Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1006 in VHS
• Released on: 2003-12-01
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Dolby, PAL, Surround Sound
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 138 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
You won't need a bottle of rum to enjoy Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, even if you haven't experienced the Disneyland theme-park ride that inspired it. There's a galleon's worth of fun in watching Johnny Depp's androgynous performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, a roguish pirate who could pass for the illegitimate spawn of rockers Keith Richards and Chrissie Hynde. Depp gets all the good lines and steals the show, recruiting Orlando Bloom (a blacksmith and expert swordsman) and Keira Knightley (a lovely governor's daughter). They set out on an adventurous quest to recapture the notorious Black Pearl, a ghost ship commandeered by Jack's nemesis Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), a mutineer desperate to reverse the curse that left him and his (literally) skeleton crew in a state of eternal, undead damnation. Director Gore Verbinski (The Ring) repeats the redundant mayhem that marred his debut film Mouse Hunt, but with the writers of Shrek he's made Pirates of the Caribbean into a special-effects thrill-ride that plays like a Halloween party on the open seas. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
When the Governor's daughter, Elizabeth Swann, is kidnapped by Captain Barbosa, her childhood friend and admirer, Will Turner teams up with pirate Jack Sparrow to save her. However, Barbosa and the crew of his ship, the Black Pearl, are cursed. Trapped in skeletal forms that reveal themselves in moonlight, they intend to use Elizabeth's blood to remove the curse and return them to the land of the living.

Customer Reviews

If you miss this, you will be cursed...
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, based on the famous Disneyland ride, is an exciting, lighthearted epic of 18th Century pirates in the style of Errol Flynn's Captain Blood. It's a fast paced romp that mixes seafaring action, elements of the supernatural, slapstick comedy, and romance. It's not realistic, but thank goodness, it wasn't meant to be.

The plot of the movie centers on a gold medallion (here we see echoes of the Indiana Jones movies) that has supernatural powers. It's being sought by Captain Barbossa (Geoffery Rush) and his cursed crew of ghosts to lift the spell that has doomed them to sail the seas as undead. Chasing them to take back the ship Black Pearl is Captain Jack Sparrow ( Johnny Depp). He is eventually assisted in his quest by blacksmith and expert sword maker Will Turner (Orlando Bloom of Lord of the Rings fame) and governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley).

Director Gore Verbinski (Mouse Hunt), working from a screen play by Shrek writers Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliot, Terry Rossio, and Jay Wolpert, gives audiences laughter, excitement, chills, thrills, and even antcipation of further Pirates of the Caribbean movies. For those moviegoers who've visited Disneyland or Disney World, there are several charming references to the ride; my favorite is when the pirates are chasing the women around the port. I broke out in laughter several times, and so did many in the audience. I also found the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic (the same people that do the special effects for Star Wars) are incredible, and the score by Klaus Badelt is lively and stirrring.

For a late summer moviegoing season, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is definitely worth going to see.

Betty June Moore

Simply Great
POTC is a wonderful film that manages to appeal to all ages: it's not violent enough to exclude the younger among us, is not vapid enough to make adults turn away, and is simply cool enough to ensure credibility boost when a teenager says they have seen it and liked it. The acting is brilliant. Johnny Depp steals every scene that he is in as Cap'n Jack Sparrow, famous only for being the worst pirate anyone's ever heard of. His blend of scally-wag demeanour, drunken swagger and subtle wit is wonderful and will keep you chuckling for days. Geoffrey Rush is most unscrupulous as Sparrow's nemesis, and he has the pirate accent done to a fine turn! Orlando Bloom is suitably dashing as a blacksmith turned pirate, and Keira Knightley is predictably stunning as the hostage love-interest. A wonderful turn from The Office's Mackenzie Crook as an optically impaired pirate is humourous. However, the real surprise came at seeing Coupling's Jack Davenport playing a more or less straight part and pulling it off!

In short, Pirates is a cracking film, full of humour, action and pirate satire and has a wide appeal. If you haven't seen it yet, which really is highly unlikely, then just buy it anyway because there is no chance that you'll want to send it back.

Brilliant
This film was a bit of a surprise over the summer because it was so phenominally successful. It lasted for months in the cimema and now will probably do extremely well on video and dvd.

It's a fairly classic pirate story - cursed ship, fiesty lady, man who loves her, humorous pirates with no real harm in them and nasty pirates with lots of harm in them - but it's much more. It's extremely funny and the story does carry a few surprises and an awful lot of nice touches.

The star is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, a pirate who turns up in Port Royale, a English settlement in the Caribbean. The same evening the Port Royale is attacked by the Black Pearl - a mysterious ship rumoured to be crewed by the damned who happen to be looking for a piece of treasure. The ship sails away with the treasure and with Elizabeth (Kiera Knightly) the Governor's daughter. Cue the start of an adventure for William (Orlando Bloom) the blacksmith, who is of course in love with her and who persuades Captain Jack Sparrow to help him sail after the Black Pearl.

There is actually a good story in this film, and enough happens that it never feels too long. It twists backwards and forwards, and you're never quite sure who's side everyone is on. Humour aside this would still be a decent film - but with the laughs it's a film I'd watch again and again.

There are also some wonderful effects - the ships are marvellous but the scenes of the cursed pirates (without giving too much away) are really well done, and the swordfights are a lot of fun.

In all, a brilliant film.