DVD Review HTF REVIEW: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!) (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

i thought the image was not so good.
plenty of EE when i watched it on 73" mits.

especially when they get to the part with the wheel.

night scenes on the ships were too dark and murky.

i thought the movie was good enough.
i dont really care much about the characters changing or being "destroyed" as was mentioned earlier here.
what does that mean anyway.


also "without a real end to the whole situation."

i didnt expect much of an "ending" since it's going right into the next one when it comes out anyway.

 

[Gabriel>P]

My problem was what they did to Jack. He went from the man that while he feared everything, always seemed to be on top of the situation. A pirate, but a good man aswell. They almost made him a villian in this film.

Also William and Elizabeth going from willing to risk their lives for Jack at the end of the first film, to basically treating him as if he is the bane of their existance doesn't strike me as right at all. They learned to listen and trust Jack no matter what the situation. He does know what he is doing. Instead Will here reverts back to the naive clown of the first half of the first film.

Also I hate films that seem only to exist to tell half a story. You didn't get that out of Star Wars, Empire, or basically any of the LOTR films. A film should be able to stand on it's own.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

 

[Ryan Wong]

I thought this is always the case for successful trilogy film making. Look at Back to the Future, Matrix, and yes, The Empire Strike Back. The first sequal always leave you wanting for more. If two sequals are not enough, they may go for the prequal. A young Jack Sparrow movie, maybe?

I really enjoyed the disc. But I find the image is not free from EE. There are a few spots like small objects under bright sunlight that appear to have ringing around them. Other than that, the image is very detail and sharp, like watching HD.

 

[Dave H]

Disney seems to have an obsession with using edge enhancement (at least on the titles I own). I watched the first Pirates last night and overall a pretty decent image (strong, rich blacks and contrast), but the EE is just horrible in the daylight scenes and this is just on a 57" display at 9-10 feet back. I can't imagine how bad it is on a much larger screen. At least, it sounds like it's a little better on this title.

 

[Ron Reda]

I was thoroughly enjoying the first hour and 15 minutes of this film until the whole reason why I keep receipts occured...the disc locked up and began pixellating. It happened in Chapter 15 (Mr. Turner) where Will and Mr. Turner are discussing the key and the "inbedded" guy comes out of the wall. I tried reversing and replaying that part but it did the same thing. I popped the disc out, went to the same scene, but the same thing happened. I then tried skipping to Chapter 16 at which point it pixellated heavily and the sound jumped around, playing various bits of audio. Lastly, I tried the disc in another (less expensive player) and alas, the same.

I was using a Denon 2910 and a Pioneer DV-568 and was watching the single disc version of the film. Too bad too because I thought it was excellent so far! I found it to be better than the first (although it's been some time since I've seen it) in scope, humor, Capt. Jack's characterizations, story and effects. IMO, the video was pretty good viewing on a 56" DLP, but the audio track is where it shines. Oh well, back to Wal-Mart it goes! :frowning:

 

[PattyFraser]

Excellent picture quality except in the very dark scenes. It was all black. However, I'm sure this is the fault of my display, as I've viewed several discs and movies on my sister's newer LCD and the contrast is much more pronounced. The scenes filmed in the daylight and sunlight were excellent, nighttime, indoor sceens were one black blur.
The movie itself is, I find, much more enjoyable on second and subsequent viewings.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I watched the first hour last night and thought the audio sounded a bit too dynamically compressed. Otherwise, everything looked and sounded top-notch on my 100" front projection set-up. It is a huge improvement over the DVD video presentation of the first film. Thanks for the review.

Regards,

 

[Reagan]

From Ben's review:



I watched the first 90 minutes last night and must say that I agree completely. This is a world better than the transfer on the first movie. Like Ben said, no EE and much more detail. I read a review on another site which stated the opposite - I don't know what they are seeing that I'm not. I must have watched the first movie 15 times; I know how bad this material can look. Watching the DVD of this movie which was filmed in the same style in the same places with the same lighting is like seeing the first DVD without all of it's picture problems. I'm not saying it's reference quality, but the transfer on this DVD is defintely good.

Now if they'd only release a new version of the first movie that looks this good...

-Reagan

 

[Dave H]

I watched the first hour and 15 minutes of the movie last night (like everyone it seems), but had to go to bed. All in all, I found it entertaining...more so than I expected.

As far as video, there is some edge enhancement in some of the bright, daylight scenes - but this transfer is very filmlike and detailed. Some of these scenes, especially in the jungle, look fantastic and almost "HD like." There is some great color and good black/shadow detail. Having just watched the first movie a couple of nights ago, the transfer of this film is definitely a big improvement. The audio is quite good too.

I look forward to watching the remainder of the movie tonight.

 

[Paul D Snyder]

I too, didn't care much for the film and it's rehashed jokes and forced attempts at humor. That said, the DVD is AMAZING! I watched it this morning on a 10' wide (constant height set up) screen and it looked stunning. The sound is even better, definitely gets the subwoofer going from the very beginning.

 

[Dave Moritz]

While I love this move and I do agree Disney should get credit for a good release. I am saddened that Dead Mans Chest did not recieve a DTS treatment. It did not get the same treatment that Curse Of The Black Pearl recieved! While the video was a bit on the soft side it was still a very good dvd transfer. I have not watched the extras but then again I rarely do. So along with some good artwork on the cover of the box and good video transfer and good rating on the extras. The only reasonable bad thing I can say about this release is the Dolby track to me IMHO is cooked. The bass seems to be boosted and cooked just like SW Atack Of The Clones. The Dolby track is not as muddy especially where the dialog is concerned so I do give them credit for that. But it still sounds compressed like many Dolby Digital titles seem to be. But over all I might give this title a 3.75/5 on audio IMHO it does not deserve a 5/5. I would not be suprised it this dvd is released again very soon with a DTS track. But I in all honesty would rather see both Curse Of The Black Pearl and Dead Mans Chest on HD Blu-ray. And especially with a DTS-HD track or a minimum of Dolby True HD not Dolby Digital Plus!

I will most likely sit down and watch both Pirate movies back to back on my next day off just to enjoy both movies. So over all Disney did a very good job at this release.

The Movie 5/5
Video 4.5/5
Audio 3.75/5
The Supliments ?/? Have not viewed them

Over all 4/5

Hey Ben Williams,

Thanks for the great review, great job

 

[John Geelan]

I have it on right now and the PQ is spectacular. After almost throwing up after seeing the awful PQ of Superman Returns, this release makes me feel once again proud of my HT.

I think this movie goes on too long and isn't great but it is a "demo" disc PQ and soundwise.

Great job on this transfer.

 

[andySu]

You did see any Buggering in the region 1 DVD LOL I hope you did and if you didn’t you must have fell a sleep on it, what a bloody loud of dribble it was, not even the soundtrack could save this not even a 56KW THX sound system could pull this one from the water grave that it rightful belonged to stay at. I was greatly disappointed with this load of bollocks up there on the screen after seeing a botched pixilation error that was carried on the digital master over to the DVD R2 mate I could have shot myself in the foot and said Aye Jim lad be BUGGERED!

 

[TonyD]

what?

 

[andySu]

What? Is there an echo in this cave?

 

[Dave H]

I watched the second half of the movie last night. I plan on watching the entire movie in one sitting soon (I normally don't like breaking a movie up over two nights), but I can say I found Dead Man's chest to be very entertaining. I thought there was a little bit too much action in it (I probably perfered the first movie story a little bit more), but I really like the "new" things/characters we see in this movie, as well as some of the darker tones. Visually, some really great stuff.

 

[andySu]

Well my point exactly it’s trash a load of rubbish. If it where there great a film you’d watch it from start to last end credit on the film!

 

[Todd H]

I enjoyed this one almost as much as the first one. I can't wait to get it (Wife bought it for me as a stocking stuffer).

 

[Dave H]

Ummmm, not quite.

I didn't put the movie in until about an hour or so before I usually go to bed - if I didn't go to bed I knew I would pay for it in the morning.

I will watch it from start to finish within the next week or two when I can stay up as late as I want.