5 Great Pirate Movies and Shows to Watch Amid Our Flag Means Death's Cancellation

5. Treasure Planet (2002)

You’ve all heard of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island or even read it, right, maties? Now, picture this: instead of an island, you have a planet. Same idea, greater scale, and immaculate execution since Treasure Planet came around at the end of the hand-drawn animation era and concluded it with a fantastic style.

This animated movie follows a young man who comes into possession of an ancient treasure map that leads him to a faraway planet. Along the way, he joins forces with an eccentric cyber-pirate whom he grows to become great friends with. An overall wholesome and engaging story about pirates, space, and the value of friendship.

4. The Pirates: Band of Misfits (2012)

If you look at Band of Misfits and can’t quite grasp what’s so familiar about its visual style, let us give you a hint: it was created by the guys who made Wallace and Gromit. The iconic humor is the true bucko of this stop-motion masterpiece as throughout the movie, you’ll find yourself laughing out loud more than you can count.

Band of Misfits obviously follows a crew of outsider pirates at the end of the Golden Age of Piracy who are desperately trying to make a name for themselves. What better way to do that than to win the Pirate of the Year Award and show their rivals, that bunch of landlubbers, who’s the real boss of the seven seas?

3. Captain Phillips (2013)

From the pure joy and wholesomeness of the animated and stop-motion movies, the timeline carries us to a way more dramatic movie. Despite most people ignoring it, pirates did not go extinct together with their big wooden ships, and even today, the seas are full of these fellows — and there’s nothing romantic about that.

Captain Phillips retells a real-life story of a modern pirate crew capturing an American cargo ship back in 2009. Phillips himself was in charge of the negotiations since it was he and his crew taken hostage, and despite the immense pressure, the man managed to protect his people. It’s a tale about a civilian hero against pirates.

2. Crossbones (2014)

And back to fun and old-school pirates we go! Everyone knows the dreadful Captain Blackbeard; fewer people know that he died in 1718. Fewer yet are ready to accept that it was all a ruse and Blackbeard survived against all odds, continuing to rule over the most vile people the seven seas have ever seen from his Caribbean base!

Not only is Blackbeard alive, but he’s also incredibly politically savvy. A king of his own criminal kingdom, he pulls the strings and allocates power to benefit himself. Blackbeard’s very own game of thrones is entertaining to watch, especially since the world’s most notorious pirate was portrayed by none other than John Malkovich.

1. Black Sails (2014–2017)

In movies, nothing comes close to Pirates of the Caribbean, but as we promised, no Johnny Depp this time. In TV shows, similarly, there’s no other quite like Black Sails. The most famous pirate series, Black Sails acts as the prequel to the most iconic pirate novel we already mentioned — Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

Black Sails offers a reasonably unique take on the life of everyone’s favorite swashbucklers. There’s little romanticism there as for the most part, the show’s pirates are close to their real-life counterparts. They’re bloodthirsty, greedy, traitorous, and for the life of them, they can’t turn their backs on each other.