...for all its silly goings-on, senseless violence, and perpetual, empty motion, one may still find a few pleasures.
Then, too, poor Will and Elizabeth, whose love affair was one of the central ingredients in the first "Pirates," hardly look at one another in this installment, at least not until the very end. Therefore, not only don't we get logic or reason, we don't even get romance. Oh, well, we shouldn't expect much logic or reason in a comedy adventure, anyhow, and at least Will and Elizabeth have good teeth, among the only people in the picture who do.
However, for all its silly goings-on, senseless violence, and perpetual, empty motion, one may still find a few pleasures. Not the least of them is the film's gorgeous look, its admittedly colorful characters, and its high good humor from Depp and Rush, both of whom are essentially comic personalities.
As a result, the few pleasures may be enough to carry the film for die-hard "Pirates of the Caribbean" fans, but for me even Depp and Rush got old after a while. Although, to be fair, we really don't see all that much of them. Capt. Jack, for instance, doesn't make an appearance until well into the film and then disappears for long stretches, which presents another problem: The filmmakers never seem to make up their minds who the main character is, so they afford everybody in the movie a little space, thereby diluting everyone's part. By and large, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was a disappointment.
Oh, and anybody who turns off a movie as the closing credits begin to roll (and that's just about everybody, I'm sure) deserves to miss a good part of the story. That's my way of saying hang around.
Video:
Nothing to complain about here. The Disney video engineers use a high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer to get the most from the 2.35:1 ratio widescreen picture. Given the number of dark scenes involved, it's remarkable they were able to keep the screen so clean, free of grain or noise. Solid black levels help define the rest of the colors realistically, contrasts come off well, and inner detailing is splendid, including such in the murkiest shots.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is even better than the video, which is saying a lot. The sound is robust without being overbearing; the multichannel spread is widely dispersed among all five-point-one speakers; the dynamics and impact are strong; the midrange is sharp and distinct; the bass is taut and deep, with room-rumbling properties; and the overall frequency response is well balanced. What's not to like?
Extras:
Disc one of this "2-Disc Limited Edition" contains the feature film; "Bloopers of the Caribbean," some of which is quite funny; Sneak Peeks at seven other Disney products; twenty-eight scene selections and a navigational insert; English and French spoken languages; Spanish subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Disc two contains the bulk of the bonus items, although they aren't quite as extensive as one might like. First up is "Keith & the Captain: On Set With Johnny and the Rock Legend," a little over four minutes long. Since Depp says he based a part of his character on Keith Richards, it was appropriate to ask Richards to be in the third film. Richards seems more like Captain Jack than Depp does. Next up is "Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom," nineteen minutes, which takes us behind the scenes of what producer Jerry Bruckheimer calls "The biggest action sequence ever attempted." Then there's "The Tale of the Many Jacks," about five minutes explaining how Depp played the multiple versions of Sparrow in the film. Two deleted scenes follow, about a one or so minutes each, with optional commentary from director Verbinski. "Masters of Design" provides short segments on the people who worked behind the scenes on map design, character makeup and costumes, the Singapore sets, Teague's costume, and the code book. After that we have "The World of Chow Yun-Fat," about four minutes on the film's co-star, and then about ten minutes on "The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer." Finally, "Hoist the Colors" gives us about four minutes on the voices and music in the movie's opening scene, and "Inside the Brethren Court" provides background information on each of the film's pirate captains.
The two discs come in a double keep case, further enclosed in an embossed cardboard slipcover that is among the most attractive I've seen.
For more from Verbinski, you can access an interview with the director that DVD Town published.
Parting Shots:
Here's what I'd like to see happen next: Since "Pirates 2" and "Pirates 3" tell one long story, I'd like to see director Gore Verbinski make a Director's Cut of the two films. I'd like to see him sit down at his editing console, combine the two long movies and trim the whole thing back to a couple of hours. I'm sure he has a good two hours of adventure and laughs in the pair of films, and I'm sure I would find one, good, concise, well-focused, tightly knit movie more fun to watch than either of the longer, bloated ones. But I realize this will never happen. People want more and bigger for their money, just as they want bigger cars and bigger houses. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" gives most people exactly what they're looking for. For me, what I got out of it was mostly a sore butt.
"Shoot him and cut out his tongue. Then shoot his tongue!" --Captain Jack
However, for all its silly goings-on, senseless violence, and perpetual, empty motion, one may still find a few pleasures. Not the least of them is the film's gorgeous look, its admittedly colorful characters, and its high good humor from Depp and Rush, both of whom are essentially comic personalities.
As a result, the few pleasures may be enough to carry the film for die-hard "Pirates of the Caribbean" fans, but for me even Depp and Rush got old after a while. Although, to be fair, we really don't see all that much of them. Capt. Jack, for instance, doesn't make an appearance until well into the film and then disappears for long stretches, which presents another problem: The filmmakers never seem to make up their minds who the main character is, so they afford everybody in the movie a little space, thereby diluting everyone's part. By and large, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" was a disappointment.
Oh, and anybody who turns off a movie as the closing credits begin to roll (and that's just about everybody, I'm sure) deserves to miss a good part of the story. That's my way of saying hang around.
Video:
Nothing to complain about here. The Disney video engineers use a high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer to get the most from the 2.35:1 ratio widescreen picture. Given the number of dark scenes involved, it's remarkable they were able to keep the screen so clean, free of grain or noise. Solid black levels help define the rest of the colors realistically, contrasts come off well, and inner detailing is splendid, including such in the murkiest shots.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is even better than the video, which is saying a lot. The sound is robust without being overbearing; the multichannel spread is widely dispersed among all five-point-one speakers; the dynamics and impact are strong; the midrange is sharp and distinct; the bass is taut and deep, with room-rumbling properties; and the overall frequency response is well balanced. What's not to like?
Extras:
Disc one of this "2-Disc Limited Edition" contains the feature film; "Bloopers of the Caribbean," some of which is quite funny; Sneak Peeks at seven other Disney products; twenty-eight scene selections and a navigational insert; English and French spoken languages; Spanish subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Disc two contains the bulk of the bonus items, although they aren't quite as extensive as one might like. First up is "Keith & the Captain: On Set With Johnny and the Rock Legend," a little over four minutes long. Since Depp says he based a part of his character on Keith Richards, it was appropriate to ask Richards to be in the third film. Richards seems more like Captain Jack than Depp does. Next up is "Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom," nineteen minutes, which takes us behind the scenes of what producer Jerry Bruckheimer calls "The biggest action sequence ever attempted." Then there's "The Tale of the Many Jacks," about five minutes explaining how Depp played the multiple versions of Sparrow in the film. Two deleted scenes follow, about a one or so minutes each, with optional commentary from director Verbinski. "Masters of Design" provides short segments on the people who worked behind the scenes on map design, character makeup and costumes, the Singapore sets, Teague's costume, and the code book. After that we have "The World of Chow Yun-Fat," about four minutes on the film's co-star, and then about ten minutes on "The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer." Finally, "Hoist the Colors" gives us about four minutes on the voices and music in the movie's opening scene, and "Inside the Brethren Court" provides background information on each of the film's pirate captains.
The two discs come in a double keep case, further enclosed in an embossed cardboard slipcover that is among the most attractive I've seen.
For more from Verbinski, you can access an interview with the director that DVD Town published.
Parting Shots:
Here's what I'd like to see happen next: Since "Pirates 2" and "Pirates 3" tell one long story, I'd like to see director Gore Verbinski make a Director's Cut of the two films. I'd like to see him sit down at his editing console, combine the two long movies and trim the whole thing back to a couple of hours. I'm sure he has a good two hours of adventure and laughs in the pair of films, and I'm sure I would find one, good, concise, well-focused, tightly knit movie more fun to watch than either of the longer, bloated ones. But I realize this will never happen. People want more and bigger for their money, just as they want bigger cars and bigger houses. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" gives most people exactly what they're looking for. For me, what I got out of it was mostly a sore butt.
"Shoot him and cut out his tongue. Then shoot his tongue!" --Captain Jack
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]21817[/release]