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A single day record for box office sales has been set by the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" pulled in $55.5 million on its opening day on Friday. The next closest movie in the top sales race is "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith," which brought in $50 million on its opening day in May of 2005. "Pirates" opened on 4,133 screens and is set to break weekend box office records as well, the record being $114.8 and set by "Spider-Man" in 2002. Chuck Vane, head of distribution at Disney, said that they were thrilled with the opening of "Pirates." He indicated that the word "ecstatic" came to mind. Thus far, the 2006 movie business has not faired very well. Attendance has been below average. "Pirates" is a 2 and 1/2 hour moving starring Johnny Depp as the pirate Jack Sparrow. The movie also stars Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Bill Nighy.
Pirates in History:
As it is widely known, the black pirate flag with the emblem of death - the skull and crossbones was named the "Jolly Roger". But the authors get confused, who "found" it on the pirate ships already in Antiquity and The Middle Ages. On the other hand, some are wrong who attribute the invention of "Roger" to the writers of the 19th century (eg, Stevenson). In fact, this flag, for the first time, was documented in 1700 - it was seen from the British warship on the mast of a French pirate ship of Captain Emanuel Wynn in the waters between Haiti and Cuba. It quickly gained popularity - by 1725, the flags were used by luminaries such as John Quelch, Christopher Condent, Edward Teach, Edward England, Thomas Coklin, Howell Davis, Bartholomew Roberts, John Taylor, Edward Low and La Buse. The English slave trader William Snelgrave, who was a prisoner of pirates in 1719, later recalled that "hoisting the flag, according to the pirates, should make the honest merchants surrender to the mercy of robbers in fear of imminent death in case of resistance". The very word combination "Jolly Roger", for the first time, appeared in the Oxford Dictionary of English language in 1724. Several versions of its origin are contemplated. The most unproven version attributes it to the Indian pirate named Ali Raja, which was transformed by the British into Olly Roger and then into Jolly Roger. But Ali was not a robber but commanded the fleet of the powerful prince Haidar Ali, who fought with the British. It is doubtful the French suggestion that the filibusters of the 17th century called their "blood-red flag, "Jolie Rouge" - "beautiful red" and British colleagues once again modified it in their own way. Convincingly, perhaps, is to associate the name with the English word roger - " rogue - vagrant" or in some contexts - devil. As one of the humorous nicknames of Satan - Old Roger.
In modern days:
Long ago, the brigantines with "Jolly Roger" on the mast have vanished into oblivion, the battles have died down and the filibuster broadswords and muskets have found themselves in the museums. But on its own, sea robbery successfully lived till the modern period. A special theory of 20th - 21st century piracy was even formed.
Contemporary descendants of Barbarossa and Morgan experts are conventionally divided into three categories. The first category attack the small vessels in port or on the road to steal something that is bad or just rob a group, as the over-drunken visitors of a bar are robbed. As a rule, they are armed with clubs and knives and sometimes with pistols and approach the vessel on light boats. The second category - well equipped gangs with high-speed boats, guns, informants in ports, external tracking facilities and sophisticated mobile phones at their disposal. They intercept the ships, travelling at low speed or along the shores. Naturally, criminals know in advance what kind of vessel they want and how to make profit from the loot. This category does not make friends with the passengers on board: they either kill the passengers or throw them overboard. Only very recently, the robbers began to take the crew and passengers as hostages for ransom.
Finally, the third and most dangerous type of pirates - is organized criminal syndicates with a complex structure of branched networks of marine brokers and freighters, links with corrupt bureaucrats and police officers at all levels. They, of course, have weapons and radar and satellite communication facilities. |
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