Best pirate movies Best pirate movies. Pirate movies have been a Hollywood staple since the silent film era. They did well in theaters for many years, but fell on hard times until Disney revived them with "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl." The fourth installment, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," just hit theaters, so we take a look back at the best pirate movies of all time. 'The Sea Hawk' Just before he directed this classic love story, Michael Curtiz showed that he also knew something about pirates. Errol Flynn played the pirate in this classic, and was there ever any actor who better swashed a buckle? Johnny Depp has nice cheekbones, but everything he brings to the character of Jack Sparrow was done first by Flynn 'Captain Blood' Although they later reached pirate perfection in "The Sea Hawk," director Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn combined for one of the greatest sea adventu...