Review of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Introduction

Inspiration for films can come from the oddest of places. Some films are born within the fevered imaginations of fervent filmmakers, visions that come to life for the first time on celluloid, other films are based on weighty tomes written by classic authors who could never imagine their prose transformed into light and sound. Films are inspired by short stories, plays and of late even computer games have been transformed into cinematic lightshows. I could never have imagined that a film would be based on something as ephemeral as a theme park ride however. Even if it isn`t the Teacup Ride at Alton Towers, you have to wonder if there is enough narrative richness and character in ten minutes of corporate holiday molestation to fill cinema seats for two hours plus. In fact Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl had more going against it than merely its origins. Looking at the front cover and reading, `From the producer of Armageddon and Pearl Harbor` does little to inspire confidence, two films that valued eye-candy, excessive decibels and unchallenging scripts over thought, character and story. Add to that the Walt Disney logo at the top of the case, a company that in recent years has become more infamous for its corporate manoeuvring than renowned for its ability to entertain, and you would have been justified in thinking that Pirates Of The Caribbean would die a swift and ignominious death. As occasionally happens though, Pirates Of The Caribbean turned out to be one of the most successful blockbusters of 2003, resurrecting a moribund genre, bringing piracy and swashbuckling headlong into the 21st Century.

The ship carrying the Governor of Port Royal and his daughter Elizabeth Swann comes across the aftermath of a pirate attack. They manage to pull one survivor from the wreckage, a young boy called Will Turner. When Elizabeth spies a piece of pirate gold around the boy`s neck, she takes it fearing that he will be condemned as a pirate. Eight years later, and Elizabeth still has the medallion. She has blossomed into a young lady of an age to wed. Meanwhile Will Turner is a skilled apprentice sword smith, catering to the higher echelons of Port Royal society. That piece of gold is cursed though and calls to its victims, the pirate crew of the infamous Black Pearl. They attack Port Royal, pillaging the town and they kidnap Elizabeth Swann for the piece of Aztec Gold around her neck. Will Turner is desperate to save her, but the only way to find the Black Pearl is with the aid of infamous pirate Jack Sparrow, currently languishing in the Port Royal prison, destined to hang for his crimes. Upstanding Will Turner will have to turn pirate himself, beginning with a jailbreak. Meanwhile Elizabeth learns firsthand of the Curse of The Black Pearl from its Captain Barbossa. All those who stole an ancient Aztec treasure are condemned to a half-life, their true ghoulish natures revealed in the light of the full moon.

Video

As befits a film that went from theatre to DVD in 6 months, the transfer is nigh on flawless. Pirates Of The Caribbean is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio befitting its blockbuster status and epic scope. The image is clear, sharp and the colours are strongly reproduced. If there is a hint of grain, it`s imperceptible, as is the rare moment of aliasing. I also felt that the layer change was a quarter second too early.

Pirates Of The Caribbean is an object lesson in the advance of visual effects technology. Five years earlier, you could have been forgiven for watching a movie and counting the CGI moments. Now, not only is it impossible to tell where reality ends and CGI begins; it`s no longer relevant, as filmmakers can devote their efforts to telling the story. The film has an epic scale, taking us back in time to when sail ruled the waves, and seas were clear and unpolluted. It`s an unsullied time that would be impossible to create practically, but with the sweep of a mouse and a few hundred hours of computing is brought to vivid life on film.

Audio

You get a choice of DD 5.1 and DTS English soundtracks with Pirates Of The Caribbean. The excellent dialogue is clear throughout and the surrounds are put to good use conveying the action and excitement. The battle scenes are a trial run for Master and Commander, with cannonballs flying willy-nilly, sails creaking, waves crashing and swords clashing. The only negative point is the music, another identikit score from the Bruckheimer pantheon of films, reworking the familiar themes for a nautical setting and adding a hint of Olde Worlde. Frankly the music wouldn`t sound out of place in Crimson Tide.

Features

This two-disc set comes packed with extras. Disc One contains the movie, and autoplays with a skippable trailer for Bruce Almighty. The animated menus follow the film`s theme of cursed gold and are accomplished well. You`ll also find a THX Optimiser to give you an excuse to fiddle with your set-up.

The significant additions to the first disc are the commentaries.

Director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp come together to provide a laid-back commentary for the film. In fact it`s more of a conversation than a commentary and on occasion I felt like I was eavesdropping.

Screenwriters Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert together provide a commentary from the writers` perspective.

Finally there are two partial scene specific commentaries, one from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and one from actors Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport. You can either watch the commentaries in their entirety as they skip through the film, or you can select a scene from a menu. Jack and Keira are entertaining together, with plenty of banter and lighthearted joshing. In my conclusion I was going to mention Keira Knightley`s pout as a significant contribution to the film, but she uses the commentary to point it out herself. All the commentaries are presented in DD 1.0.

I mustn`t forget the DVD ROM features, which on disc one allow you to watch the film side by side with either the script or the storyboards.

Disc Two has additional DVD ROM goodness. You can import a photo into your PC and use the software provided to turn your face or the face of a loved one into a ghoul, and there is significant material on the Pirates Of The Caribbean attraction at Disneyland. There is a 14-minute documentary in Quicktime format, a tour of the attraction via some Quicktime IPX style magic and some 48 images all accompanied by that song.

If you are sticking to your DVD player, you can see a 38-minute documentary on the making of the film, with the usual cast and crew interviews, film clips and behind the scenes snippets. In addition Fly On The Set comprises 5 pieces of b-roll footage, lasting some 21 minutes in total.

There are 3 diaries on this disc running a total of 25 minutes. You can accompany Jerry Bruckheimer behind the scenes as he shows off his holiday pics, Lee Arenberg who plays Pintel in the film presents a video diary of a pirate, and Diary Of A Ship chronicles the journey of Lady Washington from her home to the location in the Caribbean, where she became The Interceptor.

Below Deck is an interactive history of pirates, if you are in the mood to explore a pirate ship that is, otherwise you can select from the 24 featurettes directly from a menu and you can be informed and educated.

There is 3 minutes of goofing around in a blooper reel, and 19 minutes of deleted scenes, although most are extended as opposed to wholly excised.

Moonlight Serenade Scene Progress is a 7-minute featurette that takes us from the storyboard to the final scene.

The Image Gallery shows us all aspects of the production, the inspiration, concept art, storyboards, costumes, production and publicity in a series of galleries.

Finally there is more advertisement for the Disney ride, with Walt Disney`s Wonderful World Of Colour, a promo for the newly built park attraction filmed in 1968. It lasts 19 minutes. Also on the discs are brief adverts for what you will find on the DVD ROM.

It certainly is a lot of material for one film, and in terms of sheer numbers it`s easy to be impressed. However, I found the commentaries to be largely run of the mill, and the Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp one in particular a little too laid back. The featurettes are of the sound-bite EPK variety and do more to advertise the film than really inform. Also some of the extras aren`t really devoted to the film at all, rather the theme park ride that inspired it. It all has the feel of everything including the kitchen sink thrown together, and as such I`m sure there is something for everyone. There just isn`t any sense of the `whole package`. There are no subtitles for the extras.

Conclusion

Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl is the kind of first class entertainment that harks back to the golden age of Hollywood. I grew up with movies like The Crimson Pirate, they were stories to be savoured and enjoyed. They were filled with colour, action, excitement, mind-blowing stunts, larger-than-life characters and plenty of swashbuckling. Pirates Of The Caribbean takes all these classic elements, gives the script a contemporary twist and adds oodles of CGI goodness to deliver a rip-snorting blast of a film, that never lets up on the excitement and thrills during its two and quarter hours.

I usually look to the Bruckheimer stable for bombastic and jingoistic films, light on story and character, and heavy on the decibels, but Pirates Of The Caribbean transcends all that despite the over familiar score. For once the camera stays still during the action sequences and the actors move, the story while hardly brain-taxing, has had some attention paid to it with emphasis on the comedy, and the characters are richly drawn and well written. Keira Knightley adds some serious glamour to the proceedings, and is perfectly cast as the damsel in distress with a streak of independence. Orlando Bloom makes a suitable knight in shining armour, who cuts a dab hand with a blade, but of course the film belongs in its entirety to one Johnny Depp, who as has been mentioned countless times, reinvents the pirate as a period rock-and-roll star to bring Jack Sparrow to life. His appearance, mannerisms and speech constitute the liveliest character to grace cinema screens in recent years, and to top it off, he gets the most amazing movie entrance into bargain. He`s allowed to work with the character, and his adlibs sparkle on screen. It`s worth watching the deleted scenes to see what got left out, including a couple of nods to The Fast Show. While Johnny Depp gets much of the credit and rightly so for making Pirates Of The Caribbean a singular experience, the performance of Geoffrey Rush as his nemesis Barbossa is also worthy of acclaim. Just as Johnny Depp subverts the pirate character, Rush finds a brigand worthy of the old movies, channelling the best pantomime villains to create a meaty, scenery chewing scoundrel without any hint of irony, or once succumbing to the temptation to place tongue in cheek. Until Pirates Of The Caribbean, I never thought to hear an "Arrrr!" spoken with feeling again.

Romance, action, comedy, Pirates Of The Caribbean has it all. Sword fighting, ship battles, a classic ghost story, a witty script and swashbuckling characters, all go to prove that they do make films like they used to. This is one pirate DVD that no one can object to. Watch it you scallywags!