Crossbones - The Complete First Season - DVD

Film: At the beginning of the 18th century, the British Empire has reached the height of its power. One-fifth of the world's population lives under the kingdom's flag, and the Empire also provides the largest military force at sea. However, storms, hunger and, of course, pirates are increasingly putting pressure on the British Navy. In order to strengthen their position of power, a device is to be developed that enables the ships of the Navy to navigate with great precision and thus always be one step ahead of pirates like the dreaded Blackbeard (John Malkovic). When the brilliant scientist Nightingale develops such a chronometer, the doctor and assassin Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle) is tasked with bringing Nightingale and the device safely to London and preventing it from falling into Blackbeard's hands at all costs. And if possible, he is to kill the pirate as well. Sure enough, the pirate's men attack the ship. To carry out his mission, Lowe destroys the device, sets fire to the records, and attempts to kill Nightingale. Along with the scientist, who is fighting for his life, he is then taken to the island of New Providence, where Edward Blackbeard Teach rules over a group of outlaws. After Lowe manages to convince Blackbeard that he needs him to decipher the plans for the replica chronometer, the doctor begins an exciting time on New Providence. Increasingly, he is torn between his mission and his growing respect for the pirate. And then there's young Kate (Claire Foy), with whom he quickly falls in love. Soon he questions whether he can still faithfully serve the British Empire under these circumstances...

Crossbones is the second pirate series produced for American television in the past year, following the Michael Bay-produced Black Sails. But even if especially in the opening sequence with a bombastic sea battle and a brutal pirate attack already some expected clichés are served, Crossbones ultimately tries to distance itself exactly from them. It succeeds primarily through the way the legendary pirate Blackbeard is portrayed by John Malkovic. Malkovic's performance always walks close to the edge of insanity. His Blackbeard is a mixture of charismatic leader and maniacal beast, sometimes switching these two sides in a split second. It becomes easy to see why he has a certain fascination for Lowe as a result.

Also, the pirates' lives on their island don't necessarily conform to the image conveyed by classic pirate movies or the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Sure, there are some very obvious clichés and fairly one-dimensional characters drawn. Also, the romance between Lowe and Kate isn't really a prime example of originality. And yet, the series brings some fresh air to the genre, which certainly could have been a bit stronger if the series had had time to develop further.

But since the ratings weren't right, the plug was already pulled after this season, which was quite short at 9 episodes. What remains is a good adventure series in an exotic setting, which can score with good actors and exciting stories. Sure, there are some lengths, a few clear logic holes and also some not quite award-worthy dialogues. But that does little to change the high entertainment value of this short-lived series. If you want to see a delightfully diabolical John Malkovic and a somewhat different pirate story, you should definitely take a look here. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The DVD's picture is absolutely clean and pleases with a very high image sharpness, which even in the dark scenes hardly visible quality losses. The color scheme is dominated by very warm, powerful tones, looks overall very coherent and atmospheric. Black levels are well-matched, which also has a positive effect on contrasts. Overall, there's really nothing to complain about here. The same goes for the sound, which offers an absolutely successful surround feeling, especially in the more action-packed moments. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, there is no bonus material.

Conclusion: Crossbones is an exciting pirate series that scores points with a charismatic lead actor, rousing story arcs and exotic settings. Although the story itself is very conventionally structured and some characters are drawn rather one-dimensional, the creators always manage to skilfully avoid the classic cliché cliffs of the genre. Since the series failed to appeal to a large audience after the spectacular opening episode, Crossbones was unfortunately cancelled after the first season. That doesn't change the fact that these nine entertaining episodes have good entertainment and a usual good John Malkovic to offer - enough for it to be enough for a recommendable despite the lack of extras!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp