PotC: On Stranger Tides

[Shadow Storm]

Well so far the actors that portrayed Jack Sparrow and Barbossa will be back in action. Bloom and Knightly will not be making another appearance, which is good, as IMO their characters shouldn't be included in this movie anyways.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-pirates-4.html

[Darth Turbogeek]

They really should have given up two movies ago

[Peter McCoy]

I second that motion. The first film was great, it came out of nowhere, no hype (to my knowledge) and it just thoroughly entertained. I remember just going to see it on a whim and everyone who I went with were in fits of laughter and the action was brilliant. Then along comes The Jack Sparrow Show and all of a sudden he's getting face paint done, turning into a human kebab, and I mean for Gods sake one of the first shots of him in the third one was his big huge nose sniffing along the boat. It just went daft.

There were some good, almost great moments in the sequels, some great lines, but they were ultimately overshadowed by crap attempts at humour and over-exposure of Jack Sparrow on the screen. I think Droo said at the time of the third film that it's as if the production team were just thinking of increasingly ridiculous situations to put him in 'because he was so popular and funny in the first one - we're onto a winner here!'.

No. Fail, I'm afraid.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'll watch it. :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

^ Me too, probably. On DVD of course.

[Atreyu]

Ian McShane has been cast as Blackbeard (http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=27105).

[Taataani Meorrrei]

I second that motion. The first film was great, it came out of nowhere, no hype (to my knowledge) and it just thoroughly entertained. I remember just going to see it on a whim and everyone who I went with were in fits of laughter and the action was brilliant. Then along comes The Jack Sparrow Show and all of a sudden he's getting face paint done, turning into a human kebab, and I mean for Gods sake one of the first shots of him in the third one was his big huge nose sniffing along the boat. It just went daft.

There were some good, almost great moments in the sequels, some great lines, but they were ultimately overshadowed by crap attempts at humour and over-exposure of Jack Sparrow on the screen. I think Droo said at the time of the third film that it's as if the production team were just thinking of increasingly ridiculous situations to put him in 'because he was so popular and funny in the first one - we're onto a winner here!'.

No. Fail, I'm afraid.

Jack Sparrow is to awkward scene girls the same as Edward Cullen is to awkward goth girls.

Think about that one for a moment.

[Atreyu]

::bump::

Teaser trailer has been released:

<object height="385" width="640">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KR_9A-cUEJc?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></object>

Not bad, but I confess I don't find myself overly excited over the prospect of another Pirates film - the last 2 kind of burned me out.

[Titus Barakis]

Mermaids, zombies, Blackbeard! :D

Honestly, I just need to hear the soundtrack for these movies and I get giddy.

[Jedi Master Carr]

It looks like it could be fun, especially with McShane as the new bad guy. So, has Barbarossa joined the British Navy? I imagine he did it to try to get the Fountain of Youth.

[Rutabaga]

I know it's overkill and a 4th one isn't necessary, but I'll be there. I love the idea of Ian McShane as Blackbeard. :eee

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I think it looks like a lot of fun, and that's all I want from a Pirates movie. :)

[Darth Turbogeek]

That looks like an utter pile of shit that has no point to it at all other than to try to trick people to give up money to see it.

Honestly, that trailer was about the worst possible.

[Dasquian Belargic]

http://geeksofdoom.com/2011/01/23/three-new-images-from-pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides/

3 new images from this movie - nice shot of Blackbeard :)

[Atreyu]

Super Bowl Trailer is up:

http://collider.com/pirates-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-super-bowl-ad/74930/

This is probably the best trailer I've seen thus far.

[Atreyu]

New trailer:

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/03/pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-trailer-johnny-depp-penelope-cruz-hunt-for-the-fountain-o.html

I like it. :)

[Park Kraken]

1: 39 in the Trailer. Wasn't the guy with grey hair Beckett's aide/captain that ordered "Abandon ship" onboard the Endeavour at the end of World's End?

[Darth Turbogeek]

New trailer:

http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/03/pirates-of-the-caribbean-on-stranger-tides-trailer-johnny-depp-penelope-cruz-hunt-for-the-fountain-o.html

I like it. :)

STILL incredibly why did they bother.

[Park Kraken]

Saw the movie this afternoon. Mixed feelings about it. The movie itself was...better than the 2nd and 3rd one, but not as magical was the 1st one, IMO. But I hated what they did with some of the characters.

Like for example, killing off virtually the entire crew of the Black Pearl except for Jack, Barbossa, Gibbs, and the monkey.

Favorite Scene; The horde of mermaids pwning the HMS Providence into a capsizing and sinking while Barbossa's first mate, the guy who was Beckett's 1st mate onboard the Endeavour in the 3rd movie, was standing there watching from shore slack jawed.

Least Favorite Scene; When the Spaniards departed the damaged Fountian and I came to the realization that would be no mass pwning of the Spanish. wtf?

Oh, and there is a little tidbit after the credits.

EDIT: And oh yes, this movie might get into a shoving contest with Mel Gibson's the Patriot to see how many Britons they can make outraged.

[Peter McCoy]

I am seeing this tonight, no choice. The fiancee wants to see it so I'm tagging along. Expectations are incredibly low so as a result I may enjoy it. A lack of Orloomo Bland and Ikea Knightly will be very welcome. I'm fully expecting the antics of Captain Jack Sparrow to reach new heights of ludicrousness, and Geoffrey Rush to be awesome as always. Given the overtime I've done this week, there's a very real possibility I'll sleep during the movie as well. We'll see what happens.

[Rossos Atrapes]

Saw it yesterday. Not bad, as was said before it's not as good as the first one but much much better than 2 and 3. Geoffrey Rush is simply amazing, but Barbossa doesn't really kick off until a ways into the movie.

I wasn't too enthralled with what they did with Blackbeard and his ship. Blackbeard was well played, however.

As opposed to Park, that ending scene was my favorite scene in the entire movie for the twist. Everyone else is after the Fountain for the Water, so why wouldn't the Spanish as well? "Only God grants eternal life! Not this pagan water." *toss* Had me floored for a second.

Best line in the movie: "Someone make a note of that man's bravery." After shooting the man who started to claim the Fountain for England.

[Jedi Master Carr]

It was and as said better than 2 and 3 but not as good as the first. I loved Geoffrey Rush he stole most of the scenes he was in. I agree with Rossos about the ending I like the twist with the Spanish not wanting the fountain. I didn't see that coming

[Crusader]

I really liked this movie and I think calling it better than 2 and 3 does not do this movie justice. This is the true sequel to POTC and far away from the crap they called sequels before. From now on I will treat this franchise like I do treat the Matrix franchise. I will just ignore episode 2 and 3 in my head.

This movie is really good and it really understood what made the first one a good movie:
* A closed plot where Captain Jack Sparrow accidently stumbles in.
* some Voodoo magic but not too much
* loveable characters
* a good villain

Plus this movie had Judie Dench!

Now spoilers/stuff I really liked:
-The mermaid scenes were awesome. All of them!
-Barbossa as a privateer in a proper English uniform was hilarious.
-The whole conflict of this movie was well presented: Pagan rituals versus Christian believes... All those godless pirates with their voodoo magic and superstition that end up losing while the missionary finds some kind of salvation because he actually tries to achieve a better world to live in with his good deeds even if he does them for a godless creature like the mermaid.
-I liked the Spanish and how they used them as a red hering. I was waitting for this Spanish captain to have his great intro but then he just said two lines and this summed up his entire role and purpose. All the time I was waitting for that guys' intro and I already thought somebody accidently cut all his scenes until the end.

[Colonel M. James Hunter]

For me, it felt like the fourth movie in an ongoing series. That's less of an insult than it sounds, honest! Spoiler-free review below -


The only similar type of thing I can think of is the classic Bond films. The main character was established, we know what he's about, and he does more of what everyone likes about him - in the same way that you know that Bond is going to get the girl, and throw in some one-liners along the way, you know that Jack is probably going to escape from something with copious amounts of balancing and rope swinging, with some jerky movements and funny lines in the meantime.

We also had the recurring sometimes-nemesis (Barbosa) who shows up in an unexpected manner. Not a Bond trope, but certainly an ongoing series trope. The story was also self-contained: the premise was established at the beginning and seen through to it's resolution, and you could get away with watching the movie without knowing what happened in any of the previous ones.

Maybe I'm just not as big a Pirates fan as you guys though, but I can't buy in on the whole as good as the first one / better than 2 and 3 thing. Maybe it's because I didn't think 2 and 3 were "bad"; or maybe it's because I treat Pirates as a kids movie, and so judge it less harshly. I also quite enjoyed the whole Davy Jones and the British navy as the villains, and while a giant woman made of crabs is a bit too far, I'm not sure that Davy Jones' locker and a kraken is any more of a stretch than rigging that comes to life on a ship crewed by zombies, or a cupboard full of ships in bottles.

I thought they could've made a bit more of the Spanish: their motivations were interesting, but they felt like a plot device for the climax rather than characters that needed to be there. I also agree that Blackbeard was a bit under-used: Ian McShane was fantastic, and they could've done more with him. The mermaids were also brilliantly portrayed... and the missionary guy was great too, even if he did look enough like Jack Davenport to make me miss Commodore Norrington. :(

I thought they went a bit overboard with the 3D initially. They settled down towards the end, but the whole sword through the door bit that we all saw in the trailers was just over the top; luckily by the end, they just let the 3D drag you into the story, rather than distract you.


I was in the same boat as Peter - I went along not expecting much, so I actually enjoyed myself a fair bit. It's a fun movie, and I'll probably watch it again, on TV/DVD on a Sunday afternoon when I've had a long, tiring weekend. Unfortunately, I don't think it was worth the money I paid to go see it at IMAX.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Saw it. It was a lot of fun, and that's all I require from a Pirates movie. :D

Also, Dame Judy Dench.

Also, mermaids were brilliant.

Also, also, Jack shows some new motivations, which was very interesting. :)

[Peter McCoy]

I enjoyed it. It's not a great film, it;s not a bad film. Aside from a stupid opening (the Jack Sparrow reveal as I call it) it was a good film. I would watch it again.

It greatly benetifs from Will and Elizabeth's respective absences. The middle section was a bit slow at times but there were some decent scenes like the one where Jack and Barbossa are tied up against the trees and Barbossa recalls how Blackbeard took the Pearl and lost his leg. I liked that - it was them just being themselves rather than enemies.

Some great lines from Jack Sparrow and Barbossa. The tidbit after the credits actually does have some significance this time.

I think people should watch it. Maybe not in the cinema, but certainly give it an honest viewing and not group it with the previous two films blindly. I'd say it deserves to be slotted next to the first film as a true sequel. It's not as good as the first film, (but that's a rarity anyway these days) but it is good.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

We actually saw it in 3D and I thought the effect was well done. Really added dimension to the scenes, especially the London chase scene. Of course there was the whole sword sticking through the door bit that was in the trailer, I'm sure that's there for the kids though.

What can I say, I like 3D *shrug* But in... say... TRON:Legacy, the 3D didn't seem to add a whole lot, but in this movie the sense of depth to the screen was really enhanced beyond just a 'little'.

[Wyl Staedtler]

We saw it last night (not in 3D - the last time I saw a 3D movie was way back when with Jaws, when you could hire a pair of those paper glasses from the video store along with a VCR and the player; has it gotten better?) and had a blast! I had to take Rhys and some of the younger kids to the back during a few of the parts (the mermaids in particular were a bit frightening for them but awesome) but all in all they had a great time.

Also, my favourite part of any movie are the previews and we had some excellent ones. This summer is jam-packed with explosions and car chases and punching and all sorts of frivolous, indulgent fun. :D

[Vigilante]

3D has gotten way better from the old blue/red glasses days.

[Darth Turbogeek]

This movie lived up to the trailers and suprassed expections.

In the wrong direction.

It was trite and suffered the crime of spew the same crap we have seen before in a fanboigasm that was deadly boring, berifit of life and any emotional spark. It was completely forgettable and frankly I was bored shitless. It had none of hte fun of the original and for some reason the 3D gave me a splitting headache, which no other 3D movie has done. Wait, maybe it wasnt the 3D but me slapping myself for being so dumb as to spend good money on this utter.... wait what was this movie about again? My brain went into a 2.5 hour coma.

Clearly just a paycheque movie and it showed. None of the fun of the original, nothing new and...... excuse me my brain is threatening to shut down again.

[Park Kraken]

Probably should have mentioned I saw it in 2D. When I think of great movies for 3D, a Pirates movie doesn't enter into that equation. I did see a few scenes that probably would've turned out good in 3D, but not enough to justify the extra bucks spent.

[Rutabaga]

Saw it today and also walked away from it with mixed emotions. Overall, my advice to people who are interested in it is that they should wait for it to come out on DVD. Not a terrible movie, but not all that great either. This franchise is definitely running out of steam.

The positive stuff:

Jack Sparrow has returned to form and wasn't over the top at all
Barbossa!!! :love Thank God he turned back into a pirate at the end.
Ian McShane was awesome as Blackbeard
The mermaids were great
Judi Dench's cameo was hilarious
I love Hans Zimmer's music for these movies

The negative stuff:

The plot was kind of jumbled at times
Uneven pacing made it drag at points
I really missed the regular crew of the Pearl

The feeling of the plot being jumbled might be not the movie's fault...it really felt like the speaker system in our theater wasn't balanced correctly, and there was multiple times when I couldn't understand all the dialogue over the sound effects and/or the music.