Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl
Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate life is thrown into turmoil after his former first mate, Captain Barbossa mutinied and commandeered his ship, the infamous Black Pearl.
Barbossa left Jack on a deserted island thinking that would be the last he saw him, but unfortunately for Barbossa (but not for us) Jack managed to escape.
We catch up with Captain Jack several years later sailing into Port Royal (I say sailing , but the boat he has commandeered is sinking and he’s more bobbing along than sailing really). Once he's docked in Port Royal his mission is to find a replacement ship and fast.
His plan however is sidetracked when whilst trying to charm two of the Governor’s men to let him board their ship he sees a lady fall from the cliff top. The lady in question turns out to be Elizabeth Swan, the Governor’s daughter. Jack rescues Elizabeth from drowning, but because he’s a pirate, he’s promptly jailed and condemned to hang (how unfair).
That night, Barbossa attacks Port Royal, searching for the last gold coin needed to end an ancient Aztec curse. Barbossa and his men kidnap Elizabeth, who came into possession of the coin many years before when her father and his crew discovered a young boy floating on a wreck in the ocean (the young boy being Will Turner).
Barbossa mistakenly believes she’s the child of long-gone shipmate, Bootstrap Bill, because she is in possession of the coin.
Will Turner (the real child of Bootstrap Bill), the town blacksmith and a master swordsman, loves Elizabeth, and he enlists Jack’s help to rescue her. Jack agrees, but neglects to mention the curse that has doomed Barbossa and the other pirates to an immortal life as ‘living dead.’ (Jack escaped the curse by being left to die on the island - Barbossa did him a favour in the long run.)
After rescuing Jack from jail, the two hijack a British naval ship, and employ a motley crew of pirates to chase the Black Pearl to Isla de la Muerta, the pirates’ island hideout.
Whilst sailing to Isla de la Muerta , Jack decides to tell Will that his father is actually the pirate known as Bootstrap Bill Turner (which doesn’t go down very well).
Meanwhile, also sailing across the ocean is Commodore Norrington, he also loves Elizabeth, and is in hot pursuit of Jack and Will.
My Opinion
A great fun packed film, with lots of 'Carry On' type innuendo from the lovable Captain Jack Sparrow.
Easy to follow story line and with a running time of 137 minutes its not overly long either.
Johnny Depp (wonderful actor in my eyes!) portrays Jack Sparrow absolutely brilliantly and its worth watching the film just to see this piece of acting alone! Apparently he based the character on Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) and all I can say is - it defintely worked.
In summary, good storyline, great acting, all round good family entertainment - well worth a watch.
DVD Info
Format: Anamorphic, PAL Language English Region: Region 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number of discs: 2 Classification: 12 Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment Run Time: 137 minutes Price £5.97 from Tesco - bargain!
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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I hate this film but I do think Johnny Depp is gorgeous so I will often sneak a peek whilst my kids are watching just to see his brilliant characterisation! x
coco_pixie 24.08.2009 15:28
Great review x
Capodon 21.08.2009 14:39
Still not got round to watching this yet! Nice review
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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]")
Aug 20th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
