Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Pirates of the Caribbean

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Posted by Josh Kirkhart (Member # 1046) on 07-09-2003, 06:43 AM:

Righteous Film Fun!!

I personally cannot believe it is good as it is. Cutthroat Island it is not. I can quarantee ya this is 80% Bruckhiemer and the rest Disney. First of all, no company logos ushering us in, scared the hell out of me when building but I flashed back to Black Hawk Down and connected the Bruckhiemer dots. Has a good score and great mix. The directing was sound, didn't give me one erroneous shot. The effects were as seamless as could be, kept looking for that moonlight mistake, but they caught it all. Johnny Depp riegns supreme in this, his best in a while, probably the best character since Fear and Loathing. Rush is good but hes never bad and the damsel in distress is hot(Star Wars Portman clone, not Rush). The pirates themselves are individuals and have thier own quirks which is cool. I think they kicked ass on this, and it didn't drag thru that 143 minutes. Recommending and going to bed.

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-09-2003, 08:59 AM:

I think one reason that there were no opening logos is because Disney did not want there logo jumping out at you since the film was rated PG-13. The first film to be released with this rating not to be a touchstone title.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-09-2003, 09:04 AM:

That's funny. I thought the guy who built ours up cut the logo off by mistake!

This was a GREAT movie! It would have been great to see this movie earlier in the summer rather than that stupid Keanu Reeves movie (what was that called again?).

Anyway, at two and a half hours, this movie didn't drag at all for me. Johnny Depp was incredibly fun to watch as Captain Jack Sparrow. It's a real shame that he'll probably never get nominated for an award for that part. The sword fights are great, the fight scenes are intense, the sound mix is incredible, the special effects are flawless, and for those who have been to the Disney parks, be sure to watch for little scenes from the ride.

Think before taking small children to see this movie, because the cursed pirates are pretty scary looking at night.

Thumbs up all the way on this one! [thumbsup]

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 07-09-2003, 12:50 PM:

Bruckheimer's earlier film, "PEARL HARBOR" also did use the Touchstone (Disney) logo. Looking forward to seeing this movie in SRD-EX.

-Claude

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-09-2003, 01:46 PM:

Judging from the trailer, it looks like it could be a cool pirate movie. But somehow, I can't associate hard, screeching, grunge-rock music with seafaring? I hope it's not that way in the movie.

Posted by Josh Kirkhart (Member # 1046) on 07-09-2003, 04:54 PM:

No rock and roll or grunge, all score, baby!!

Posted by Chase Taylor (Member # 778) on 07-09-2003, 08:10 PM:

Bruckheimer did not put an opening logo on "Pearl Harbor" or "Black Hawk Down".

What a great fun movie. I will watch it again.

Chase Taylor

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-09-2003, 08:12 PM:

Two thumbs up here for Pirates. The movie as a whole is just plain fun. There was a spot a bit past the halfway point that dragged, but only for a couple of minutes. Johnny Depp inparticular was great and perfect for this role. I enjoyed this film quite a bit and it may actually get a second viewing before it leaves the theaters. (VERY rare for me.) Try and pick a theater with a good sound system. It's got a great track on it! This will probably be this summer's sleeper hit.

Definitely check this one out in theaters. Don't wait for the DVD. This movie deserves to be seen in a theater.

Posted by Thomas Procyk (Member # 1170) on 07-09-2003, 10:04 PM:

Just saw this today in both DLP and film. What an awesome movie! I didn't expect it to be as "intense" as it was. I figured even at PG-13, with Disney hands on it, it would probably be tame. Nope! Battles and ghosts and all the good stuff! Orlando Bloom kept taking me back to LOTR with some of his acting.

The sound mix was awesome! The DLP house was THX certified, and I felt the thunder and cannon fire in my chest. [thumbsup]

Reccomended 100%

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-11-2003, 11:31 PM:

GREAT FUN!

My son wants to be a pirate now............

Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 07-12-2003, 01:42 AM:

I wasn't expecting much when my wife and daughter talked me into seeing this last night. They dragged me along to buy the tickets. You have to have been on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at the Disney parks to appreciate a lot of the images and one liners through out the film. All the lead actors were convincing and the effects were good. Overall, two hours and twenty some minutes of mindless summer fun. Six thumbs up for this film.

The presentation was another matter. We saw it in theater 16 at the Island 16: cinema de lux at Holtsville, NY. A so called "Directors Hall". A National Amusements theater. When the trailers started it was obviously out of focus. An annoying travel ghost as visible on the top third of the screen. I went out and called it to the attention of the manager at the time. Then went back to watch the film.

You can guess what happened. Nothing.

When the credits ran at the end they were out of focus and the ghosting was still there. The cleanup staff was milling around and talking in the front of the theater waiting for the dozen remaining paying customers to leave so they could clean up. That in it's self is totally unacceptable.

I again complained to a different manager explaining what had happened. When I said I complained at the beginning of the show, but really didn't expect anything to change, she just smiled and then gave me passes.

This theater has been open for about six months and is supposed to be a cut above the rest. It has already started to decay. I was told it's a union booth, but I didn't get to speak to the operator.

I can't help wondering if anyone else complained. If not, I'm sorry to say, they will sit like sheep and watch anything. And get exactly what they deserve in terms of presentation.

I'm hoping someone from National Amusements reads this. A perfect example of "film done wrong".

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-12-2003, 12:07 PM:

Unlikely that was a union booth. When National Amusements opened their "The Bridge Cinema De Lux" location in the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center in Los Angeles they had an article published in the LA Times which noted that the company's policy was for projection to be handled by the theater managers (as opposed to floor staff). No dedicated operators (union or otherwise) there.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-12-2003, 06:11 PM:

Regal Cinema World 8, Eugene, 11:45AM, house #3, probably DTS (educated guess as there were no dropouts at numerous lab splices). Attendance about 65. Very good presentation.

Liked it a lot. Johnny Depp is great. Nice action sequences. Plenty going on. Humor. They could have trimmed about 10 mins or so out of it though without harming it. My only technical complaint is the dialog level seemed mixed a little low relative to music & effects, made it difficult sometimes to understand everything being said. [thumbsup]

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 07-12-2003, 10:53 PM:

As a former booth supervisor for them I know that they do not employ Union Projectionists at their theatres. New York may be a different story. Sumner Redstone would roll over in his grave if they had employed Union Guys...... oh wait, sorry he is not dead yet.... ooopsss

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 07-13-2003, 01:09 AM:

I know they used to employ union projectionists because I know a guy who used to work for them. He also told me that when they started using managment they had to go thru a booth training course.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-14-2003, 05:05 AM:

Do pirates have to be in a pirate union to be pirates?

Anyway, this is a fantastic movie.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-15-2003, 08:40 AM:

Yes, they do. But... it's more of a "club" than an actual "union." [Wink]

Posted by Michael Gonzalez (Member # 593) on 07-15-2003, 11:29 AM:

And the Union Rules are more Guidelines than rules. [Razz]

Posted by R. Andrew Diercks (Member # 1725) on 07-15-2003, 01:06 PM:

Loved the movie, loved Johnny Depp. It's too bad that he won't be nominated because he made people laugh, not cry.

quote:
I enjoyed this film quite a bit and it may actually get a second viewing before it leaves the theaters. (VERY rare for me.)

Same goes for me! I did have a couple minor consistency issues. When Barbosa gets her dress thrown back at him, he states that it's still warm. I thought he couldn't feel anything, particularly the warmth of a woman. Also the wooden eyed pirate shouldn't have felt the hot coals. Anyway, it's a far cry better than much of the hyped crap this summer.

Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 07-15-2003, 01:21 PM:

Has Johnny Depp ever been nominated for an award? If not, it's a crime I tells ya! He deserves some recognition.

Posted by Pete Lawrence (Member # 130) on 07-15-2003, 02:54 PM:

As there was some question as to the union status of the booth at the Island 16, Holtsville, NY I called local 640 and spoke to the business manager. He confirms that the booth in this theater is staffed by union operators on a full time basis.

He was surprised that the complaint wasn't taken care of and said he would pass the information on to the operator. Just in case it never made it up to the booth. I'm pleased to see that someone cares about Film Done Right. [thumbsup]

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-15-2003, 03:36 PM:

There is also one more inconsistency:

When Jack Sparrow shoots Captain Barbosa he finally dies from the shot. But they drop the final coin and the blood into the treasure only after Barbosa has been shot.

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 07-15-2003, 07:56 PM:

I always thought Johnny Depp was fantastic in "Ed Wood". And, of course, Martin Landau got the Oscar for best supporting actor in that picture, playing Bela Lugosi.

Posted by Sam Hunter (Member # 1119) on 07-15-2003, 10:32 PM:

Slow killing bullet, remember he was saving it for 10 years and it got old [Big Grin]

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 07-17-2003, 05:56 PM:

quote:
When Barbosa gets her dress thrown back at him, he states that it's still warm. I thought he couldn't feel anything, particularly the warmth of a woman. Also the wooden eyed pirate shouldn't have felt the hot coals.

Barbosa is after all a pirate. A pirate is nothing if not sadistic! Watch closely, he is bieng sadistic! As for the wooden eyed pirate feeling hot coals, well, no explanation necessary, cause I ain't got one! Actually, I don't remember that the cursed can't feel, if that is the case then you have a point, but I will have to watch it again.

quote:
When Jack Sparrow shoots Captain Barbosa he finally dies from the shot. But they drop the final coin and the blood into the treasure only after Barbosa has been shot.

Ok this got me too. I still am trying to figure this one out. Perhaps the curse began to undo itself when the coin was bloodied and not when it was dropped into the chest, as the curse would have known that Orlando Bloom was going to drop the coin in the chest anyway, it would have undone the curse. You come up with a better explanation!

Dave

Posted by Jacob Huber (Member # 1138) on 07-19-2003, 08:22 AM:

Almost everyone I know absolutely loved this movie, and so did I. This is definitely one of the best movies to come out this summer (although that's not saying much). Depp is brilliant, as is Geoffrey Rush.

My theories on a couple things. Capt. Barbossa said that the dress felt warm to be more of a sadistic bastard and to make a joke than to actually imply that he could feel its warmth. The eyeball pirate probably could feel the hot coals (and you see many other pirates displaying pain when struck); perhaps the only thing that they can feel is pain. Barbossa said that he can't feel the wind nor the spray, but he said nothing about pain; the curse would actually be more vile if this were the case.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-19-2003, 09:41 PM:

I only saw today that there is a final scene at the very end in which the monkey gets himself cursed again by taking a coin from the treasure.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 07-24-2003, 01:55 PM:

Attendance: 2003/07/23 19:20, Regal Hollywood 18, Huntsville, AL, Auditorium 18, Scope

I went to the theatre with the intention of seeing Johnny English, but ran into some friends seeing Pirates of the Caribbean and decided to go ahead and see it, since I was planning on seeing it eventually anyway.

I agree that it was a fun movie. I have no real complaints about the movie.

Everyone had been talking about Johnny Depp and since I hadn't seen the movies he'd been in, or hadn't recognized him, I had no idea who he was. On the way out of the theatre, I asked my friends which character Johnny Depp was. Pathetic, huh?

I'll say this -- If Johnny Depp hadn't been playing the part of a pirate, his body motions and acting made me think he would be great at playing the part of a gay guy. Another of my friends agreed, although they didn't say much about it since they're from the Baptist Student Center and gayness is a very bad thing to most of them. It actually distracted me a little from the character he was playing and for me, it added more humor to the movie.

The presentation was very good. There was aperture shadow on the top 6 inches and left one foot of the screen. Occasionally, the top 6 inches of the image would be black in some scenes. Maybe the framing was slightly off.

Anyway, highly recommened. Johnny Depp was fabulous! He's one of those guys that looks really hot with long hair. :-)

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 07-25-2003, 12:24 AM:

Absolutely stunning CGI. Without a doubt the best I have ever seen. The "images" borrowed from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride at Disneyland were charming too. However I wished Johnny Depp hadn't played it quite so swishy. If you didn't see all the credits you missed the stinger at the end.
Ya-ho
Ya-ho
Ya-ho
A pirates life for me!

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 07-29-2003, 04:39 PM:

I absolutely loved the movie. I've seen is about 4 times in a complete showing, and many more random scenes. The sad part is that they are making a second one (at least the orginal cast signed on). Being a big DisneyWorld fan, I also found two hidden mickeys in the film...The clouds and Elisabeth's earnings made mouse ears...

Posted by Christian Appelt (Member # 1067) on 09-09-2003, 05:37 PM:

I just came from a theatre where PIRATES plays (the film has been released over here just a week ago), and I feel that tonight I just lost time and money.

It has been said in this thread that Johnny Depp did a great job, and I agree. In fact, what remains of that film when you subtract Depp`s eccentric performance?
The usual CGI stuff, IMHO an inferior music score (it proves that you don`t need Hans Zimmer as a composer to get a bad score, just let him produce it) and a often depressingly dark and flat looking cinematography. Definitely not what makes a good pirate movie for me.
The swordfighting between Depp and Bloom at the blacksmith workshop is laughable, fast cutting and shaking the camera alone does not make a good fight.
During the last 20 minutes I hoped that the noise would stop, the predictable ending would come, and even the post-credit gag was what I had expected.

I noticed that the audience always started chattering during the endless action scenes and was only taken in by the film when some intelligent (and funny) dialogue between characters took place. Less effects, better scripts and less unnecessary staccato cutting IMHO would have made a better film. But if it`s fun to you, I won`t argue about it [Smile]

Posted by Stephen Isaacs (Member # 1674) on 12-02-2003, 03:14 PM:

A very cool film and Johnny Depp played his part so well.