yet. I can't remember the last decent pirate film/show/video game/anything that I've come across, so I was hoping this would be more promising (based on the above views)

 

[Talent]

Just watched it. Didn't feel it was as bad as the comments would have you believe. Better than the Spartacus pilot.

What I didn't like about it:

Far too many "cool and unique" characters introduced in the episode. Too many cartoon characters. Made it feel unrealistic. One of the good things the Spartacus pilot did was introduce key characters over the course of two episodes.

The amount of accents being used, coupled with coarse and raspy pirate voices, made the dialogue hard to understand (could have just been my lowish quality stream being played on my desktop speakers, had the same problem with Liam Mcintyre).

The crowded storyline (ties in with my thoughts about all the characters introduced). We had

Spoiler

a ship mutiny, maneuvering of a stolen page that leads to treasure, struggling trader (blondie), blondie's love life, this Vane guy and that odd woman with the covered face, the Royal Navy captain signaling war on pirates, etc. It's too much to take in on a first viewing. Did think that the show ended with a great hook for the next episode.

Anyone else noticed how many blue/green/non-brown eyes there were? I was getting lost in all those dreamy eyes.

Overall, the problems I had will (hopefully) disappear as episodes roll on as characters settle down in their roles and the the plot fleshes out. It was also nice to see pirate cliches were non-existent. Will watch next week.

+1 for Blackbeard

 

[Task]

Just watched it. Didn't feel it was as bad as the comments would have you believe. Better than the Spartacus pilot.

What I didn't like about it:

Far too many "cool and unique" characters introduced in the episode. Too many cartoon characters. Made it feel unrealistic. One of the good things the Spartacus pilot did was introduce key characters over the course of two episodes.

The amount of accents being used, coupled with coarse and raspy pirate voices, made the dialogue hard to understand (could have just been my lowish quality stream being played on my desktop speakers, had the same problem with Liam Mcintyre).

The crowded storyline (ties in with my thoughts about all the characters introduced). We had

Spoiler

a ship mutiny, maneuvering of a stolen page that leads to treasure, struggling trader (blondie), blondie's love life, this Vane guy and that odd woman with the covered face, the Royal Navy captain signaling war on pirates, etc. It's too much to take in on a first viewing. Did think that the show ended with a great hook for the next episode.

Anyone else noticed how many blue/green/non-brown eyes there were? I was getting lost in all those dreamy eyes.

Overall, the problems I had will (hopefully) disappear as episodes roll on as characters settle down in their roles and the the plot fleshes out. It was also nice to see pirate cliches were non-existent. Will watch next week.

+1 for Blackbeard

Thanks for that man, I'll put it on the list now so I can watch it when I get home

 

[windkick]

Pirates are too clean looking. Look like some GQ cover models trying to be hard asses. Wished it was more gritty and dark.

 

[Graves The Elder]

ah, just what I thought.
good on ya

 

[GearSolidMetal]

Pirates are too clean looking. Look like some GQ cover models trying to be hard asses. Wished it was more gritty and dark.

This.

I finally watched the show and was bored throughout. Spartacus could get away with their actors looking like they just walked out of a CQ photo shoot because it portrayed itself as an Opera, but this show doesn't pull it off.

The show is way too bright, especially the scenes that take place at night, which back then the only sources of light at night were candles, torches, and the moon. Yet everything is perfectly lighted as a Michael Bay production, which it is, he's an executive producer.

Yet, those would be mere complaints if I had been attached to one character... which the Spartacus pilot did, it was a bad pilot yet I still wanted to see what happened to him in the next few episodes at least. In case of this show, it was trying to introduce too many characters to care about a single one. It was like Stars was trying to make their Pirate version of Game of Thrones.

By the way, the best thing about this show was it's opening credits sequence. It's very memorable.

I may watch more episodes after the first season is out. Maybe not. Depends what I hear of it.

 

[lapollarecords]

Pirates are too clean looking. Look like some GQ cover models trying to be hard asses. Wished it was more gritty and dark.

sounds familiar