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"A short drop and a sudden stop," of course, refers to a hanging. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" shows that the "Pirates" dynasty is coming to an end. I struggled with writing this review for three weeks because part of me wanted to love this film and another part of me is just growing tired of all the constant twists, turns, backstabbings, and double-crosses. This time around, Captain Jack Sparrow has wound up in Davey Jones' Locker through a series of events from "Dead Man's Chest." His old friends (or enemies, depending on how you see it) have decided to retrieve him for their own individual reasons. Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, Captain Barbossa, and even the voodoo queen from "Chest" combine forces with the crew of the now lost Black Pearl and Chinese pirates in order to get Jack back. To tell you their individual motives would take forever, so just know that "World's End" is a lot like "Dead Man's Chest" in that nobody can trust anybody else and everybody is out to get everybody else....but on a larger scale.
Johnny Depp is in top form as Sparrow once again, although an extended trip through the Locker gets rather boring. Geoffrey Rush who, in my opinion, is the most piratical of the bunch and the most fun to watch, spends a lot of time squabbling with Sparrow over who's the real captain. Keira Knightley gets a larger, yet uninspiring role this time around as Elizabeth Swann gets more involved in pirate affairs. Orlando Bloom's portrayal of Will Turner has become somewhat sinister when compared to the other films, and I honestly came away from the film disliking the character a bit. Gibbs, Pintel, the monkey, and the rest of the gang are also back, and are more than adequate for their slightly expanded roles. Gibbs is especially fun to watch on the screen. Norrington and the nasty gang from East India Tea Company are also on board. Chow Yun Fat appears as a new character, the honorable pirate captain, Feng. He does well with the limited screen time he's given, but with so many other characters aboard this flick and so many plotlines, I felt that he got lost in the chaos.
With all of that said, there was still quite a bit to enjoy. The special effects were pretty good. The only bad spot involves Calypso and, for spoiling the plot's sake, I won't go into any detail about the matter. Plenty of action can be found on land and sea (and even in the afterworld). There's still a lot of humor in this film, but it takes itself way too seriously to be fully enjoyed as a comedy.
In summary I'd have to say that if you enjoyed the first two films, you're sure to like this one. It does get bogged down by multiple plotlines and suffers from a long running time, but so did the second film. I give it three-and-a-half stars, but round up due to the wonderful first film.
The 3rd Pirates of the Caribbean movie was filmed right after the 2nd.
This movie shows it. The crew seems tired, the plot as well. Maybe everybody was just fed up with playing pirates? Depp is scarcely better than the untalented Orlando Bloom & they could have left Elizabeth (keira knightly, no caps intended) completely out & maybe had a better go of it.
'Tis another wild ride, which in reality would have taken years maybe, from the tropics to the frozen arctic, or is anarctic? , as we pick up what happened since we last saw Jack swallowed whole & pulled into the briny deep in the clutches of Davy Jones' pet kraken. In Pirates 3 , alas, we behold the last , or maybe not, battles between the freedom-loving pirates & their pirate allies against their nemeses from the East India Company, but we are also forced to follow along with the final resolution (we can hope) of the tired & dreary romance between Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner. Talk about overdone!
Back from Davy Jones' Locker, by way of magic, & crabs, Jack joins the old gang for another go at Davy Jones & the crew of the Flying Dutchman. Bloom is out to save his dad, Depp is in it for immortality, we see that even an octopus-faced Jones has a heart (pun intended) & can (gasp!) love, Bloom STILL has NO personality at all, & the rest is rather iffy.
Keith Richards is totally Keith Richards in his not quite 2 minutes on screen, as Jack's DAD????? The scenes from the great pirate meeting are for visual effect only, maybe a stab at the Oscar for costumes? Richards' character & Barbosa's (played well as usual by Geoffrey Arrrrgggh Rush) are the 2 best, & the bad guy, Lord Beckett (well-acted by Tom Hollander), but even they can't save Pirate's 3.
Chow Yun-Fat, from The Last Samurai & Anna & the King, is regal as usual, but the role is beneath him & it shows. As Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore he is believable, but the writers seem to have downplayed his acting ability & focused more on knightley's convincing him to go save Will, or is it Jack, or maybe it's...who knows?
I still say Bill Nighy (playing Davy Jones) is Jack Palance in disguise! I mean , look at that face! He does okay as compared to several others who just seem to drag about.
In short, too much visual, WAY too much visual, but the awesome terrifying whirlpool scenes are new, yet too much chaos, too many cliches, too much keira, too little rhyme or reason. Definitely Pirates 3 was made just for the M-O-N-E-Y. Of course, Depp is sooooo cute...
One thing some found out by watching the credits end, there is MORE of the Bloom/knightley affair. Blahhh!
I want my $$$ back!
The Pirates of the Caribbean-movie serials is probably one I'll never grow tired off. The characters are fun and great, always adventurous and spectacular to watch.
It's really too bad that this time they felt the need to make things even bigger, more complex and conclusive than the previous two movies. Really not needed. In my opinion the first movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" is still the best because of the reason that it's simple, fun and choices to be purely entertaining. They already went wrong with this approach during the second movie; "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", when they put in more new characters and different hard to follow plot lines. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" goes on in the same trend as the previous movie. There are more new characters and as far as the new many plot-lines are concerned...well let me just say that after a while I just gave up trying to understand the movie and just let the movie take me away with its visuals, humor and other entertaining elements. And this movie regardless should really be able to take you away on a roller-coaster-ride of pure entertainment.
No doubt in my mind that this movie could had become the best one out of the series. It had all the potential and budget for that, now if they had only cut down about halve of the script...Most of the plot-lines seem redundant and are actually far from believable because they contradict from what happened in the first two movies. The many betrayals among characters and side-picking became really confusing after a while, till it reached a point when you just didn't knew who was fighting for what. But like I said before, after a while you just stop caring about it and simply enjoy the movie for what it brings you. It all is also the reason why the movie is now nearly 3 hours long. Now the movie is not as good and entertaining as the first but maybe just slightly better than the second one, because of the large scale of this movie.
The movie is definitely big. There is no lack of action as some people claim there is. There is just as much action as there is in the first two movies, only difference this time is that the movie is nearly 3 hours long and therefor the movie also has some more talking-sequences and slower moments in it.
The movie is also big with its musical score by Hans Zimmer and he actually succeeded in composing a new great theme for the movie. In its action moments the movie gets definitely uplifted by its musical score.
The action sequences are definitely well constructed and at times pure eye candy. So are the special effects, although I feel that the second movie was still better on that. It seems like they tried to overdo things this time and I'm mainly talking about the end battle, when it comes down to its special effects, by putting in some complex shots. No matter how good CGI is these days, you still see that it's CGI.
Most roles get extended in this movie. Marty, Tia Dalma and even Jack the monkey and Cotton's parrot. But of course the movie still remains the Jack Sparrow-show. Really one of the best characters in recent years, all thanks to Johnny Depp, who provide the movie with its biggest laughs and most hilarious absurd moments. He still plays the character as good and fresh as he did for the first time 4 years ago. You can't just ever grow tired of Jack Sparrow. I was also very pleased to see Geoffrey Rush back as Barbossa.
The very end of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" was more like the end of a play's first act, after which the audience had to endure a nine month intermission. The second act--"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"--begins practically where the last film left off, in which Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) made an unexpected return after Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) was swallowed by the kraken. Not surprisingly, such a surprise ending got me all revved up for yet another round of swashbuckling fun, and I spent the year on pins and needles. If only this new film lived up to my expectations: while it is very entertaining, and while it is still worth recommending for sheer escapism, I'd be lying if I said that it matches the quality of the first two films.
Part of the problem is that everything about this film is simply too big. The number of new characters alone is quite distracting, especially since they all make important contributions to the story. The subplots are piled on top of each other, resulting in a film that's needlessly complicated and overly energized.
With all of that said, there was still quite a bit to enjoy. The special effects were pretty good. The only bad spot involves Calypso and, for spoiling the plot's sake, I won't go into any detail about the matter. Plenty of action can be found on land and sea (and even in the afterworld). There's still a lot of humor in this film, but it takes itself way too seriously to be fully enjoyed as a comedy.
In summary I'd have to say that if you enjoyed the first two films, you're sure to like this one. It does get bogged down by multiple plotlines and suffers from a long running time, but so did the second film. I give it three-and-a-half stars, but round up due to the wonderful first film.
We have to admit that the Pirates of the Carribbean movies are the most innovative and remarkable series coming out of our modern Hollywood era. It was so popular that it could simply falls into the Back to the Future, Indiana Jones and dare I said it : Star Wars franchise. The problem with it is that it wasn't intended to be a trilogy in the first place but was forced upon and thus that in itself is against the movies especially this last ones ( comparably similar to The Matrix trilogy movies and thus in our opinion falls under THAT category instead ). This last one in the series is somewhat disappointing and brought NOTHING new to the trilogy in terms of plot wise. We were initially hyped over this one especially with the ending of the second ones ( Dead Man's Chest ) which left us wanting more.
First of all, the subtitle is somewhat misleading as the movie only deals with At World's End in the first quarter of the movie. Secondly the movie tends to drag on with the "betrayal" plots of the characters that somehow makes them stupid and comical ( the first two movies have already had enough of these kind of betrayals ). Half of the nearly 3 hours movie covers these betrayals of the main characters towards one another which makes the movie boring and unnecessarily long. There isn't any new concepts or plots brought to this last installment except for the excellent but extremely UNDER-developed Chow Yun-Fat character. The first movie introduces Captain Barbossa and has successfully makes him a strong and unique character besides Jack Sparrow. The second movie introduces Davy Jones which makes it somewhat unique especially with the dead man's chest concept. However this last movie BRIEFLY introduces Sao Feng (Chow Yuen-Fatt) as one of the nine pirates ( SPOILERS ALERT !!! ) but somehow killed his character before he was even fully developed. This is so to make rooms for more of the betrayal plots which are unnecessary and boringly long and confusing. If only the script writers could developed more of Chow Yuen-Fatt's character with more magical powers of the Far East ( Captain Barbossa has his undead crew and Davy Jones has his sea-like crew and the Kraken ) but what does Chow Yuen-Fatt's character has to make him unique ? Nothing !!! Speaking of which, what is it with the Kraken !!! ( SPOILERS ALERT !!! ) - it is found dead ( huh? ) just like that ... washed ashore. Even the so-called oracle ( Davy Jones' estranged lover ) is hyped initially but then fails to deliver.
The only saving grace is the effects in the beginning especially the journey to the World's End area and the Far Eastern environment with excellent performance from Chow Yuen-Fatt and their costumes but this is all in the first half of the movie and the second half of it deals with more stupidly structure betrayals and comedic scenes ( as what we saw from the end bits of the second movies but more prolonged ). I guess this is the ending to the trilogy and thus in a way have to be watched if you have seen the first two although this is hardly the GRAND Finale !!! (at least the Matrix trilogy has it). One thing it does best is to provide you with much-hyped plots but then simply changes them in a cruising and disappointing results which do not match the initial hyped plots.
A great deal on this set of 3 dvds. A very great set of Pirates of the Caribbean Movie !!!!!!Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (DVD, 2007)
Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. They are based on a Walt Disney theme park ride of the same name, and follow Captain Jack Sparrow (portrayed by Johnny Depp), Will Turner (portrayed by Orlando Bloom), and Elizabeth Swann (portrayed by Keira Knightley). The trilogy was first released on the big screen on July 9, 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. After the unexpected success of the first film, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a trilogy was in the works. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest was released three years later on July 7, 2006. The sequel proved to be very successful, breaking records worldwide the day of its premiere. In the end it acquired a total of $1,066,179,725 at the worldwide box office, becoming the third and fastest film to reach this amount. The last film in the trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was released worldwide on May 24, 2007. All together, the film franchise has grossed over $2.79 billion worldwide. In September 2008, Depp signed on for a fourth film in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, expected to be released in Summer 2011. Keira Knightley has stated that she does not want to continue playing her character, as has Orlando Bloom.
The latest edition of the swashbuckling adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow...
This time, Jack is lost in Davy Jones' Locker, and the crew of the Black Pearl is fighting to get Jack back. If you liked the first installments of Pirates, you will love this one. It is the same action, adventure, comedy and romance, just MORE of it!
The special effects are believable and the story line is captivating. The special features are also entertaining.
Having just entered the worls of Blu-ray, I don't own a whole bunch, but I must say, you can really tell the difference. It is almost as if the movies are 3-D. The lines and contrasts are very clear. As my wife has pointed out, you can see every zit and blemish in people's skin! It's that clear. For good or bad, that's what it is.
This movie has a bit of gore, as in Pirates past, so it is not for the younger members of the family. But my 7 year old likes the movie, so...
Overall, good entertainment for the older members of the family, and a very memorable song.
Even being the 3rd in the series, this movie still has you wanting more. Great special effects. Wonderful plot. Exciting characters. Johnny Depp could play his role of Captain Jack Sparrow over and over again and you would still never grow tired of seeing him. A great movie for Johnny Depp fans, a wonderful family movie too. The character make-up is also on target. You would be hard pressed to find flaws. The monkey is even a delight to watch. 169 minutes running time may seem long, but once you get caught up in the action it ends way to soon. Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Swann has more screen time and more character involvement in this episode. She brings charm and feminitity to a hard Pirate role. A true pleasure to watch. I bought it for myself and it is a family favorite. 5 stars, 2 thumbs up.
My whole family loved the first Pirate movies and we recently ordered the Pirates 3 on pay per view to fill up xmas vacation time.
I have found it to be very hard to find movies that a family can watch and enjoy together, with everyone getting something out of it. We are careful to not allow a lot of crud in our house which I view as my parental job; but that also limits movies down to just about nothing. Movies are always too kid like, boring for older kids and adults or not fit for kids to watch or understand. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is an exception.
My kids range from 10-16 and they all enjoyed Pirates 3. I think they have watched it three times now. My 16 year old daughter has a major pirate fetish and it is great fun to talk about Johnny Depp from *the old days* of the 1980's with her. The Pirate movies are something we can all share and enjoy.
The movie does not disappoint in special effects, action, pirate yumminess or acting ability. The movie does push three hours in length; which can be a tad too long for some kids. The storyline does jump around a bit; which is the only reasons I am giving it a 4 star rating instead of a 5. Parents may have to explain a little to kids...especially since they may not be able to understand the character voices, Otherwise the movie, as the first two, is loads of swashbucking fun.
If you do not have kids and just love Johnny, Orlando, pirates, special effects, etc...you should also enjoy this movie.
Non stop action and a huge cast of great characters fill this third installment even more than the previous two. With all the plot lines and characters from the first two films and some new developments and characters as well, this is a very FULL plot! Depp is as always an amazing character to watch. He just has a very natural feel as a very crazy Captain Jack Sparrow. My only complaint is that we have to wait a very long time to run into him in this installment. I do not think it is the best of the 3 films but if you liked either or both of the other two you will like this one. Great effects, great action and a top notch cast.