Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl (DVD))

Member Name: butters

Product:	Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse Of The Black Pearl (DVD)
Date:	10/10/06 (440 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great story, music, humour.

Disadvantages: ? Not for everyones taste?

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (DVD)

Director: Gore Vebrinski (The Ring, Mouse hunt)
Year: 2003

~Cast~
Johnny Depp-Jack Sparrow
Elizabeth Swann-Keira Knightley
Geoffrey Rush-Captain Barbossa
Orland Bloom-William Turner

~Story~

The first scene shows a mini Elizabeth on a ship in an unnatural mist, with a ship just visible sailing away, with scattered pieces of wood floating about, one holding up a young boy with a medallion around his neck. Scared that he is a pirate, mini Elizabeth quickly grabs and hides it, only to stand up and watch a pirate ship sail into the mist.
The next scene we see a rather older Elizabeth, awaking from this flashback, when her father comes in, the Governor of Port Royal to remind her that Norrington, who has feelings for Elizabeth, is being promoted in the navy to commodore.

However, Captain Barbossa and his Crew are on a hunt to recover gold. Sailing the Black Pearl to the Isla de Muerta, they got the gold and frittered it all away, only to find that it had given them a curse. They were immortal beings with no feelings, and the moonlight shows their true skeletal form. They are after Will, because blood spilt on the coin is the only way to lift the curse, but capture Elizabeth, who has given these pirates Williams last name.

Meanwhile, Jack Sparrow is in the market for a ship. After being mutinied on by Captain Barbossa 10 years back, and left to die on an island, watching his ship, the Black Pearl sail away, he comes up with an idea to get it back. Facing the gallows though, it’s pretty hard to do so, so he uses Will’s love for the kidnapped Elizabeth to his advantage. After being told his last name, he decides to ‘help’ Will by letting Will break him out, and in return, Jack helps him sail to the Black Pearl.

The story does seem very complex but all goes together extremely well and isn’t half as complex to watch than it is to write the bloody thing! I don’t think after watching it you’ll be lost, but it is very entraining. There is a mix of comedy and action, and action scenes which are all superb and I really cant complain at anything in the story except maybe some miniature things that confused me and I had to think about.

~Actors/Actresses~

Johnny Depp-If you’ve seen the 2nd film with all the campness, he’s not half as bad in this one. He acts camp, but not to an extreme and he is load of fun to watch. Running with his arms flapping about everywhere, and the theatrical arm movements when speaking. And yet, for some reason he still seems to behave like a pirate and appears like one-maybe because of the battle scenes and more serious roles. Perfect character for thee part-his campness goes great with the type of humour.

Keira Knightley-Has a great role and is a great actress. Don’t have a clue why she always pouts her lips but she plays a great role. Doesn’t exactly humour to the movie but plays an important role none-the-less, and does have her funny moments.

Orland Bloom-Adds a bit of humour with getting to grips with piracy, and some of his lines. Plays a good role but does tend to do his trademark pose in the movie as though he is trying to smell something. Does have some good one liners but I don’t think anything stands out about the character in general-which surprised me considering he was a main role and the others die.

Geoffrey Rush-Love him. Plays a great pirate, scary, but with a lot of wit and the same time which makes him hilarious. Has some great speeches and I especially like his enormous hat and his trademark apple-biting and pet monkey. This beat a pet parrot by a mile.

~Extras~

I am reviewing the double disc edition although there is a single and triple disc. There are many extras so there’s bound to be one you like.
On disc one there is the audio commentaries, the same as most DVD’s. It gets boring fast but if can be interesting if you want to know something that confuses you in the movie.
The Deleted scenes are a big letdown. 19 of them but most of them are completely pointless. One had me n the floor in stitches though so they’re worth a watch. The blooper reel shows some pretty funny bloopers too.
Epic at Sea is a documentary about the actors, clothes, sets etc. and is interesting though drags on since people like to talk about uninteresting things way to much. The director, Depp and Knightley all speak though so it’s worth a watch.
Fly on the set is a behind the scenes. Some may find it interesting but for me it takes away the magic of the scenes it shows. Looks good fun still.
Below Deck is a bunch of short scenes which shows the history of pirates. If you’re a pirate fan like me you’ll have fun here.
Diaries-of production such as the producer, someone with a camcorder on the set and info on the boat ‘the interceptor’ in the movie. Another interesting watch.
Scene Progression-shows how they done the cursed pirates special effects.
Pirates in the Park-abysmal. About the ride the movie was based off and it not only is crap but drags.
Then there are the photos. Not too interesting.

Altogether there’s a lot for your money and a good selection can’t be bad. Worth getting double disc (or triple) instead of single.

~Extra Info~

Age-12
Length-137 mins approx.
Price on Play.com-£13.99 delivered.

~Overall~

A great movie and my favourite of all time. The action scenes are dramatic and an excellent watch and the music is excellent. Very dramatic too. The acting is superb from all of the actors and at no point did I fell the movie had dragged. However, I am sure you could get it for a cheaper price somewhere else. Basically every scene is a joy to watch and it shows with the huge box office hits.

There has been quite a flop with pirate movies but this has broken the mould. Disney have a habit of making their movies extremely Disney-like with a lot of cheesy humour (the 2nd Pirates of the Caribbean has a little of this) but this one is not like it at all (Thank God) and it is a must see film for nearly anyone-has a bit of comedy, no gore and a lot of fun action scenes and sarcastic

Summary: A great movie. RECOMMEND