"That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen!"
-Lt. Theodore Groves
Unpromisingly based on a
theme park ride,
* albeit a cult classic theme park ride that had fans of the ride grousing in anticipation of the film,
The Curse Of The Black Pearl was a swashbuckling film which returned
pirates to the big screen. After its spectacular success, a pair of sequels were made.
The Curse Of The Black Pearl begins when
Will Turner, the sole survivor of a shipwreck, is found by a ship carrying his future love interest,
Elizabeth, who takes a
medallion from him. Eight years later, Will is a
blacksmith in Port Royal. The pirate captain,
Jack Sparrow, arrives in a crowning entrance high on the mast of a sinking
ship dinghy only to be arrested after a fateful run-in with Will and Elizabeth. That night, the town is
attacked by more pirates, but Elizabeth persuades them to call off the attack in exchange for the medallion.The pirates, led by
Captain Barbossa, sail off with Elizabeth and tell her the
Back Story. They have been
cursed for stealing
Aztec gold, doomed to forever exist as undead creatures who can not gain satisfaction from eating, drinking, or even the simple pleasure of a warm breeze; even the final peace of death is denied to them. Now they must
collect all the coins and return them, along with blood from each pirate. Since Will turns out to be the son of their missing crewmember, this means they
need his blood.Jack Sparrow, Will, Elizabeth, the pirates, and Elizabeth's military fiance Norrington, a Royal Navy commodore, all converge on the island, double crossing each other along the way. After a final battle, the curse is broken, Barbossa is killed, Will and Elizabeth are together, and Jack goes free, given a
day's head start by Norrington.
Dead Man's Chest begins with the arrival of Cutler Beckett, who blackmails Will into hunting Jack and his
magic compass. Cutler's ultimate target is the
chest containing the heart of Davy Jones, captain of
The Flying Dutchman and immortal lord of the oceans who controls the dreaded monstrous Kraken. Holding the
heart will allow Cutler to control Davy Jones, and hence all the seas of the world.Will is soon held prisoner on the
Dutchman, where he meets his mutated father who is a slave to Davy Jones, while Jack, Elizabeth and a disgraced Norrington hunt the chest holding the heart. When they find it, Will, freshly escaped from the
Dutchman, turns up with the
magic key needed to open the chest, and Davy Jones in hot pursuit.After a climactic battle, Jack is swallowed alive by the Kraken and Norrington gets the heart, which he presents to Cutler, setting up the sequel.
At World's End, the third installment, chronicles the adventures of Will, Elizabeth, and a newly resurrected Captain Barbossa in their journey to retrieve Jack from the afterlife. It resolves with the final showdown between the forces of Cutler Beckett (now with Davy Jones and the
Flying Dutchman as their flagship), and the assembled pirate forces of the world, with an angry sea goddess thrown into the mix.And, this just in: There's a fourth movie. The title is
On Stranger Tides
, and it will "use elements of" the novel of that title by
Tim Powers, which concerns Caribbean pirates and the
Fountain Of Youth. Along with the
Pirates of the Caribbean park ride,
On Stranger Tides was also inspiration for the
Monkey Island series. So it will be interesting to see just how many parallels the two series will have now.
The movie will be rated 'Arr!'
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