Just when you thought the pirate trend had finally sunk with all hands, Michael Bay comes along. The visionary director/producer behind Transformers and The Island is now bringing us Black Sails, a Starz series featuring nasty pirates and buried treasure. Ahoy, mateys!
Black Sails is a prequel of sorts to Robert Louis Stevenson’s seminal pirate novel Treasure Island. It features the adventures of Captain Flint and his merry band on New Providence Island, many years before the events surrounding peg-legged Long John Silver and young Jim Hawkins. Starring Toby Stevens as the dashing Captain Flint, this first episode was directed by The Descent helmer Neil Marshall (Bay is only an executive producer on the show). We can expect all sorts of exciting pirate shenanigans from this crew of ne’er-do-wells, and probably some nice big explosions as well; this is a Michael Bay product, after all.
Although Black Sails airs on Starz starting January 25, Bay and Co. have kindly provided the first episode for free on YouTube. As a ploy to gain viewers, it’s a pretty good one. If you’re impressed by the first episode, like we were, you’re more than likely to take a chance on the second. On the other hand, it could cut into viewership on January 25. You win some, you lose some though.
Since the last installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, it seemed that pirates had finally run their course. Still, Black Sails could be the spark that reignites the fire. Whether that’s a good or bad thing comes down to your love for the open seas, I suppose.
You can decide if it’s worth giving the series a chance by watching the full episode below and letting us know what you think about the Bay-produced effort in the comments. Does Black Sails get the black spot, or are you willing to let it live to fight another day?
