What's up?
Scared of snakes?
Let's go.
Nice handbag.
Say hello, Mr. Blake.
That's a friend of mine.
Go on.
Can't we leave the stuff here?
No, let's get across.
It's unhealthy to worry.
Captain, I'd feel healthier on this side.
Just think about the gold.
Captain Hayes, you have guns?
I got guns. You got gold?
I see guns, you see gold.
- Guns first, huh?
- Yeah.
All right, boys, open them up!
The Spanish have?
US Army, madam.
The Spaniards do not have.
How about that?
Hey, watch out! Duck, lads.
- Good.
- No, it's not good, it's bad.
- Show me more guns.
- You show me gold, I'll show you guns.
- No gold.
- No gold.
No gold.
I don't think this woman's honest, Blake.
Yeah, the heathens have been exposed
to Western business practices.
- They used to be honest.
- Yeah, times are changing, sir.
- Show me more guns, now!
- Yes, ma'am.
Yes, ma'am.
See what happens
with women and business.
- Future looks dark, Blake.
- I couldn't agree more, sir.
There are your guns!
Here are your bullets.
Let's go!
Shit!
Ladies, what a lovely surprise.
Excuse me.
Alone at last.
Goodbye, darling.
Goodbye, ladies!
No hard feelings, I hope.
By order of His Majesty,
the King of Spain,
I hereby charge you with supplying arms
to the enemies of the Crown.
So tell me, Bully, how have you been?
Not bad, Ben.
How long you been working
for the Spaniards?
Ever since they could meet my price.
How long have you been selling guns
to the natives?
Just started, Ben.
- What a pity it's gotta end so soon.
- Shame.
I been waiting a long time
to see you fall, Bully.
It's gonna be a grand sight,
watching your neck stretched all to hell
at the end of a Spanish rope.
You sound like a very sad
and bitter old lady, Ben.
And so the so-called "Pirate Era"
is coming to an end,
with the arrival of the new
steam-powered naval vessel.
Very good. Very, very good.
Their arrival, your departure.
The end of an age.
Are you writing down in that book
that I'm a pirate?
Well,
in a manner of speaking,
I suppose one could say that I am, yes.
Good, 'cause I am,
and a damn good one, too.
No, I never flew the skull
and crossed bones.
That's for your fictioneers.
But I have sought pleasure and profit
all of my life at sea,
with no regard for any man's law.
That's not to say
without morals and standards.
I got morals and standards.
I never killed anybody
that didn't have it coming.
I never cheated an honest man.
I never pillaged, and I never raped.
I applaud you.
Were you ever married?
Well, I suppose a man's ship
becomes his wife and mistress.
Or so I've been told.
It's hard to love a ship.
What?
They rot.
Oh, yes, of course they do.
But memories,
Lord God, I've got memories!
I can't regret dying today.
Hell, I lived more
than any man deserves.
Yes, yes, indeed.
Mr. Hayes...
- Bully.
- Sorry?
Call me, Bully.
Thank you, Bully.
Mr... Bully,
well, one question
I was meaning to ask you is
how you ended up here?
The Rona, I suppose,
is what put my neck in the noose today.
- The Rona?
- Yes.
She was a damn good ship.
Nothing to be proud of, you understand,
just an old bucket,
but she did her job without complaint.
We'd been two months
hauling this young couple
across the Pacific Ocean in time for
their wedding on some mission island.
He planned to live there
and convert the heathens,
which to me seemed
a hell of a waste of her.
She was the finest thing I ever saw.
Another one of Fong's fine meals
gone to the fish, Mr. Williamson.
Captain, won't you tell him
to try Ratbag's cure?
There is no cure.
You don't have much misery left.
We'll sight land tomorrow morning.
Then you must try it now, Nathaniel!
At least enjoy the last few hours at sea.
I regret that this is something
I can never enjoy.
Oh, but you could!
It's wonderful, isn't it, Captain?
You just don't realize it,
because you're so miserable.
Now off you go and see Ratbag.
Captain Hayes will look after me,
won't you, Captain?
Excuse me.
Your husband will recover soon enough
when he sets foot on solid ground,
ma'am.
He's not my husband. Not yet.
Do you know the missionary life?
Can't say that I do, ma'am.
But you know the mission stations?
The missionaries?
Yes, most of them.
Then you know what it's like.
It's quiet.
Can you see me as a missionary?
Let's say I wouldn't want to see you
as a missionary.
Do you come for the cure?
We'll fix you up all right, Reverend.
You're confident that you can cure me?
- Captain Hayes.
- Yes?
I recently lost my father.
- I'm sorry.
- Thank you.
He left me a small inheritance.
I've never really known
what to do with the money.
Nathaniel knows very little
about money matters.
I should like very much to invest
in your trading company.
- I couldn't take your money, ma'am.
- Couldn't I become a stockholder?
I couldn't guarantee your investment.
Ships go down. Cargoes get lost.
It's a risky business.
But isn't that the nature
of an investment?
Putting something at risk
in order to gain a substantial return?
Yes, ma'am.
Here's to a long and fruitful partnership.
I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention
anything to Nathaniel.
I can't guarantee
he'd be as trusting as I am.
It's our secret, ma'am.
Nathaniel!
Big man God! Big man God!
Mama Jesus Christ!
Moaka, what is the matter?
Boat! Much boat!
Moaka, please do not refer
to the Reverend and I
as "Big Man God"
and "Mama Jesus Christ."
You're putting your soul in jeopardy.
Much white man. Amen man.
It's Nathaniel!
You're not telling us a fib, are you?
Much boat!
It is Nathaniel!
Edgar, go and get my parasol
and put on your coat.
This is our farewell then, miss.
But not for long, I hope.
You'll be back to see us,
won't you, Captain?
You may rely on that.
Take care of my investment.
As if it were my own, ma'am.
Go easy with that desk! It's fragile!
All the way from Boston
to be damaged at the last moment.
Thank you.
Your men are better suited
to the handling of sacks of coal
than fine furniture, Captain.
Your desk ain't hurt.
Anyway, we delivered you safely,
didn't we, Reverend?
I am not a reverend. Not yet.
Closer to a reverend
than we've had on this ship.
I would like to say
it had been a pleasant voyage,
- however...
- However, Miss Sophie enjoyed it.
You have a very fine woman there.
Yes, I had noticed
how much you enjoyed her company.
You need not tell me of her qualities,
nor indeed how fortunate I am
in having won her hand.
Farewell, Captain.
I hope you can hold on to her.
I wouldn't let it worry you.
Slipped, God's truth.
Nathaniel, what happened?
Nothing, just a little slip.
Welcome to paradise. Shall we?
Nathaniel!
Nathaniel!
Aunt Katherine.
- Uncle.
- Good to see you, my boy.
And this is my Sophie.
Sophie?
My uncle. My aunt.
The Reverend and Mrs. Williamson.
- Hello.
- How do you do, Sophie?
We've heard so much about you
in Nathaniel's letters, haven't we, dear?
Yes, we have.
Welcome.
You look as though
you might've left something behind.
Don't be an idiot, Blake.
And what does one do
when one is not converting islanders?
We teach the word of God.
- Do they speak English?
- Not at all.
The word of God transcends language.
So I've heard.
- Nathaniel, what's the matter?
- My watch.
Those thieves stole my watch
when I took that stupid cure.
Who were these people, Nathaniel?
Who did you travel with?
- An absolute rogue...
- A charming man, called...
Bully Hayes.
Bully Hayes!
May the Lord be praised
you're here in safety.
Bully Hayes is a cutthroat
and a brigand.
He and men like him
are what's turning the Pacific
from a paradise into an abomination.
The man's a vile blackbirder!
- Blackbirder?
- A slaver.
Trafficker in human misery.
Oh, yes, you are most fortunate
to have lost only your watch.
Most fortunate indeed.
Mr. Blake!
- Sir?
- Get this tub about!
- To go where, sir?
- Williamson's mission.
- What for? What about the cargo?
- What about it?
It pays the way.
A lot of things pay the way, Mr. Blake,
and a hell of a lot better, too.
Aye, aye, sir.
Prepare to go about!
My dear children and fellow Christians,
today we are most fortunate
and blessed on our little island.
For this occasion,
my dear nephew, Nathaniel,
and his beautiful young bride, Sophie,
have journeyed from far across the seas
to be with us
here at Wakaya.
Come on, lads.
The Good Book served you well,
didn't it?
Bloody old fool.
Get her back!
Can't trust women
even when they're dead.
No. Let go!
Help! Help!
What happened?
Gone.
All gone.
White man.
Blackbird.
Hayes.
Bully Hayes!
Oh, that's wonderful.
Reverend!
Nathaniel!
Miss Sophie!
Halt!
- Captain Pease?
- Yep.
I'm Count Heinrich Von Rittenberg.
I represent His Majesty Kaiser Wilhelm.
Is there somewhere
we can hold a discussion?
Yeah.
- Come this way, Captain.
- Count.
Whatever.
Mr. Pease, the slave trade
has been abolished
in every civilized land.
Oh, them ain't slaves, Captain.
Contract laborers,
and I've got the contract somewhere.
I'll show them to you sometime.
I hope so.
What's up, Captain?
Don't you trust your business partner?
My country is interested to make
much bigger
the scope of its global influence.
Specifically in this region.
Yeah, it's nice around here, isn't it?
We wish to establish coaling stations
for our ships.
- The new "thunder-barges," eh?
- Steam-powered warships, Mr. Pease.
And good anchorage, like Ponape,
is what empires are built around, huh?
We intend to sign and honor a treaty.
King Oatopi of Ponape
never signed a treaty with nobody.
He's an evil bastard.
Practices incest on his own offspring.
Eats human flesh.
Sacrifices his enemies.
You ever show your pink,
little behind around there,
he'll have you screwed, tattooed
and served up
with an apple in your mouth.
Mr. Pease, I have the whole
of the German Empire at my support.
He'll eat them, too.
Now the point of the matter is,
Captain, you need me.
Me and the King
are practically brothers.
What's your price?
Five hundred gold marks.
I wouldn't piss for 500 gold marks.
- What would you...
- Never mind. You couldn't afford it.
But I'll get you your treaty with the King,
for 5,000 gold marks.
Let me go, or I'll kill him!
I'm very serious.
Now, what'll you offer me, missy?
Hello, hello!
Hello, hello! Over here!
- Rats!
- Mr. Blake.
What do you make of that?
Looks like a man walking on water,
don't it?
Hello!
Ho! Over here!
- A weird sight, sir.
- That's the Reverend Nathaniel, boys.
What? How on earth
did he get out here?
- It's a miracle.
- Bloody hell!
I've robbed the bleeding messiah!
Ask him to walk over here to us!
If he can't do it, send a boat.
Welcome aboard, Reverend.
The good Lord is with you today.
Hayes, Hayes,
- you murderer!
- Stop it! No!
Bloody hell, get him! Bloody hell!
- What the hell's got into you, Reverend?
- You murderer! You filthy murderer!
- He ain't that filthy.
- You killed my family!
You've taken Sophie! What did you
do to her, you blackbirder?
- He ain't no blackbirder!
- Kill him, Captain.
- Slowly!
- You should try the whip, Captain.
- Go on then, do it!
- You got the wrong man, Reverend.
There's no blackbirds
and no Sophie aboard this ship.
Let him go, boys.
Then where is she?
I think you know.
I pray to God I do, son.
Take him below.
- There, you'll need those.
- Thank you.
You still think I did it, don't you?
What proof do I have that you didn't?
Your blackbird sign
is all over that island.
You're well known as a liar,
a cheat, a swindler.
Don't forget bigamous and barrater
and buccaneer, extortionist,
trickster, bamboozler,
music-hall entertainer
and master mariner.
And blackbirder.
The man who raided your island
was Ben Pease.
- Who?
- Captain Ben Pease.
A long time ago,
Ben and I were business partners.
We had a falling-out
over a certain young lady.
I shot his balls off.
It was an accident.
Now he blames me
for everything he does.
Every time he loots or pillages
or murders, he leaves my sign behind.
I'll tell you, boy,
that the sorry bastard will do anything.
Then why haven't you done anything
about it before?
I don't know.
I've gotten used to it, I guess.
Used to it? Or grown to like it?
- Like it?
- The notoriety.
Reputation can have its profits.
I know that.
Yeah, surely.
But the cost has gone too high.
Then you are going to do
something about it?
I intend to.
- And what of my Sophie?
- She's not your Sophie today, boy.
And we'll find her.
- Before Pease kills her?
- He won't kill her.
He may slap her around a little bit,
but he won't hurt her.
Then there has to be an end
to Ben Pease.
I'd appreciate it if you'd help me kill him.
I'd be happy to, son.
We'll send him straight to hell
where he belongs.
Good morning, Reverend. How are you?
- Better than I was.
- Good.
- Where are we?
- Coming into the port of Samoa.
It's not the jewel of the Pacific,
but it is the center.
- Center for what?
- Everything.
Every kind of thieving,
profiteering criminal in the world
passes through here sooner or later.
What the civilized world won't have
finds a happy home in Samoa.
Including Ben Pease?
That's his brig, the Leanora, right there.
Well, then, shouldn't we go over there
and seize him and his ship right now?
If you want Ben,
you don't knock on his front door.
He wouldn't answer?
He'd blow your brains out.
- Hello, Henry.
- Good to see you, Bully.
Yeah, good to see you.
- Hello, Bully.
- Hello, darling.
Hello, Bully.
- Hello, Bully.
- Hey.
- Hi!
- Hello, dear.
I'll be 10 minutes.
Coming about?
- Well, he said 10 minutes.
- Certainly not.
It's a post office I need.
- Jezebel.
- Bully!
Winky, my darling.
Hello, Bully.
This is a group of orphans
I helped out many years ago.
- Ganja!
- Bully!
- Excuse me.
- Thank you.
- You here for the sale?
- Sale?
Yeah, the big blackbird sale today.
- Blackbird sale? Where?
- It's at the auction house.
You'll find some good bargains there.
Girls. Boys. Whatever you want.
Don't go over there! You might get hurt.
I was a varsity boxer at Harvard.
I can take care of myself.
All right, Ganja Joe,
where is that son of a bitch Ben Pease?
He's gotta... He's got a girl for...
As I was saying, where is Mr. Pease?
Get them barrels ready.
We're moving out.
- Now?
- Now!
And bring up an empty one for the girl.
- What's the matter?
- Bully Hayes is here.
- Get ready, young lady.
- Where now, Mr. Pease?
Nowhere you'd know, pretty.
Don't be so sure.
Have you ever heard of Ponape?
Hasn't everyone?
You've got two minutes.
$5.20.
Yes, come along, ladies and gentlemen.
This is a fine young worker,
plenty of muscles.
$5.25, $0.30, $0.35,
$0.40. Get yourself, sir. $0.45.
$5.45. Going at $5.45.
Called out at $5.45! Thank you, sir.
Stop this! Stop this!
You're slavers! You're slavers!
You're all slavers!
These people were kidnapped
by someone called Ben Pease!
He is a murderer!
Get him outside.
Pack her up.
Time to go.
Come along, Mr. Blake.
Post your letter there, Mr. Blake?
All right, boys, listen up.
Everything is going according to plan.
Do as I told you, and we'll pick them off
one by one by one.
Here, Rats, look out.
Two on the way.
Goodbye,
sailor.
How many?
And then there were three.
Out of the way! Get out of the way!
Get out of the way!
Whoa!
Ben!
- Bully!
- Ben, you have something of mine.
- And what could that be?
- I think you know.
It couldn't be the girl, surely?
Give her up, Ben, or I'll tear
your heart out with my bare hands.
- I'd like to oblige, but...
- Oblige me, Ben!
Now, Bully, you wouldn't want to go
and ruin our friendship
over some little floozie, would you?
- Where is she?
- Stay out of this, boy.
Where is she?
You want her?
You have her.
Don't!
Bully!
Thanks.
Come on!
You'd think this was
the bloody Kaiser's birthday parade.
What the hell?
We'll never catch that monster.
- I know where they're going, Bully.
- Yeah?
- Ponape.
- Ponape? You sure?
- Well, you lost her now, then.
- We'll never catch them in the Rona.
Sorry, laddie.
- Forget the Rona.
- Forget the Rona.
We'll take Mr. Pease's ship.
It's a hell of a lot faster.
- Very nice ship, eh?
- Yes.
And you set nicely enough
to stealing them, too, Reverend.
I owe it all to you.
- Not much of a drinker, are you?
- No.
- Well, it's a useful habit, sometimes.
- Like now?
- I'd like to apologize.
- For what?
I was very quick to judge you.
What do they say, son?
Don't judge, and let... No.
Let's see, judge not,
- judge not, judge ye, not...
- "Judge not, lest ye be judged."
Matthew 7, Verse 1.
You knew what you were doing
in Samoa.
It would've worked out
if it wasn't for me.
Well, don't feel badly 'cause you don't
know your way around a whorehouse.
No, I was a fool.
Well, you found out
where Pease is taking Sophie.
How'd you work that one, anyway?
Open it.
It's to you.
I had suspected,
but I never knew for sure.
Oh, there's nothing to know, Nate.
Can I call you Nate?
Nate, there's nothing to know.
I looked at her. I thought about her,
- and I dreamed in my mind that I...
- Do you love her, Bully?
Yes.
I could,
but it doesn't matter, Nate. She's yours.
- Not if you love her, Bully.
- Don't you love her?
Of course I love her, but she loves you.
She wrote you the note.
Only because
she thought you were dead.
- Billy...
- She'd have never written me a note.
Billy, I want you to have her.
Bully.
Look,
you're kind of a rank old dog,
and I think a woman like Sophie
would be good for you.
Oh, that's awful nice of you
to say that, Natty.
Oh, God.
But she's young!
And you're young! And you love her!
You got curly hair. Go on, have her.
You need her!
For what?
Wait a minute, Nate.
Let's let Sophie decide her own fate.
Let's let her decide
which of us she'll have.
She has a mind of her own. It's only fair.
Yeah.
She can make her own choice.
What if she decides
she doesn't want either one of us?
A good one. Oh, yeah.
- There it is. Ponape.
- Why is it so cold?
I wouldn't ask too many questions
about Ponape, Captain.
You wouldn't like the answers.
I don't like this place.
But it'll still make a fine port
for your fatherland, eh?
Cold, evil, nasty, but cheap.
Bloody strange place.
We come in peace.
Otherwise, we don't have a prayer.
Very interesting engineering.
Engineering my ass. It's magic!
Pease man, what bring?
Happy me good now.
This be White King.
Count. I'm a count.
He wouldn't know "count"
from a bucket of shit,
but he does know "king."
White King bring much gifts.
Go on, give it to him.
- Your Majesty, my Emperor...
- You are the bloody emperor.
He doesn't deal with second raters.
Your Majesty, I wish...
My country wishes to use your island
as an anchorage
for its new naval vessels.
This is very important for Germany,
very important for me.
How much?
As a small offering,
and as an indication of the friendship
between our two...
Not enough.
Of course. We have more.
Shrunken heads.
Not enough.
Of course.
- We have more.
- More?
More what?
How badly
do you want your island, Emperor?
You should feel flattered, missy.
- Not everyone gets offered to the gods.
- Just the women.
There it is!
Around that point, drop anchor.
Break out sidearms.
We're going ashore.
You're gonna love the view.
"The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
"He maketh me to lie down
in green pastures."
Interesting, ain't it?
It's disgusting.
They're savages.
Yep.
We'll never get her out of that.
If we do save her, Mr. Blake,
I'll rely on you to save us.
- Aye, sir.
- Ready, Reverend?
- Yeah.
- Let's go.
Excuse me.
Hey, you put this fella
in a tight squeeze.
Bully!
Nathaniel!
- But I thought...
- It's all right. It's all right.
Your Majesty.
I should kill you
for getting me into all this!
Well done, Blake.
Let's get back to the ship.
Aye, aye, sir.
Here.
Come on, lads, look lively!
Come on, now. Put your backs into it.
Hayes, you bastard!
That bloody pirate's stolen my ship!
Never mind, we use a real one.
Come!
What now, eh, Captain?
Get your Bible out, Reverend.
Stand by to fire!
And fire!
Hold your course, Blake.
Next time I'll get him.
I need more speed, Captain.
Hold her steady as she goes.
Come with me, Mr. Pease.
Up here, Mr. Pease.
Elevation. Three degrees.
Now I have him.
Stand by to fire!
And fire!
Get down!
Reload!
Blake.
Blake!
Aye, sir.
Hold your course,
and stand by to come hard aport.
What if there's rocks?
If there's rocks,
we'll run aground, Blake.
The man's mad!
He's heading straight for the rocks!
Faster, Captain!
Faster!
Now you shall see what we can do,
Mr. Pease.
Oh, no, no, no,
I think you're doing really fine.
Yep, that's real good.
Two degrees to port!
Two degrees to port!
Faster!
Gun ready.
Stand by.
Stand by.
Now!
Madman!
Two degrees to port! Fast!
Stand by!
Fire!
Damn! Faster, Captain! Faster!
All right, that's it!
Drop anchor and clear out!
Come on!
Go down to the fore and fife.
Go down to the fore and fife.
Great invention
this peashooter of yours.
Mr. Pease!
Faster, into the headland!
Into the headland.
This is my ship, Mr. Pease.
And that's obvious.
- Get it into the headland.
- More speed, Captain!
More speed!
More speed! More speed!
Tight, into the headland.
There she is!
Hard to port! Hard to port!
Give them hell!
Hold fast.
They got Blake!
Take that.
- Let's go, lads.
- Come on, lads!
Let's go.
Sophie! Come on! Sophie!
Come on down the stairs!
Nate, look out!
Drop the shutters!
We have been boarded!
Count Von Rittenberg,
we have been boarded!
Never mind!
They are like fleas on our back.
Secure the bridge. Secure the doors.
What can they do?
What can we do?
Get those muskets.
All right, jam up the links.
Come on!
- Engine room. After you.
- Thank you.
Count, they are blocking the eyeholes!
They are all over the decks.
Everywhere! At the magazine.
I can no longer see.
No matter, I can see.
- Hard to port.
- Hard to port.
We will circle around
and bring our gun to bear on their ship.
My ship!
Captain, it's jammed.
Count, the steering is jammed!
You cannot turn?
Of course you can turn!
I repeat, it is jammed.
I can no longer turn!
Then use the engines. Go to full astern.
Why do we not move?
Engine room, go to full astern.
Engine room!
Damn idiot!
You couldn't sail this mechanical whale
if it was a tin toy in your own bathtub!
Mr. Pease,
I am going to sink their ship.
It isn't their ship!
Anyway, they're all over the top of yours.
Gunter, my sword.
Call out the guard.
Now what the hell are you gonna do?
To show them
that the German fighting machine
is more than just metal ships.
Oh, the honor of the Von Rittenbergs
is at stake, huh?
Well, you don't mind if I just watch?
You don't have any honor, do you?
You coward!
Like I said, it interferes with business,
Count.
Nate.
They'll be steering a straight course
for quite a while.
- If the engine's still working.
- Though highly doubtful, Captain.
Let's get the hell out of here, then.
- Captain Hayes.
- Admiral.
- Count.
- Whatever.
Sophie!
I'll be right there!
Come here, darling.
Shit!
Bully!
- Are you done?
- Oh, hell, yes.
Let's go!
Lieutenant.
Bring this gun to port.
But, Mr. Pease...
Lieutenant,
bring this gun around.
Yes, sir.
Move it faster!
Faster, you idiot!
Keep it moving!
Come on!
Thanks, Pog.
Nate. Come on.
A little more!
Put some muscle into it! That's it.
That's it. That's it.
That's it. Just a few more inches.
And stop!
Stand by to fire!
Bully!
This one's for you!
Let's go!
Where do you want me
to take you this time?
That was 18 months ago.
I dropped them off in Manila.
They wanted to go back home,
try their hand at civilization.
I got restless,
wanted to do something worthwhile.
That's a sin I picked up from Nate,
I guess.
So I started running guns
to the anti-colonialists.
That's what brought me here today.
A most intriguing story, Captain.
May I ask you some questions?
How are you gonna
get out of this one, Bully?
Sweet talk.
Do you wish me to pray
for your soul, my son?
What's it gonna cost?
Nothing,
to look in the Good Book, my son.
- No thanks, padre.
- Reverend.
Reverend.
Are you ready to go?
I'm ready to go, Father.
Sophie! Now!
Let's go!
Hup! Hup! Hup!
Bully, come on!
Take that one!
- Looks like we're out of land, Reverend.
- It's all right, Bully. Come on!
- Just close your eyes.
- It's not a bad idea, eh?
- That's not an idea!
- It sure beats the alternative!
Here we go!
God, have mercy!
Oh! I prefer the alternative.
Hold steady there.
Nate, get in the boat.
- Nate, come on.
- Nate, get in the boat! I'm being shot at!
- I'm in. I'm in.
- Come back.
Row! Row!