Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Review

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Release Date: 11th September 2003 - Australia

Production Companies

Walt Disney Pictures (presents)

Jerry Bruckheimer Films (in association with)

Distribution

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Australia

Genre: Action/Adventure/

Fantasy

Rating: M

Runtime: 142 minutes

Budget: $140,000,000

Box Office Gross: $654,264,015 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

When Elizabeth Swann, the governor's daughter, gets kidnapped by the feared pirate Captain Barbossa, who has suspected she has the medallion. Her childhood friend, a young blacksmith named Will Turner, joins forces with the eccentric yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow as they set sail to rescue Elizabeth from Barbossa. Little do they know that Barbossa and his crew are under a terrible curse that has doomed them to live for all eternity as the undead unless a blood sacrifice is made that would allow them to become mortal again.

Cast

Johnny Depp - Captain Jack Sparrow

Orlando Bloom - Will Turner

Keira Knightley - Elizabeth Swann

Geoffrey Rush - Hector Barbossa

Jack Davenport - Norrington
Jonathan Pryce - Governor
Weatherby Swann
Kevin McNally - Joshamee Gibbs
Lee Arenberg - Pintel
Mackenzie Crook - Ragetti
Damian O'Hare - Lt. Gillette
Giles New - Murtogg
Angus Barnett - Mullroy
David Bailie - Cotton
Michael Berry Jr. - Twigg
Isaac C. Singleton Jr. - Bo'sun
Zoe Saldana - Anamaria
Martin Klebba - Marty
Treva Etienne - Koehler
Greg Ellis - Officer

Lauren Maher - Scarlett

Brye Cooper - Mallot

Vanessa Branch - Giselle

Trevor Goddard - Grapple
Vince Lozano - Jacoby
Ralph P. Martin - Mr. Brown
Paula J. Newman - Estrella
Dylan Smith - Young Will
Lucinda Drysek - Young Elizabeth
Guy Siner - Harbormaster

Crew

Director - Gore Verbinski
Screen Story/Screenplay - Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio
Screen Story - Stuart Beattie and Jay Wolpert

Script Supervisor - Sharron Reynolds
Executive Producer/Unit
Production Manager - Paul Deason
Executive Producer/Unit
Production Manager/

Second Unit Director - Bruce Hendricks
Executive Producers - Chad Oman and

Mike Stenson

Producer - Jerry Bruckheimer
Technical Advisor - Peter Twist
Casting Director - Ronna Kress

Lead Animal Trainer - Ursula Brauner

Animal Coordinator - Mark Harden
Production Designer - Brian Morris

Consultant - James Ward Byrkit

Creature Concepts - Mark 'Crash' McCreery

Conceptual Artist - Miles Teves

Supervising Art Director - Derek R. Hill
Art Directors - James E. Tocci and

Donald B. Woodruff

Art Director: Caribbean Unit -

William Ladd Skinner

Construction Coordinator - Robert A. Blackburn

Set Decorators - Larry Dias and

Cristian Bertoco (Uncredited)

Property Master - Charles Stewart

Armourer - Harry Lu

Costume Designer - Penny Rose

Associate Costume Designer - John Norster

Costume Supervisors - Ken Crouch and

Carolyn Dessert

Makeup Effects Creator - Keith VanderLaan

Makeup Effects Supervisor: Captive Audience

Productions - Brian Sipe

Makeup Supervisor - Ve Neill

Makeup Effects Consultant/Special Makeup

Effects Artist - Greg Cannom

Chief Hair Stylist - Martin Samuel
Director of Photography - Dariusz Wolski

Director of Photography: Second Unit -

Mitchell Amundsen

Director of Photography: Second Unit/

Second Unit Director - Alexander Witt

Aerial Unit Director of Photography - David B. Nowell

Camera Operator - Martin Schaer

Camera/Steadicam Operators -

David Luckenbach and Chris Haarhoff

Underwater Camera Operator - Peter Zuccarini

Second Assistant Camera: Second Unit -

Robert Settlemire

Unit Production Manager: Caribbean Unit -

Douglas C. Merrifield

Production Supervisor: Caribbean Unit -

Thomas Hayslip

First Assistant Director - Peter Kohn

First Assistant Directors: Second Unit -

Gary Romolo Fiorelli and Darin Rivetti
Stunt Coordinator - George Marshall Ruge

Additional Sword Trainers - Mark Ivie

and Bob Anderson

Helicopter Pilot - David Paris

Assistant Marine Coordinator - Ed Nyerick

Assistant Marine Coordinator: Caribbean Unit -

Daniel F. Malone

Boat Wrangler - Will White

Transportation Coordinator - Dave Robling

Special Effects Coordinator - Terry D. Frazee
Additional Special Effects Coordinator -

Dan Cangemi

Assistant Special Effects Coordinator -

Donald Frazee

Practical FX Supervisor: ILM - Geoff Heron

Visual Effects Supervisor - John Knoll

Visual Effects Supervisor: CSI Hollywood -

Bryan Hirota

Visual Effects Supervisor: Pacific Title -

David Sosalla

Visual Effects Consultant - Charles Gibson

Visual Effects Producer: ILM - Jill Brooks

Visual Effects Producer: Boy Wonder -

Dennis Hoffman

Art Director: ILM - Aaron McBride

Visual Effects Directors of Photography: ILM -

Carl Miller and Pat Sweeney

Digital Effects Supervisor: CIS Hollywood -

Gregory D. Liegey

Animation Supervisor: ILM - Hal T. Hickel

Computer Graphics Supervisor: ILM -

Patrick T. Myers

CG Sequence Supervisors: ILM - Russell Earl

and Neil Herbzinger

3D Matchmove Lead: ILM - Jason H. Snell

Cloth Simulation Supervisor: ILM -

James Tooley
CG Model Supervisor: ILM - Geoff Campbell
Physical Model Supervisor: ILM - Charles Bailey

Lead Model Makers: ILM - Peter Bailey,

Don Bies, Robert Edwards, Jon Foldman,

Dave Murphy and Lauren Vogt

Stage Production Managers: ILM -

Mark Anderson and Monique Gougeon

Digital Matte Supervisor: ILM - Jonathan Harb

Lead CG Viewpainter: ILM - Steve Walton

Editors - Stephen E. Rivkin,
Arthur Schmidt and Craig Wood

Assistant AVID Editors - Christopher S. Capp

and Dana E. Glauberman
Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer
Re-Recording Mixer - Christopher Boyes

Supervising Sound Editor - George Watters II

ADR Supervisor - Jessica Gallavan

Sound Mixer - Lee Orloff

Sound Effects Editors - Ken Fischer,

Tim Nielsen and Addison Teague

Re-Recording Mixers - David E. Campbell

and David Parker

Music - Klaus Badelt

Composers: Additional Music - Ramin Djawadi,
Jim Dooley, Nick Glennie-Smith, Steve Jablonsky,
James McKee Smith and Geoff Zanelli
Composer: Additional Music (Uncredited)/

Technical Music Producer - Trevor Morris
Composer: Additional Music/Orchestrator -

Blake Neely

Music Supervisor - Bob Badami

Score Producer/Music Programmer - Hans Zimmer

Music Arranger and Designer - Mel Wesson

Score Mixers - Alan Meyerson and

Slamm Andrews

Awards

2004 Academy Awards

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Johnny Depp (Nominated)

Best Makeup - Ve Neill and Martin Samuel (Nominated)

Best Sound Mixing - Christopher Boyes,

David Parker, David E. Campbell and

Lee Orloff (Nominated)

Best Sound Editing - Christopher Boyes and

George Watters II (Nominated)

Best Visual Effects - John Knoll, Hal T. Hickel,

Charles Gibson and Terry D. Frazee (Nominated)

Review

Ahoy there, me hearties, it's Rad Dingo here. You may have guessed that I didn't review any Pirates of the Caribbean movies (save for On Stranger Tides). Now I'm looking forward to seeing the new film Dead Men Tell No Tales, which is soon in theatres at the end of May. Before the countdown is over, we are looking at the series' first instalment, THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL.

It's captivating to see a fantasy swashbuckling feature that didn't age a bit, and it never ceases to amaze me. I didn't expect a film based on a theme park ride at Disneyland would soar as one of 2003's top-grossing films. However, the film was a hidden treasure, formed by an intriguing narrative from the same writing team behind Shrek and Aladdin. It's full of action with sword-fight choreography, comedy, and an adventurous feel with supernatural themes to contain the tremendous impact. Director Gore Verbinski could never be thanked enough for bringing such a movie franchise to life. He has also done a terrific job on the pacing, and none of the sequels had the proper timing of the original movie.

The performances were superb, coming from actors like Johnny Depp, who was already perfect for the infamous savvy pirate of Jack Sparrow. He gets away with portraying his character with a hairstyle, a mid-Atlantic cockney accent, etc. He was born to lead his portrayal as it was a big step up to being immortalised in his status as a well-known leading actor from Hollywood. Actor Orlando Bloom was the boy next door as he plays the pirate-in-training swordmaker Will Scarlett in a restraining manner. Keira Knightley was as gorgeous as the lovely Elizabeth Swann. Geoffrey Rush chews the scenery when acting as the bloodthirsty blackguard Hector Barbossa in a charismatic, over-the-top style. On an unexpected note, it was one of the early films for actress Zoe Saldana. As a supporting actor, she is on the verge of her future big break in Star Trek, Avatar and Guardians of the Galaxy.

A fun yet majestic high-sea adventure fantasy is enough to push THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL into a well-regarded sanctuary of modern classics in its heyday. It is my favourite movie and is a must-see feature.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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