Drain the Sunken Pirate City (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews

a worthy entry but misnomered

[sarajimi · 5/10 · 5 May 2019]

While this shows title indicates a continuation of the focus on sea/lake floor technological exploration of previous titles, it actually returns to the more human element of so many good products of the national geographic society. the multi-beam technology is actually taken out of the game early in the show by an inattentive boater so most of the exploration done is by good old humans diving on the site. that being said, at least some of the previous entries narrators were honest about things being theories, not fact while in this episode one diver states that he knows exactly what happened to a fort mere minutes or hours after finding it's wreckage. also, the trend towards sensationalizing is quite evident in the frequent use of the term "quicksand" over the more accurate "liquefaction." overall, I enjoyed this entry more than the others in the drained series but if you're looking for more episodes like draining Alcatraz or the great lakes, this is a definite departure/improvement.

Cool premise but incredibly frustrating

[ldkamp · 5/10 · 8 September 2020]

This should be a really cool documentary but they basically just go over the same small set of statements over and over, stretching what is realistically only about 15-20 minutes of content. Could've been done so much better.

Scientific Facts mixed with (European) Pirate hate propaganda.

[ganyokoborlor · 2/10 · 18 August 2020]

Aside there being only scientific facts on what happened in Port Royal. This documentary seemed to be fueled by the hatred for pirates by Europeans and thus, fueled the story of Port Royal being the 'wickedest city of all time'. This propaganda could be smelled from a substantial amount of narration. From this documentary, Port Royal became 'wicked' because they were finding it hard to be colonized and stole from other thieves (European empires). Very biased 'documentary'.

Wonderful mix of history and technology

[wimgielenglas · 10/10 · 31 October 2020]

Admitting it could be better, but then it had to be at least an hour longer. Then they could show more of the tech they used. But the human story they show here is captivating. The way the city grew, the pirates, merchants, artisans, people in search for wealth etc, is brought to life without romanticizing it too much. The well deserved reputation of being the wickedest city on earth has been recorded centuries ago. No wonder if you read the reports of visitors from before the earthquake. A part of British and Caribbean history that doesn't have the "American Hollywood sauce" dripping from it. Simply a joy to watch.