***Official "PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN" Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Craig S]

Like Ebert, the review in the Houston Chronicle this morning was not quite as positive as some of the others. Both of these harped on the running time (143 minutes), which they felt excessive.

OTOH, Richard Corliss raved about it in this week's Time, as did Harry on AICN.

Actually, I'm glad there's a few less-than-raves out there, to help set expectations to a realistic level. Still can't wait to see it with a large bag o' popcorn in hand!

 

[Tino]

Well here comes a less than rave

I enjoyed it, but nowhere near as much as Scott did. I Love reading your reviews Scott, they are fun to read and so well written, but dammit!, I just wish I agreed with you more.

I thought Pirates Of The Carribean was a half hour too long, and actually dragged in a few spots. The action scenes were fun but not really exhilirating or fresh. Standard adventure filmmaking I call it. And I gotta admit it did remind me a lot of Cutthroat Island.

I did really like Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush though. Two great performances by two great actors. Their chemistry was great. I wish they had more scenes together.

There was nothing really wrong with Pirates, as I said in the review thread, it's got everything you want in a Pirate movie, action, swords, bad teeth, great production values, good visual effects, etc.. It's a technically superior film, but on the whole, it just didn't blow me away as I hoped it would. It's just not all that I'm sorry to say.

I would still definitely recommend it though as a solid :star::star::star: movie.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I work at a movie theater, so hopefully I'll stick around after work tomorrow to see it.

Everyone I know is stoked for this movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Are you kidding? This film was much better than that very mediocre film.

 

[Tino]

Are you kidding?

No.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

If we're gonna start discussing Pirate Guilty Pleasures...

...there's a certain Roman Polanksi flick that I've always been ashamed about liking.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Thanks for the kind words, T. I'm glad you enjoyed the movie.

 

[Ron-P]

I throughly enjoyed Cutthroat and if Pirates is along the same lines, I already like it. With Depp (my favorite actor) as a lead role, I will most likely really like it.

I'm hoping to catch it late Friday night.


Peace Out~

 

[Dalton]

Saw it today and thought it was great. Better than i expected going in. Depp really steals the show as "Captain Jack Sparrow". I'll probably see it a second time this weekend. Acting was really solid across the board. A good time flick for sure.


Dalton

 

[Robert Crawford]

Then you should've been.





Crawdaddy

 

[Tino]

Despite its reputation as one of the biggest bombs of all time, I actually remember enjoying Cutthroat Island, except for the lack of chemistry between the leads, Geena Davis and Matthew Modine, I thought it was an entertaining Pirate flick. I haven't seen it in a long time so I wonder how it holds up.

Pirates Of The Carribean is definitely better.....I think.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Despite its reputation as one of the biggest bombs of all time

T,

I'm not trying to knock you for enjoying the movie, but Cutthroat Island being labeled a bomb?



Not a reputation. Tis fact! Flick cost over 90mill, didn't make 12mill domestic. That doesn't mean it's unenjoyable; but it IS a bomb.

 

[Tino]

One aspect I didn't like was the music by Hans Zimmer, it sounded too reminiscent of his work on Gladiator. At least I think Hans Zimmer did the music, if not he should sue for plagiarism!

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Klaus Badelt (K-19: The Widowmaker, Basic, Equilibrium) did the score.

 

[Tino]

Scott

I wasn't trying to say that CI was possibly a bomb. I know that it definitely is. I think at one time it was in the Guiness Book Of World Records as the biggest money loser of all time!

Damn, I could have sworn it was Zimmer. Anyone else think it sounded similar to Gladiator?

 

[Kristian]

Hans Zimmer didn't compose the score, but he did produce it. The main theme does sound a bit like Gladiator's, but that's my only complaint about the score. I'll definitely be getting the soundtrack when it comes out.

By the way, to those who haven't seen the movie yet: Stay through the credits! There's a nice little scene at the end involving Jack the monkey
.

 

[Alex Spindler]

This movie frickin' rocked. I kept waiting to see any mistake, but it came through in fine colors. The sets and costumes looked very solid and didn't look cheap. The action was great and well edited. The plots cooked up by Jack were enjoyable to watch and always felt fun. The comedy, horror, and action portions were mixed in just the right levels to not make the film lose focus. The special effects were extremely well done. Heck, I was even worried that the horror elements would have been ruined in the trailer, but the film came right out with it so it was fine.

I never would have thought it, but I think this has a more than solid chance of being in my top 10 for this year.

I'll reserve judgement until a future viewing, but I can't think of a more perfect summer adventure movie in years (maybe even since the '80s).

 

[Aaryn Chan]

This was a great film. Enjoyed it. Funny and stuffs. Like army of darkness but less cheesy.

 

[Steeve Bergeron]

Depp's performance is worth the price of admission alone. He's friggin' hilarious!

 

[Seth Paxton]

I was a little confused about why they would want to end such a thing since they were incapable of dying and seemed to enjoy themselves by getting drunk and starting fights.

From Bill's review post.

I thought the film made it clear that while they may still have instincts for living it up pirate style, they could not actually enjoy any of it. They could not taste, feel, smell the plunder they wanted to enjoy and were being driven by an insatiable (literally) lust/desire.

Their plundering up to that point was entirely focused on getting the gold pieces back.


The scene in which Rush lustfully watches the girl eat tells us that he is desperately trying to live vicariously through her.



Depp was great, but it seemed like the script set him up with a ton of winning lines. There were so many that I can't really remember any one great one.

One of my favorite little bits besides his hilarious entrance (I just didn't see that coming, and they continued to play it perfectly) was when Bloom locks him in the blacksmiths by throwing the sword into the door. Just the way Depp struggles with that sword was perfect, he sold the joke (like almost all of them) quite well.


Ooh, I thought of one of the great lines.
"But why did you get rid of the rum" or something like that after she explains her plan to attract help.


I forgot to mention it in the review thread, but I also thought the art direction was outstanding. The visual tone of the film was always right on for putting you in that environment and made the film twice as enjoyable by itself. I found myself just wanting to hang out some more in that world (like Tortuga or the treasure cave).

We should make a list of all the ride references. There is the dog with the keys of course, and the wench pouring beer into the guys mouth and another pirate laying under an open keg. Actually I think almost all of Tortuga was ride references.