Post by ZapRowsdower on May 25, 2007 22:40:00 GMT -5
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Keira Knightley
Written by Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Sorry about the title there... You can only fit so many characters in the subject line.
SPOILERS ABOUND FOR THIS FILM AND FOR DEAD MAN'S CHEST, WHICH IS REFERENCED
I remember when this came out four years ago. I had just gotten out of high school, and I knew very little about the movie - aside from the fact that it's based on a ride at Disneyland. My first impression on it was not very high. Disney was fresh off their recent dud based on a Disneyland attraction, The Country Bears (ironically released after they closed the attraction for good to make way for a Winnie the Pooh ride). Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much at first. Then the news arrived that Pirates of the Caribbean would be the first Disney film to receive a PG-13 rating, and immediately my expectations rose.
I was well aware of Mr. Johnny Depp before he made Jack Sparrow a household name. I had always loved Edward Scissorhands, Don Juan DeMarco and Sleepy Hollow, but alas, my seventeen-year-old self, who only a year earlier boasted Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as his all-time favorite movie, was not aware just how much of a brilliant man Johnny Depp is. Jack Sparrow, in a sense, was that wake-up call.
Jack Sparrow has become one of the most beloved film characters in the history of cinema. What's not to love about him? He's funny, charismatic, calculating (if a little clumsy), and has a wonderful way with words - "You're about the worst pirate I've ever heard of." "But you HAVE heard of me." Even down to his cool-looking costume, his hair, his walk (and especially his run), Johnny Depp's transformation into Jack Sparrow was one of the most amazing achievements ever to be reached by an actor.
It wasn't until Dead Man's Chest that I began to realize this, but Jack Sparrow is only a little more than half of what made Pirates great - the other half was Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. Don't get me wrong, I loved Dead Man's Chest from beginning to end, but I loved it a whole lot more watching Barbossa make his triumphant return. And that's when I realized... Jack Sparrow is not the only character Pirates has going for it. If Jack Sparrow is the Yin, then Captain Barbossa is the Yang. Watching the two of them play off each other, you know that there's a history there and neither one of them is taking each other seriously, and it's in those moments where the two of them go back-and-forth where there's real magic on screen.
It's not often you see a swashbuckling epic like this on the big screen... not anymore, anyway. But Pirates of the Caribbean has taken it to a whole new level. This is one of the first films that got me to appreciate and recognize choreography as an art. Today, I believe they should give an Oscar for choreography, because that in itself is an art that should be appreciated - and it's one thing that right from the beginning, Pirates of the Caribbean had going for it.
Jerry Bruckheimer may not be the greatest producer ever, but he'll let out a classic from time to time, and this was one of them. From the fantastic cast to the epic battles, to Gore Verbinski's direction, to the writing of Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, all the way down to the brilliant score by Klaus Badelt, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was an excellent beginning to a great trilogy. The conception of Jack Sparrow restores my faith in the modern imaginative mind.
I've been a Pirates fan right from the beginning. This was a movie that was a thousand times better than it had any right to be, and spawned two equally (more-or-less) well-made sequels.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...
10/10
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Keira Knightley
Written by Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio and Jay Wolpert
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Sorry about the title there... You can only fit so many characters in the subject line.
SPOILERS ABOUND FOR THIS FILM AND FOR DEAD MAN'S CHEST, WHICH IS REFERENCED
I remember when this came out four years ago. I had just gotten out of high school, and I knew very little about the movie - aside from the fact that it's based on a ride at Disneyland. My first impression on it was not very high. Disney was fresh off their recent dud based on a Disneyland attraction, The Country Bears (ironically released after they closed the attraction for good to make way for a Winnie the Pooh ride). Needless to say, I wasn't expecting much at first. Then the news arrived that Pirates of the Caribbean would be the first Disney film to receive a PG-13 rating, and immediately my expectations rose.
I was well aware of Mr. Johnny Depp before he made Jack Sparrow a household name. I had always loved Edward Scissorhands, Don Juan DeMarco and Sleepy Hollow, but alas, my seventeen-year-old self, who only a year earlier boasted Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within as his all-time favorite movie, was not aware just how much of a brilliant man Johnny Depp is. Jack Sparrow, in a sense, was that wake-up call.
Jack Sparrow has become one of the most beloved film characters in the history of cinema. What's not to love about him? He's funny, charismatic, calculating (if a little clumsy), and has a wonderful way with words - "You're about the worst pirate I've ever heard of." "But you HAVE heard of me." Even down to his cool-looking costume, his hair, his walk (and especially his run), Johnny Depp's transformation into Jack Sparrow was one of the most amazing achievements ever to be reached by an actor.
It wasn't until Dead Man's Chest that I began to realize this, but Jack Sparrow is only a little more than half of what made Pirates great - the other half was Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. Don't get me wrong, I loved Dead Man's Chest from beginning to end, but I loved it a whole lot more watching Barbossa make his triumphant return. And that's when I realized... Jack Sparrow is not the only character Pirates has going for it. If Jack Sparrow is the Yin, then Captain Barbossa is the Yang. Watching the two of them play off each other, you know that there's a history there and neither one of them is taking each other seriously, and it's in those moments where the two of them go back-and-forth where there's real magic on screen.
It's not often you see a swashbuckling epic like this on the big screen... not anymore, anyway. But Pirates of the Caribbean has taken it to a whole new level. This is one of the first films that got me to appreciate and recognize choreography as an art. Today, I believe they should give an Oscar for choreography, because that in itself is an art that should be appreciated - and it's one thing that right from the beginning, Pirates of the Caribbean had going for it.
Jerry Bruckheimer may not be the greatest producer ever, but he'll let out a classic from time to time, and this was one of them. From the fantastic cast to the epic battles, to Gore Verbinski's direction, to the writing of Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert, all the way down to the brilliant score by Klaus Badelt, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was an excellent beginning to a great trilogy. The conception of Jack Sparrow restores my faith in the modern imaginative mind.
I've been a Pirates fan right from the beginning. This was a movie that was a thousand times better than it had any right to be, and spawned two equally (more-or-less) well-made sequels.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me...
10/10