Sandokan is a Malaysian pirate who, along with his friend Yanez and their crew, attacks the British forces from his island of Mompracem. During his adventures, he falls in love with Lady Marianna Guillonk, an English-Italian aristocrat.

Borneo in the mid-19th century is a paradise inhabited by the indigenous Dayak tribes, who live according to their ancient traditions but are ruled by the ruthless laws of the British Empire at the height of its colonial power. Sandokan lives from day to day without taking sides. He fights for himself and his pirate crew, which includes his loyal friend Yanez. But his life changes when he meets Marianne, the beautiful daughter of the British consul in Labuan, during a raid. It is the beginning of an impossible love story between two unexpectedly similar souls: Marianne, of noble blood but with the wild spirit of someone who grew up in a tropical paradise, and Sandokan, pirate leader and adventurer who carries the blood of warrior kings. On their trail is the legendary pirate hunter Lord James Brooke, who will stop at nothing to capture Sandokan and win Marianne's heart.