The boat that rocked.

When was the film released; also where and on how many screens?

Was there a particulare strategy attached to increasing the number of prints and available?

Were there any other special restrictions placed on the exhibtion of the film?

What were the reactions of the critics to the film? Was it considered a critical success? has it been re-assessed since then?
This film had people thinking because, some people thought that it was too long ans that people would get bored by the end but however, some people thought that it was alright and they shouldnt of edited it, they edited after people said it was too long, down to a little shorter but however they thought that it was too long but that didnt bother them they still put this film out there and made a little money on it.

Find several good film reviews and make notes on common features consider the publics response to the film, read and make notes on fetures from reviews on amzon.

This has to go down as a missed opportunity for Richard Curtis. Because, for a man whose writing talents engendered some of the most beloved TV programmes and films of the last 20 years (Spitting Image, Blackadder, Notting Hill, Four Weddings...), The Ship That Rocked is surprisingly scant on laughs. There's the odd guffaw, granted, but for a film which has to rely on music to stay afloat, it doesn't say much about the quality of the gags.
Loosely based around pirate station and the original boat which rocked, Radio Caroline, TBTR is the story of a group of DJs sitting on a skiff in the North Sea broadcasting music and acting like rock stars. The BBC isn't playing any popular music so for much of the population of the UK (some 20 million or so souls) this boat music is their best bet for a daily fix of The Kinks et al.
Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Nick Frost and Philip Seymour Hoffman keep the turn-tables turning and for a time all is good at sea. Every day is party time and they're loving it.
However the government is out to kill the DJs' fun, seeing them as anti-establishment and therefore dangerous and a plan is hatched between the evil Kenneth Branagh and his minion Jack Davenport (the English officer off Pirates of the Caribbean) to bring their broadcasting to an end.
Unfortunately, as sprightly and as enthusiastic as the cast of sailor-DJs are, Curtis stops short of providing any real belly laughs an it's a pity because the premise for the story seem perfectly suited to his canon of work. This time there's more of an emphasis on plot than laughs and in the end the humour is sacrificed to the greater good (or bad, as the case may be).
TBTR is ridiculous in a good way (crazed DJ groupies and dance scenes during on-shore leave) but with as much great music that we hear, the film ultimately overstays it's welcome by about half an hour. By the end you're half hoping the baddies will just torpedo the boat and put everyone out of their misery.
Yet more annoying because it's such a great idea, TBTR has plenty of great tunes but is leaky on the laughs.

I live in the US but ordered this from the UK site because the UK version puts back about 20-25 minutes of the film that are just priceless! They stupidly changed the title of the movie in the US to "Pirate Radio". The original title is quite obviously more clever and appropriate. I was born in 1964 (In N. Ireland!) and so all of this was happening while I was in diapers but the soundtrack is still sublime! The acting is brilliant - once again each actor perfectly cast as with Curtis' other films (Love Actually and 4 Weddings and a Funeral).

The deleted scenes are hilarious and almost constitute another mini movie unto itself! I hope one of these days Curtis just says to hell with time constraints and just throws everything into the main movie. His films are so good that no one would notice if they are 3 and half hours long.... you completely enjoy hanging out with his characters.

If you've loved Curtis' other movies you'll love this one - and if you even remotely love the music from the 60's, the sampling in this movie is brilliant.

If you don't buy this, it will be a "spectacular mistake" - to quote Billy Nighy's character at the beginning.

By the way, for anyone worried about region coding - this disc played just fine in my region 1 player here in the US.

-Karl

Did the film creat a particular media debate, or create news headlines?