Director/Co-writer Frank E. Flowers presents the 2026 Action/Adventure film The Bluff. It is fun and bloody. But, let’s talk about that gun. Specifically Connor’s pistola with about 30 rounds of a clear misfitted weapon. It is so obviously anachronistic, as were the other less featured multiple chambered short weapons.
*Flowers shares writing credit with Joe Ballarini.
The Bluff is set in the Cayman Islands. The film is at the wind down of Ye Olde pirate days. Even if the cartridges of the multi-shot pistol been paper and not metal, these were not available until 1805. {Source: Reddit, RMG}
The Bluff Story
A retired pirate is hunted down for gold she took from her former partner. The woman must fight hordes of pirates, once mates, who want the gold and the bounty on her head.
The Main Cast
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is Ercell.
Karl Urban is Captain Connor.
Safia Oakley-Green is Elizabeth.
Ismael Cruz Cordova is T H Bodden.
Temuera Morrison is Quartermaster Lee.
Vedanten Naidoo is Isaac.
David Field is Pastor Bradley.
No Small Parts:
Zack Morris is Weston.
Gary Beadle is Custode Drayton.
Let’s Talk The Bluff
Flowers makes this one entertaining. It moves quickly through its paces. The Bluff has a run time of 103 minutes. At no point does the viewer get impatient with the speed of events being presented. The action moves swiftly and the stunts are spot on. The fight choreography looks brutal as do the other stunts on offer.
Almost everything works. The setting, the colours, the feel; all makes the film click on well. However. There is that one thing.
Those Guns
I said above that the “30 shot” revolver that Connor uses is so out of place. *It could have worked if the film was in the same verse as the 2004 supernatural thriller; Van Helsing. That fantasy movie, with its tongue and cheek delivery, features a number of “imaginary” weapons. The Bluff is not “fantasy,” ergo the hardware used should have been period correct. While I do not expect documentary style perfection, it should fit the “rules” of the time period.*
Each and every time these modern pistols make an appearance, I am taken right out of the movie.
That said, it was easy enough to get back into.
It Works
The Bluff is almost like a non-Disney The Pirates of the Caribbean, sans the comedy. Every single actor swings for the fences and this sells the film. There have been grumblings about the whole thing running out of steam. Granted, the ending is a tad confusing but the film does pretty well in the action stakes.
In fact it works so well, that after finishing the thing, I immediately wanted to watch it all over again.
The Verdict
The Bluff earns a solid 4 stars out of 5. It loses a whole star because of those guns. *I told you they bothered me.* It is streaming on Prime right now. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Let me know what you think.
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