certainly has its low points, the franchise is still the cream of the pirate film crop. And despite the series entries' unquestionable standing as action-comedies, they nevertheless manage to trump would-be contenders such as Cutthroat Island, The Pirates of Penzance, Hook, Yellowbeard, Pan
and even Treasure Island in the realism department.
5. At World's End
As the direct sequel to Dead Man's Chest, picking up where that film's
cliffhanger ending left off, At World's End should've been a grand slam
homerun. Instead, it's the most self-indulgent installment in the series
and brought the entire franchise's considerable momentum to a screeching
halt.
4. On Stranger Tides
This fourth Pirates entry thankfully put the series back on track after At World's End. With its introduction of real-life pirate Edward "Blackbeard" Teach into a fantasy setting and Jack Sparrow's coconut tree escape from custody, Tides did veer off course a little. But the dark twist on Disney's own The Little Mermaid was a welcome relief from the played out Will Turner/Elizabeth Swann romance.
3. Dead Men Tell No Tales
The most recent Pirates of the Caribbean movie returned to the series' cursed pirate roots without actually recycling the earlier films.
The flashback to a younger Jack Sparrow in Dead Men is so good that you'd be forgiven for believing that the search for the Fountain of Youth in the preceding movie, On Stranger Tides, struck pay dirt in real life.
2. The Curse of the Black Pearl
It's astonishing that a movie adaptation of a theme park ride was actually
greenlit by a major motion picture studio and got a $140 million dollar
budget approved. But the most remarkable thing about The Curse of the Black Pearl is the fact that it's actually entertaining.
The primary secret to the film's success is that, at the time of release,
it was the most authentic-looking example of its genre. It's clear that
great attention was paid to every minute detail in the interest of
achieving the appropriate optics. What completely separates Black Pearl
from other pirate movies is the fact that it's a ghost story.
Duplicitous but un-cutthroat Captain Jack Sparrow is the only surviving
member of his lost prized possession, his former ship, The Black Pearl.
Though his former crew continues to plunder, pillage and terrorize the high
seas, they're no longer alive. Ten years ago, Sparrow's first mate, William
Barbossa, led a mutiny against Jack and subsequently joined the crew in
stealing cursed Aztec gold, which was originally stolen by conquistador
Hernan Cortes 200 years earlier. The theft has left the pirates doomed to a
living death, roaming the seven seas as corpses for eternity. Though the
men -- and Barbossa's pet monkey -- continue to feel hunger, thirst and
lust, the curse has rendered them unable to find satisfy any of these
cravings and moonlight serves to show their true forms: walking, skeletal
cadavers.
Jack was spared from the hex because the crew marooned him on a deserted
island before they got their hands on the booty. When the deposed captain
finally makes his way back to civilization -- Port Royal, to be exact -- he
wastes little time betraying his ruthless reputation by saving Elizabeth
Swan, the governor's daughter, from drowning. Good deed notwithstanding,
Jack is promptly imprisoned and sentenced to death by hanging. But as luck
would have it, the Black Pearl and her crew soon drop anchor at Port Royal
as well, drawn by the Aztec gold worn as a necklace by Elizabeth, which
came into her possession eight years earlier. The pirates became aware of
the necklace, a piece of the cursed treasure, the moment that it -- and
Elizabeth -- touched ocean water. After invading the shipping hub, the raiders
kidnap Elizabeth, who tells them that her surname is Turner in order to
conceal her true identity. Turner, however, is actually the family name of
Will, an unassuming and orphaned blacksmith whom she's known since they were children.
1. Dead Man's Chest
Dead Man's Chest, the Empire Strikes Back of pirate movies, improves upon
its popular and highly entertaining predecessor exponentially. And just as
in that legendary sequel, the heroes of Dead Man's find themselves in much
more dire straits than when we'd last seen them -- especially a certain
notorious ship's captain.
While the ghost pirates of The Curse of the Black Pearl regained their
lives, this follow-up introduces another crew of supernatural buccaneers
afflicted with an entirely different curse. Captain Davy Jones and his band
of marauders are doomed to spend eternity as humanoid/marine life hybrids
aboard the legendary Flying Dutchman...
Dead Man's Chest is the best pirate movie of all time.
Originally Posted 11/12/19
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