The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage (1991 TV Movie) User Reviews

Entertaining and Fun

[pensman · 9/10 · 26 October 2018]

This was the pilot for a proposed action series under the Disney banner and written by Stephen J. Cannell. The Cannell touch is clearly evident. A duo of would be heroes, Barry Tarberry (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and Black Jack Savage (Stoney Jackson) who are assisted by a nerd genius, Logan "FX" Murphy (Steve Hytner) strive to get the bad guys. Tarberry is an American financier whose questionable deals have forced him to flee the country one step ahead of the Feds. And once he takes refuge on a Caribbean island by bribing the President, Tarberry also has to dodge the bounty hunters hired by the bail bondsman that Tarberry stiffed of $500,000. Tarberry discovers the castle he purchased is haunted by the ghost of Black Jack Savage. The two form an unlikely partnership for their own reasons. Kelly is perfect as the handsome hero who has a smidgen of the coward to overcome. Jackson is terrific as the hip 300 year old ghost who has to redeem himself by saving a hundred lives or he will be sent to Hell. Since this was the premise for a series, the movie has much exposition to fill in the background and present the raison detre. The made for TV movie is fun and should be put on a DVD along with the six episodes of the series. It's too bad this didn't click but audiences may have passed on this as a retrofit of Riptide with one of the good guys as a ghost. Regardless, this movie is entertaining with enough action with comedy to appeal to a large audience, but it didn't.

The Almost 100 lives....

[masticoret9 · 4/10 · 8 November 2010]

I remember watching this show when I was a kid. I'm 29 now so I was 10 when the show aired originally, and was EXCITED each week when it would come on. I think the concept was solid for a kids show, but they aimed it at a PG-13 audience, and that made it take it's self too seriously. The older people who would watch it yawned at the overly simplistic predictable plots. I could tell the show was doomed when, (and to condense the concept as quick as I can.) the main "living" character (whose name I forget) was a bad man, and ran away from the U.S. government to the Caribbean. While he was there he moved into a castle, and in that castle lived a pirate ghost who had killed 100 people. Now to atone for those deaths he must save 100 lives, but since he's dead he's unable to do this. So, the con artist American, to atone for his own past, now worried that he is going to hell because of what Jack Savage has told him of the afterlife, decides to help Jack save lives, so they can bypass purgatory together, and live happily ever after in heaven with all the people they screwed over/killed! (Isn't Christianity's atonement/forgiveness policy fantastic!?) Now that isn't the part where it got crappy. They actually had a decent concept for a show. (Remember this is the time when Tween weapon wielding amphibians were uber popular. So, it wasn't the concept that was the selling point for a show, but how interesting they could make the content.) The problem with this particular show was that they had like a 6 episode run or so before I lost interest, and they had already saved 2 people's lives TWICE. so in 6 episodes they had to swoop to the rescue of two moronically inept individuals two different times for two different reasons. Which leads you to question how these two people had managed to stay alive prior to the evil pirate and con-artist McGee moving to the island then going on penance patrol in their super boat. Anyways, I digress it seems the writers were out to lunch, and the viewers followed. So, I give the show a 4 out of 10. It was fun, and exciting as a ten year old, but they probably had some retard director/producer/head writer that was chopping off the good character development and concepts for the sake of generic mediocrity. I hope Jack made it out of hell, because God knows his show didn't.

Strange Premise..

[prophet118 · 4/10 · 29 March 2006]

I don't really remember much about this show, except that it didn't really SEEM like a comedy to me at the time, nor did this only run in Brazil, I watched this on prime time TV, but as i recall it only stayed on for a short period of time.

the idea was that basically this pirate had killed a bunch of people, and (if i recall correctly) he had to save as many people so that his soul could rest (or some such mumbo jumbo) the typical sidekick role was someone who stumbled on to his boat (i think, sorry i cant be more helpful, this was almost 15 years ago!)

All in all the show was OK, and I do really wish it hadn't been yanked off the air, but like so many shows of its time (and kind) it just wasn't destined to be a hit