I was looking forward to this film. Everyone I know who had seen it said it was brilliant, so when I finally came round to watching I was left completely disappointed.
Pirates Of The Caribean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl (2003) Rated: 12
Running Time: 143 minutes!!!! Directed By: Gore Verbinski Written By: Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio
Cast: Johnny Depp ............ Jack Sparrow Geoffrey Rush .......... Barbossa Orlando Bloom ........ Will Turner Keira Knightley ........ Elizabeth Swann Jack Davenport ....... Norrington Jonathan Pryce ....... Governor Weatherby Swann Lee Arenberg ........... Pintel Mackenzie Crook .... Ragetti Damian O'Hare ....... Lt. Gillette Giles New ................ Murtogg
STORY Johnny Depp plays Jack Sparrow a pirate who is searching for some lost treasure. Keira Knightley plays Elizabeth Swann who is captured by the crew of the Black Pearl. They need her to remove a curse that cause them to transform into skeletons at night. Jack Sparrow and Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) gather together a crew to go after the Black Pearl and rescue Elizabeth.
REVIEW The main problem I have with this film is the running time - 143 minutes is 53 minutes too long! As a ninety minute film it could have been really good without losing any story. There really is an hours worth of unnecessary rubbish that just slows the whole film down. What could have been a really fun action-adventure is actually just a dull adventure with the very occasional set-piece. It is only because the story is so bad that I say this. SPOILERS AHEAD There are so many plot holes that it isn't even funny. The main one being that at the end we find out Jack was cursed all along and he is also a skeleton crew, but if that were true why didn't he turn into a skeleton earlier on in the movie during the night scenes. Surely he would have known seeing as it was many years ago that they became cursed. And there are many more just as bad. I can't remember what the music was like, so it can't have been anything special. The acting is all pretty average really. You'll either love or hate johnny depps character - I hated it, but think the film would have been even more boring without him.
I know I am being really harsh with this film, but I cannot believe how many good reviews it has got when it really isn't very good. The strongest point for this film is the special effects. The skeleton crew while not breaking any new ground do look quite impressive, but we hardly ever see them as skeletons. I spent the first hour waiting to see the skeleton crew and then you don't see them again until the end.
Now that I have got all of my hate for the film accross I can move onto the DVD. I have to admit that I haven't watched many of the features on the DVD (mainly because I didn't like the film), but from what I can tell it is a very good package. The picture quality is excellent as you would expect with any DVD these days. The sound is better than in most DVD's with the rear speakers being put to good use. The DVD is a two-disc set with three commentaries from the main cast and crew. Other features include: - 19 deleted/alternative scenes - 'An Epic At Sea: The Making Of Pirates Of The Caribbean' featurette - 'Below The Decks: An Interactive History Of Pirates' featurette - Producer's photo diary - Blooper reel - 'Diary Of A Ship' featurette - 'Diary Of A Pirate' featurette - 'Fly On The Set' featurette - 'Moonlight Serenade' scene progression - Easter Eggs (hidden features) - DVD-Rom features: Disneyland Pirates Attraction Virtual Reality Viewer, Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction Image Gallery, Script Scanner, Storyboard Viewer
I know that i'm in the minority by not liking this film, but it really is overhyped. If you really want to see this film (like I did) then I urge to lower your expectations and maybe you'll enjoy it.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Action/Adventure - Director: Gore Verbinski - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Bill Nighy, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Chow Yun-Fat
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Fair enough, although I enjoyed it. I don't think Jack was cursed all along. He picked up a coin from the chest at the end to curse himself. That would make more sense.
melodysparks 17.05.2004 01:00
Not every film can please every viewer. Im sorry to hear you didn't like it. A good review though
Elffriend 17.04.2004 03:06
I have given this a very helpful rating, as everyone is enttitled to their own opinions. Sorry to say, I loved this film, maybe the plot was a little weak, but the caracters were outstanding. Johny Depp is such a versatile actor, he makes the film, Orlando Bloom shows he is no lightweight actor after his stunning performance as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings. I watched this on a vidioe and bought it after, I loved it. If you like Johnny Depp, try his film on Jack the Ripper, the mood is dark and suits his acting skills, it is very gory, but worth watching, from comedy, pathos and moody, he is under-rated , most actors get type-bound, JD is a master of his craft. Lisax
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![Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78527576.jpg "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl [DVD] [2003]")
Apr 16th, 2004
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