Kommando Störtebeker (2001)

In 1401, the pirate Klaus Störtebeker and his companions are captured in Hamburg and executed after a raid in the North Sea that initially succeeds. Störtebeker keeps moving even without his head, but in the process he loses his treasure map, which marks the location of the treasure he buried on Sylt. Several centuries later, in 1924, an old sailor tells young Grandpa Bommel about Störtebeker’s legendary treasure in a pub at Hamburg harbor, revealing that it has never been found. Grandpa Bommel buys the map from him for a bottle of rum, but loses one half of it in a pub brawl soon afterward. The film then moves to the present day, first showing an ordinary day in the Bommel family’s life: Father Paul starts his workday after a morning jog; Grandpa Bommel shows baby Bruno his collection of everyday objects, for which he makes up stories; and Mother Renate is busy with her work on the committee organizing a campaign to save the hospital, which urgently needs money. At work, Paul’s boss, Kaluppke, asks him to deposit 30,000 marks into the hospital’s donation account after work. Kaluppke intends to donate the money himself. Before doing so, Paul is dragged by Mrs. Hoppmann, the cleaning lady, to a pig race. She assures him that he has a good chance of winning. Paul agrees, but Mrs. Hoppmann bets the 30,000 marks on the racing pig Lord Leberwurst, which loses the race, and the entire large sum is gambled away. At home, Renate and her friends initially hear nothing about this, only about Kaluppke’s generous donation. Around the same time, Grandpa Bommel comes across the remaining part of Störtebeker’s treasure map while rummaging through his box. Meanwhile, Paul tries to get loans from several banks and pawnshops, but is thrown out every time and comes home empty-handed. He does not tell Renate, who knows nothing of what happened, but confides in Grandpa Bommel. Grandpa tells Paul about the piece of the treasure map he found, and the two decide to look for the other half and the treasure itself. Pretending they are going to the Baltic Sea for scuba diving, and taking baby Bruno with them, the male Bommels set off. They find the pub at Hamburg harbor where Grandpa Bommel lost the other half of the map all those years ago. There he meets again the attractive landlady, Lola, whom he had met back then. When she catches sight of the map, she is startled and tries to warn him away. Just then, the shady Professor Lugano arrives with two accomplices. He has the other half of the map and is also after the treasure. He challenges Grandpa Bommel to a card game, with the winner taking both halves of the map. Grandpa Bommel wins and thus wins the other half. In the meantime, vandals have taken apart the Bommels’ car, so they continue by subway. There, Professor Lugano’s accomplices snatch the now-complete treasure map, setting off a wild chase through Hamburg. Grandpa Bommel and baby Bruno pursue them in a stolen sports car. Meanwhile, Paul, who is not quite in his right mind after being punched by one of the accomplices, accidentally ends up at Millerntor Stadium, where he is mistaken for the referee at the FC St. Pauli versus Bayern Munich match. Grandpa Bommel and baby Bruno lose sight of the gangsters, but a hidden rocket in the sports car allows the Bommels to stop them and recover the map. After they run into the gangsters again at a fairground and narrowly escape them on a roller coaster, Paul, at the end of his tether, decides to call the police. However, Professor Lugano bribes the police, and the Bommels are arrested as alleged thieves. Meanwhile, Renate and her friends discover that the 30,000 marks were never deposited into the donation account, though they still do not know that Paul gambled the money away. With the help of a biker gang that helps other inmates escape from prison, Paul, Grandpa, and Bruno eventually break out. For the time being, they take shelter with homeless people in a park. Paul, now feeling that things have become too dangerous, decides to give up the search for the treasure and confess everything. Grandpa Bommel, however, secretly visits Lola at her home during the night. She tells him where Professor Lugano and his accomplices are currently staying. The next morning, against Paul’s wishes, Grandpa Bommel goes to the location: a warehouse at Hamburg harbor. Baby Bruno follows him, and the two are caught by the gangsters, who plan to chop them up in a fish-processing machine. Paul arrives in a delivery van and also comes into the gangsters’ sights. Grandpa Bommel and Bruno free themselves at the last moment. In an action-packed rescue, Grandpa Bommel saves his son from a deadly bullet, but is hit himself and falls into the harbor basin. Thanks to a trick by Bruno, Paul and his son escape the gangsters once more. Underwater, Grandpa Bommel is greeted by Death, but a mermaid saves him and stabilizes him. As the treasure map dissolves in the water, it takes the shape of Sylt, which Paul recognizes excitedly. Unfortunately, the television reporters who are there capture this on film, so many people learn about it, including Renate, who has meanwhile confronted Kaluppke, and they now head to Sylt. A major search gets underway on Sylt once people learn about the treasure. Grandpa Bommel eventually finds it, but there is no gold in the chest, leaving Paul devastated. Professor Lugano and his accomplices show up again, intent on taking the Bommels down. The furious Kaluppke also arrives to find out what happened to the money. At the last moment, Mrs. Hoppmann, who has also come to Sylt, finally drives the gangsters away. Kaluppke gives Paul an ultimatum: if the 30,000 marks have not turned up by tomorrow, he will lose his job. Paul, dejected, mourns the treasure on the beach when suddenly the headless figure of Störtebeker appears and leaves him a ring worth as much as the lost sum. Overjoyed, the Bommels finally drive home.