No. 49 - Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Walt Disney Pictures/Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Buena Vista Pictures Prepare to be blown out of the water.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

Director: Gore Verbinski; Screenplay: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio; Rated PG-13 for undead violence, some mildly scary scenes

Starring: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Pryce, Jack Davenport, Kevin R. McNally, Zoe Saldana

Movie Introduction: The scallywag pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow (Depp) arrives at Port Royal in the Caribbean without a ship or crew. His timing is inopportune, however, because later that evening the town is besieged by a mysterious, fog-encased pirate ship. The marauding pirates kidnap the governor's daughter, Elizabeth (Knightley), who possesses of a valuable coin that is linked to a terrible curse. A young and gallant blacksmith (Bloom), who secretly loves Elizabeth, allies with Sparrow to pursue the ruffians.   

Defining Moment: "That has got to be the best pirate I've ever seen."

Jack Sparrow and William Turner have agreed to go after the haunted Black Pearl. Jack feels the craft is his, and he wants it back. William seeks to rescue Elizabeth Swan, now a captive of Barbossa and his miscreant crew. Jack and Will board the HMS Dauntless, one of the British ships anchored in the bay and send it's disarmed crew back to the island. Commander Norrington, aboard the speedy Interceptor, assesses the situation and immediately pulls his ship alongside the Dauntless and boards her along with his men. Meanwhile Sparrow and Turner, swing aboard the now empty, but sail-ready Interceptor. They cut the lines and quickly shove off, leaving Norrington and his crew on the disabled Dauntless - a nifty escape indeed. (watch the full scene on YouTube)

Something subtle you might have missed:  the pirates of improv

Johnny Depp improvised the catch phrase "Savvy?" and all references to the word "eunuch". The monkey, after returning the Aztec coin to Barbossa, smiles. This was purely by chance and not planned. Much of the scene in which Jack Sparrow is captured in the treasure cave is ad-libbed dialogue, namely the near-incoherent ramblings about parlay, the French, mayonnaise and more about eunuchs. The last lines of the film, "bring me that horizon", was also developed by Depp on the day the scene was filmed. 

Memorable Quotes:

"You best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!" - Capt. Barbossa

"That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom." - Capt. Jack Sparrow

Dad's Review:

There is not really a great "Dad story" associated with this Disney film. Pirate jobs were hard to come by when I was growing up. I never really understood how to "pirate" software. I've never felt the need to say ""ahoy!" or "avast" or "argghh", except that one Halloween when I was dressed as a marauding corsair at age ten. I have been to St. Thomas and St. John, in the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, and we managed to steer clear of any buccaneers. That's about it.

I had heard that Disney was making a movie based on the ride at their Disney parks. After a full two minute eye-roll, I scoffed at the idea and muttered something akin to, "...money-grubbing, dumbest idea ever..." I mean, seriously. So I stayed away opening week, but the film, to my surprise, was creating quite a buzz. Audiences and critics both liked it. It did star one of my favorite actors in Johnny Depp. So I caved and hit the theater. Of course, it shivered me timbers!

This movie wins my unofficial award for "Most Watchable". If it's on, I watch it. It is fun, witty, adventurous, fantastical, scary and even a bit romantic.  It knows when to be serious and when to poke fun at itself. The plot jumps all over the place, but I never feel lost.

It IS a great pirate film, paying homage to all great pirate films before it. 

I would imagine that pulling together a period piece like this would present some challenges to the script writers. You want to use language of that period, but it needs to depart from that enough to appeal to a modern audience. This script hits those notes to perfection. It's smart without appearing dated. The dialogue is one of its strengths, without question.

Then there's Johnny Depp... in the role he was destined to play... a filthy roust-about, adorned with tattoos and clad in leather and whalebone and lace. He steals every scene he's in (in fact he steals every second he is on screen, the thieving wretch!). The actor did lots of pre-research and found that pirates were thought of as the "rockstars" of their time. This is the reason he modeled much of this character after Rolling Stones rock guitarist Keith Richards. (Richards would eventually play a role in one of the sequels) Depp's Captain Sparrow is one of cinema's great performances. The actor is clearly having such a good time.

Final Note: I know Disney saw dollar signs with the success of this film. That's right, time to sequel the hell out of it. I tried the follow-on films, and frankly, they not only pale in comparison to the original, but they just run everything good into the jagged reefs. Which kinda breaks my heart because Jack Sparrow is one of my favorite characters in all of cinema. 

Onto No. 50... Kaiju Zilch