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Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl

List Price: $19.99
Your Price: $13.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the must-sees of 2003
Review: If you haven't watched this movie yet, I'm going to buy the DVD for you! Well, not really, but this is such a great movie! It's funny, witty, exciting, marvelous, and very entertaining. Johnny Depp gives a FANTASTIC performance - he's got the comic timing down perfectly right down to his swagger and funny facial expressions. He's totally awesome in this movie, and should be your main reason for seeing this movie. He's ADORABLE as Captain Jack Sparrow. (I'm so glad they are doing the sequel.)

Also, kudos to the wonderful pirate music. It's bold and majestic and fits the movie very well. I highly recommend the soundtrack; the movie is a masterpiece all on its own.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Surprisingly Entertaining
Review: * When I heard that Disney had put out a movie based on
their famous PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN theme park ride,
titled CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, I thought that over for
a second and went: "Huh?" Movies based on video games
are usually junk, it hardly seemed like a theme-park ride
would do any better as a basis for a film, or even near
as well.

I was a bit more surprised to find that many people were
saying nice things about CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, so I
was curious enough to pick it up. What I got was something
of a "cuisinart" pirate movie, involving star-crossed lovers,
(Geoffrey Bloom and Keira Knightly, whose makeup always
remains absolutely pristine no matter what sort of mill
she's run through), starchy British officers, a ghostly
pirate ship, and tons of swashbuckling stunts and action
scenes.

Obviously, given its origins from a theme-park ride,
expecting something really sophisticated was out of the
question. The logical thing to do was to create an
extended and enhanced video version of the ride, and
that's the tack CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL takes. The
plot, though not a complete throwaway, mostly takes the
viewer on a thrill ride, which involves lots of pretty
scenery, much action, and a good deal of special effects.
Bits and pieces of the original thrill ride show up
along the way, if generally in a modified form and
sometimes so fleetingly that you have to be watching
close to catch them.

All that in itself would not amount to a movie which was
more than very casual entertainment in itself, but in
a stroke of brilliance the whole thing was arranged as
something of a backdrop for the star character, Captain
Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp. While it might be
unkind to say that Mr. Depp carries the entire film on his own,
he does overshadow the rest of the cast with his
very entertaining, over-the-top performance. His Jack
Sparrow is at the same time an enthusiastic tribute to
classic pirates while being a parody of them as well,
coming off as daft, dashing, droll, and devious all at
once. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's a Monty
Python sort of performance -- Depp plays it straighter
than that -- but there's a taste of Monty Python in the
mix.

So CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL actually becomes a somewhat
memorable bit of work. I wouldn't call it the greatest
thing since icecream, of course, but I considered it
well worth my time and effort. Incidentally, that's a
surprising amount of time as well -- when the CD box
stated the movie was 142 minutes long, I thought it
was off base, seeing no reason that anyone would want
to make a B-fiction-type adventure movie more than 90
or 100 minutes long, but in fact it *was* that long.

This is also a 2-disc DVD with a second disk of extras,
with the typical piece on making the film, cut scenes,
and so on. As I never do much more than poke through
the extras, I will have to withhold comment on them one
way or another.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Movie for entire family
Review: I loved this movie I can't even tell you how many times that we went and saw this. I hope they make a sequel!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Arrr...where's me flesh matey?
Review: That's the main plot of the movie. Ghost pirates are seeking the one person who can make them human again...and that's how everyone gets thrown together. I should start by saying, I didn't really want to see this movie initially. A lot of the reviews said this movie was about 40 minutes too long. I'd disagree on the whole. But I did just tune out for the duration of Scene 11 (the 2 ships attacking each other)after relentless action, piled ontop of more action, with booming music to amplify the action. Anyway, the story was unique and the acting was great. Especially Johnny Depp in another great role and Lord of the Rings co-star, Orlando Bloom (who for some reason reminded me of Joaquin Phoenix in this role). And newcomer Keira Knightley just completed a year of three hit movies (Bend it like Beckham, Pirates, and recently Love Actually). She and Orlando really have a lot of potential and Johnny is finally getting the recognition he deserves as a truly versatile and dedicated young actor (a successful gen X-er). I'd definately recommend this movie. Not to mention the DVD is LOADED with extras; including commentaries with the cast and writers, deleted scenes, lots of cool featurettes, documentaries, and more.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Take a seat and get ready to set sail!
Review: In a summer riddled with sequels here is a movie that brings a fresh breath of sea air to the summer movie screen. Pirates of the Caribbean meshes a fun script with great acting, well performed action sequences, and the perfect dash of special effects to create something totally original.

This script is truly a fantasy and the writers have done a wonderful job creating their own believable legend for us. They have mixed the the right amount of believability with the unbelievable along with some great one liners and jokes, and the must have love triangle to make this wonderfully fun script.

No matter how great the script, if you do not have great actors to put it all together it wouldn't work. Johnny Depp (Capt. Jack Sparrow) was great to watch on the screen. He is such a great actor with such great range. He got you rooting for the infamous pirates who are supposed to be the scourge of the seven seas, the perfect bad/good guy. His partner in crime, Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) was great, the chemistry between Depp as well as his lady love Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) was great! Keira not only filled out her corset well, but she filled her part extremely well.

The action scenes where very well done, keeping you on the edge of your seat, but one thing that took this movie to the next level was the great special effects which really filled out the entire story or the curse.

It is very hard to put this movie into words, but if I had to describe the movie in one sentence I would have to say; Pirates of the Caribbean is just a fun, wild romp...ahhhhh just go see it for yourself. Trust me you will like it, so go see it...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best of 2003
Review: The Movie, The Pirate of the Caribbean: The curse of the Black Pearl, will blow you away. This was truely the best movie that I saw in 2003! If you have not seen it yet, you have no clue what your missing. Enjoy!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Pirates Life for Me!
Review: Oooh, this movie is so good! Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are as hot as ever. The plot is actually there, the effects are amazing, and everyone can act! I especially like Kiera Knightley's unmatchable grace she puts on, and the pirates are so entertaining. If Disney is brave enough to sponsor a PG-13 movie, there's very good reasons why, and Johnny Depp with eyeliner and a drunk stupor is the biggest!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun but not perfect
Review: Summary:
Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is the former captain of the Black Pearl, the most infamous pirate ship in the Caribbean. But, as the result of a mutiny, he has lost his ship to Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), his first-mate. Marooned on an island, Sparrow eventual escapes only to end up in a port town controlled by an actual government. Governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and the leader of the government's fleet, Norrington (Jack Davenport), are in charge of the port town and, obviously, don't take kindly to pirates.

Governor Swann's daughter, Elizabeth (Keira Knightley), however, has a dark fascination with pirates, even though she is being courted by Norrington. The last major character in the film is Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), the son of a pirate and the key to removing the Curse of the Black Pearl.

Will is in love with Elizabeth. But, he's only a blacksmith who makes swords and studies swordplay. When Sparrow shows up in the port town he is captured but makes his getaway only to run into Will. The result is an exciting swordfight that ends with Sparrow's defeat and re-capture.

But before any harm can come to Sparrow, the port is attacked by Barbossa and the crew of the Black Pearl. They are looking for the last piece of gold from a cursed Incan treasure chest. The curse made anyone who took a piece from the chest undead. Moonlight alone reveals the fact that they are all now rotting skeletons. Barbossa has caught wind that Elizabeth has the gold piece, which she does, but only because she took it from Will Turner when he was saved from the shipwreck and never told anyone. Barbossa's pirates are unstoppable (because they are undead), so they eventually capture Elizabeth and the gold piece. Meanwhile, Will takes it upon himself to get her back, but can't do it without the help of Sparrow - so he breaks him out.

Sparrow and Will then steal one of the navy ships and go after Barbossa. Of course Norrington is also involved in the hunt, but where it gets really tricky is when Barbossa realizes he needs Will's blood along with the last piece of treasure in order to remove the curse. Why? Because Will is actually the son of one of Barbossa's pirates and for some reason (see below) it is his blood that is needed.

Eventually, Sparrow and Will, with Elizabeth's help, defeat Barbossa, get back the Black Pearl, remove the curse, and Will and Elizabeth get together. Wow that's complicated.

My Comments:
This is a very entertaining film. It's fun, exciting, and engaging, but it has some serious story problems that prevented me from giving it five stars.

First, why is Sparrow in the port town? Yes, it's a cool scene where he arrives in town on a boat that is sinking, and yes, he does say he is there to commandeer a ship. But why here? And why not just get a ship in the pirate's cove where all of the other pirates hang out? Another major problem with the story is the whole 'needing Will's blood' thing. Why Will's blood is needed instead of, say, Elizabeth's is never convincingly explained. There is an attempt to make an argument that it's because of Will's dad, but this is completely unconvincing. My last major criticism with the story is what happens to the pirates when the curse is removed. All of Barbossa's men are suddenly dying, including Barbossa. But Sparrow was stabbed through the chest only moments before this. Why doesn't he die? Most of the story problems can be overlooked, but, at the same time, some of them are rather crucial to the outcome of the story. Yes, it's a good movie, but it could have been better.

As for the acting, Johnny Depp is incredible. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where I didn't think he was great. He makes a bizarre but intriguing pirate. The only criticism I would make of Depp as Sparrow is that he's a little small compared to many of the other pirates, which seems a bit counter-intuitive, but what do I know about pirates? Geoffrey Rush is also very good and so is most of the rest of the cast. However, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom aren't great. I think the problem is that they are a couple of young actors whose shortcomings are forced to the fore as the result of having to work with people like Depp and Rush. They aren't so bad that you can't stand to watch the movie, but when either Depp or Rush isn't on the screen, the movie just isn't as good.

Overall, I really enjoyed this movie. It does have some shortcomings, but even with the story problems and the mediocre acting from two of the main characters, I would highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Definitely one for kids and adolescents
Review: I agree with just about all the positives that were recorded by other reviewers, but I will warn adults who want to check out the movie to see what all the hullabaloo was about that this movie is around 45 minutes too long. It's a two hour and fifteen-minute film that would've been better had it lasted only 90.

Actually, you could probably lop off the last 45 minutes anyway because you see where the film is going and you know what'll happen in the end.

Excellent film for kids, though.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pirates of the Caribbean
Review: I must say, this is one of the best movies i have seen all year. And with crimbo coming around its a great pressie to give out. I think i saw it 4 times in the pictures. I couldnt help my self. Johnny Depp was amazing! but could he have worn enough eyeliner? it looked great on him for his character though. I think ive almost memorized all of the lines from that video from seeing it so much! absolutely perfect! 5 stars.

-haley


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