Exotic locations, big guns, long, tan legs, martial arts -- this movie had everything Soviet teens so longed to see. Back in the days when Rocky and Rambo where denounced as propaganda of violence, VCR's were scarce and movie tickets still cost 50 kopeks, the question to any Russian young man was not whether he saw "The Pirates of the XX Century", but how many times.
_Pirates of the XX Century_ was (and is) the highest grossing film in Soviet Russian history. It was released in 1980 and reflected growing interest not only in American and Hong Kong film genres like action and martial arts, but also a desire to see other, more exotic, locations than were physically possible for average Soviet citizens.
