I have the National Geographic DVD version. It is fairly decent, but I was disappointed somewhat. James Purefoy did a middling job, but needs to work on his Bristol accent. And for a film titled "Terror at Sea", there wasn't much terror. I think the movie would have been much better if they'd actually included all the things Blackbeard did to cultivate everyone's fear of him.
For example, the time Blackbeard decided to see if he couldn't make a "hell on earth, and try how long we might stand it". Having himself and some of the crew sealed in the hold with burning sulfur, to see who would last the longest. Naturally Blackbeard himself lasted longer than anyone else, which pleased him to no end. That is one of the few stories actually known of him, why they didn't use it I don't understand. Would have made a great scene.
And they completely changed why Blackbeard shot Israel Hands in the knee.
It wasn't to "save his life" at all. Blackbeard, Hands and others were drinking in the ships cabin, when Blackbeard suddenly drew his pistols and put them under the table. All but Hands saw this, and quickly got up and left. Hands, being too drunk, didn't notice anything. Blackbeard then blew out the candle on the table and fired the pistols, striking Hands in the knee and crippling him for life. When asked why he did such a thing, Blackbeard replied: "If I didn't kill one of the crew now and then, they'd forget who I was!" Or in the final battle when Blackbeard was sliced in the neck by a cutlass, to the point he was literally holding his head on with one hand while continuing to fight. These are all scenes that should've made it into the film.
Oh well, it was at least a pirate film, and there are all too few of those...