This is a tale which has resurrecting the previously almost dead love of pirates and the sea, almost overnight.
The Movie
Pirates of the Caribbean is a phenomenon. The loveable, yet decidedly bad, Captain Jack Sparrow [Johnny Depp] is the lead character. Jack's ship, The Black Pearl, has been stolen, after his crew committed mutiny and left him on an island for dead. Now, he is determined to get the Pearl back.
He finds his way to Port Royal, home of Governor Swann [Jonathan Pryce] and his beautiful daughter, Elizabeth [Keira Knightley]. It doesn't take long for Jack to get himself into trouble. When Elizabeth faints in a too tightly corsetted dress, she falls from the heights of a barracks into the ocean below. Jack sees this, and, against his better judgement, dives in and saves her.
However, when Commodore James Norrington [Jack Davenport], who is in love with Elizabeth, sees a brand on Jack's wrist, Jack is immediately placed under arrest. Foolishly, Elizabeth protests her saviours capture and gets too close. Jack grabs her and uses her to try to get away.
Yet he doesn't keep hold of her for long. He runs from the guards, and finds himself in a blacksmiths, and face to face with the young and heroic William Turner [Orlando Bloom]. Will and Jack fight, resulting in Jack being
captured and thrown into prison.
That night, Port Royal is attacked, by none other than Jack's mutinous crew. The rogue pirates ransack the town in search of a mysterious gold dabloon that Elizabeth is wearing around her neck. However, these pirates are most certainly not what they seem....
Elizabeth is captured by the crew, and taken back to the Pearl. There she meets Jack's former first mate, now Captain Barbossa [Geoffery Rush]. The crew comprise of a varied and often strange bunch, the most memorable being Pintel [Lee Arenberg] and Ragetti [Mackenzie Crook]. Whilst on the ship, Elizabeth discovers that the pirates need the dabloon to free them from a curse, which has made them become the undead.
Back in Port Royal, Will is determined to save Elizabeth. However, no one will help him. He needs someone who knows his way around a boat and can find the pirates. Which is when he remembers Jack.
Will frees Jack, and together they steal a boat, and go in search of Elizabeth. The pick up a crew in Tortuga [a pirate town], comprising of Jack's old friend, Mr Gibbs [Kevin McNally], Cotton [David Bailie] who is dumb and trained a parrot to speak for him, and female pirate Anamaria [Zoe Saldana].
To say anymore would take the point out of watching the movie, but believe me, it is worth watching.
Soundtrack
This, in my opinion, is one of the most memorable movie soundtracks ever. Hans Zimmer composes up a storm, with tracks such as He's a Pirate. They all blend flawlessly with the scenes being shown and make everything more emotional and dramatic.
Special Effects.
Incredible. The Pirates crew went all out for this, even going as far as building a full size Black Pearl for realism. You could honestly believe that these boats are involved in battles and races. However, the biggest triumph has to be the undead pirates. They was the actors flesh seamlessly disappears to be replaced by bones and scraps of clothing is an absolute leap forward in special effects.
Actors
Wow. These actors really go all out to deliver a realistic, entrancing and highly enjoyable 137 minute film.
Obviously, with talent such as Johnny Depp [who completely embraces the character of Capt Jack, and seems to be drunk throughout the film!] Keira Knightley [Brilliant as the fiesty Elizabeth] and Orlando Bloom [who plays the love sick, new to pirate life Will perfectly] there are bound to be good things to say about the performances. However, there are others to look out for.
Geoffery Rush, who plays Capt Barbossa, is amazing. When he is on screen, you literally cannot look away from him. I had never seen him in anything before [he prefers to star in smaller, independant films] but he does an amazing job of playing the grizzled and aging pirate who seems to have boundless energy.
I also absolutely loved Jack Davenport's role as Commadore Norrington. He is adorabley lovesick over Elizabeth throughout, though in a moment can change from mooning after her to being a confident, controlled and dominant leader of his men. Again, I had never seen him in anything before, and was incredibly glad to 'discover' him in this.
Crew
This film is produced by the infamous Jerry Bruckheimer [Pearl Harbor, CSI, National Treasure] so it was always going to be on a big scale, and of high quality. Couple that with Gore Verbinski as Director [The Ring] and you have a recipe for success. Writers Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio provide the perfect script to work with.
Special Features.
The thing I love about this is that there are lots and lots of special features. On the 2nd Disc inside the 2 disc movie case there are;
--Epic at Sea --Diaries --Fly on the Set --Blooper Reel --Pirates in the Park --Below Deck --19 Deleted Scenes --Monlight Serenade --Image Gallery --DVD Rom section
Most of these are 'making of' featurettes, with some being the behind the scenes stuff, watching the actors at work and seeing how much acting they actually had to do. In terms of what they worked with and what we see on our screens, there's a big difference. There is also a brilliant section where you can upload a picture of yourself and have a moonlight makeover. I know, it sounds strange, wanting to see yourself with half a face, but it is amazing nevertheless.
Then, there's the extra disc. Yes, more special features!!
The Lost Disc
This came with the movie DVD, and is a disc totally dedicated to special bonus features. These are;
--Becoming Captain Jack [Johnny Depp telling us about the process of becoming Capt Jack] --Becoming Barbossa [Geoffery Rush telling us about the process of becoming Barbossa] --Thar She Blows [Following the journey of the boat The Interceptor, used in the film, from it's construction to it's demise] --They Monkey's Name is Jack [The story of the 2 monkey's who play Barbossa's pet, Jack] --More Fly on the Set Features --Pirates Around the World [A look at the dubbed versions of the flm, with the actors voices replaced with those of actors speaking in other languages] --Spirit of the Ride [About the Pirates Ride] --Dead Men Tell No Tales [The history of the ride] --Sneak Attack Animatic [Some key animation filmmakers used]
I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves movies such as Cutthroat Island [starring Geena Davies] and other pirate movies which throw themselves into the era and the fantasy of it all.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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
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
I'm sorry for the H, but for this to be a full DVD review, I would prefer to see a review of the extras in the same detail as your review of the film, rather than just a list with a passing mention of what they contain.
![Pirates Of The Caribbean - The Lost Disc Edition (3 Discs) [DVD] [2003]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78491508.jpg "Pirates Of The Caribbean - The Lost Disc Edition (3 Discs) [DVD] [2003]")
very helpful by (88%):
helpful by (13%):
