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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl(2003) is a movie of adventure and romance set in the Caribbean during the late 1700s. It is based on the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. This movie stars Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, and Jack Davenport. It is directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Film poster
Directed byGore Verbinski
Written byTed Elliott
Terry Rossio
Produced byJerry Bruckheimer
StarringJohnny Depp
Geoffrey Rush
Orlando Bloom
Keira Knightley
Distributed byWalt Disney Pictures
Buena Vista Pictures
Running time
143 min.
Budget$125 million

As of March 16, 2004, it had grossed at the box office more than $653 million worldwide; the 21st highest grossing movie ever. It proved to be a success for Walt Disney Pictures and within weeks of release they announced a sequel was in development, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, slated for release in 2005/2006.

When production for the film was first announced in early 2002, movie fans and critics were skeptical of its chances of being a success. The concept of Disney basing a movie upon one of its own theme park rides seemed to many a crass marketing ploy. The genre of pirate themed movies had also seen a string of high budget flops with Cutthroat Island and Treasure Planet, among others. Critics were pleasantly surprised to find the film an enjoyable swashbuckler, and the movie became a huge box office success, grossing over $300 million in North America alone. The film also received several Academy Award nominations, including a surprise Best Actor nomination for Johnny Depp. However, the poor reception received by other Disney films based upon its theme park attractions (The Country Bears, The Haunted Mansion) suggested that the success of Pirates of the Caribbean was an exception and not the rule.

It was believed that the movie was partially inspired from Monkey Island series of video games, and similarities have been drawn between Barbossa and LeChuck and also Will Turner and Guybrush Threepwood. Even if most hold that this is coincidental, it is also believed that the makers have put intentional references from the games as a tribute.

Tagline: Prepare to be blown out of the water.

Plot

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Shortly after his arrival at Port Royal, Jamaica, destitute pirate Captain Jack Sparrow rescues the governor's daughter, Elizabeth Swann, from drowning. However, when he returns to dry land, the occupying British forces attempt to arrest Sparrow for his previous crimes - which include piracy, for which he has been branded on the forearm by the East India Trading Company. As he tries to escape, Sparrow meets Will Turner, the local blacksmith's apprentice, who is infatuated with Elizabeth but is too afraid to admit his feelings to her; following a swordfight with Turner, Sparrow is knocked unconscious and arrested. That night, Port Royal is besieged by the infamous ghost ship known as the Black Pearl - a pure black vessel crewed by a vicious, bloodthirsty crew, and captained by a man claimed to be "so evil that Hell itself spat him back out". The ship and its crew were once under the command of Jack Sparrow until they mutinied ten years ago, and have since fallen under a dark curse. Crew members from the Pearl find Elizabeth - who claims that her last name is Turner - in possession of a golden medallion emblazoned with a skull, and take her back to their ship. She parlays with the captain of the Black Pearl (and former first mate of Jack), Barbossa, to cease his attack on Port Royal in exchange for the medallion; Barbossa then expands the agreement to include Elizabeth as well. The next day, Will discovers Elizabeth's disappearance and, thwarted in his efforts to convince the Royal Navy into pursuing the culprits by lead officer Commodore James Norrington (despite the Commodore's own feelings towards Elizabeth), takes up an offer by Jack Sparrow to rescue Elizabeth in exchange for breaking him out of jail. After absconding with the Royal Navy's fastest ship and assembling a crew to man it, Jack and Will set off to find Barbossa and the Black Pearl, who themselves are heading towards Isla de Muerta - a mysterious island that's supposedly undiscoverable, save for those who already know where it is.

It is here where we learn the true intentions of Barbossa and his crew: the island contains a cursed Aztec treasure that the crew of the Black Pearl discovered, following directions from Jack Sparrow. Before they reached the island, Barbossa and the crew mutinied against Jack and stranded him on a deserted island; they then took the Aztec treasure for themselves. Shocked by this action, Will's father, "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, sent one of the cursed gold pieces away to his son in order to ensure a fitting punishment for the crew's betrayal. In retaliation, Barbossa ordered Bootstrap to be tied to a cannon and thrown overboard. Too late, the crew discovered that the curse was indeed real; in order to break it, they were required to return all the pieces of the treasure to its chest and give a blood sacrifice from everyone who removed them. As such, the crew's gluttony, greed, and lust for worldly possessions corrupted them to the point that they became undead, forced to never die or rest in their covetousness (moonlight reveals this fact, showing the pirates in its glare to be living rotting skeletons). After ten years, they have succeeded in fulfilling almost all of the requirements to end the curse - save for obtaining the blood of Bootstrap Bill and the gold piece he stole. With the medallion (in reality the last piece of the treasure) and Elizabeth in their custody, Barbossa believes he finally has what he needs to lift the curse.

Jack and William confront Barbossa and his crew at the same time they learn Elizabeth is not the child of Bootstrap Bill. Will, however, had overheard Jack's plan to trade him for the Black Pearl; following his own plan, he knocks Jack out and gets them both captured in a failed attempt to rescue Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Jack are stranded on the same island Jack was stranded on ten years ago, while Will is taken back to complete the requirements to end the curse. Elizabeth and Jack are eventually rescued by Norrington, but Elizabeth is unable to convince him to go back and rescue William until Elizabeth promises to marry him.

Upon arriving at the cursed island, Jack convinces Norrington's forces to lay in ambush for Barbossa's crew while he goes in and convinces them to come out. He succeeds in convincing Barbossa to hold off on spilling Will's blood and breaking the curse until after they kill the crew of the Royal Navy ship Dauntless and take the ship. This proves to all be part of Jack's plan; however, he was not expecting the undead crew to walk along the ocean floor to the ship, which allows them to escape the planned ambush. As the Black Pearl crew engages the Royal Navy in hand-to-hand combat aboard the Dauntless, Jack steals one of the cursed coins and engages in his own battle with his former first mate in a "battle of immortals". In the middle of their fight, he distracts Barbossa long enough for both he and Will to complete the requirements of ending the curse. As the Black Pearl crew becomes mortal once again, Jack shoots Barbossa in the chest with a pistol preserved from the mutiny, killing him. Once they realize they're no longer cursed - and no longer immortal - Barbossa's crew surrenders.

Back at Port Royal, Norrington is forced to hang Jack as per law, but Will, who believes him decent enough a person to not deserve death, rescues Jack. This sudden defiance by Will, as well as his confession of love towards her, inspires Elizabeth to reject marriage to Norrington and declare her feelings for Will instead. Norrington agrees to release her from her promise and Will is pardoned for his criminal act; meanwhile, Jack escapes and awkwardly falls into the ocean, to be rescued by the crew he assembled to help him earlier in the movie and who now man the Black Pearl. As the movie ends, Norrington watches as Jack sets sail for unknown adventure, impressed by the pirate enough to allow him a one day's head start before setting out in pursuit.

Script

Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (Shrek, The Mask of Zorro), among others, created a script noted for its witty lines and challenge-response jokes. Two examples:

Elizabeth: Captain Barbossa, I am here to negotiate the cessation of hostilities against Port Royal.
Barbossa: There be a lot of long words in there, Miss. We're naught but humble pirates. What is it that you want?
Elizabeth Swann: I want you to leave and never come back.
Barbossa: I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Means "no".
Norrington: You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
Jack: But you have heard of me.

The wordplay was well suited to both Geoffrey Rush's and especially Johnny Depp's unusual style and worked well throughout the film. The official FIRST DRAFT of the script is available here, on Elliott & Rossio's Wordplay a.k.a. Wordplayer.com, one of the premier screenwriting sites on the internet.

The plot bears similarities to that of the computer game series Monkey Island (e.g. a wannabe-pirate and undead pirates).

Cast

In interviews, Johnny Depp stated that he had based his persona for Captain Jack Sparrow upon legendary guitarist Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, with some influence from cartoon character Pepe Le Pew. Depp is also a cameo character in Kingdom Hearts 2 as Jack Sparrow. There is also supposedly a Pirates of the Caribbean 'world' in the upcoming game.

Movie Trivia

The Interceptor was the only real ship used in the movie - all other boats were actually barges. The Interceptor, in real life, is the Lady Washington a Tall Ship based out of Grey's Harbor, Washington.

Johnny Depp was a very enthusiastic sailor. In the scenes where you see him steering the vessel, what you don't see is the real captain of the Lady Washington who was just off screen giving him visual directions.

There were no "props" aboard the Interceptor - everything you saw there works - and has a reason to be there.

The wheel (steering wheel) fell apart several times during shooting. In real life, The Lady Washington is steered by a tiller, however for the movie, a wheel was attached to that tiller. This ensured that the wheel was a "working prop." Flooring was built around the tiller to conceal it.

=Sequels

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Awards

All awards are from 2004, unless otherwise noted.

Academy Awards

Art Directors Guild

  • Nominee, Excellence in Production Design Award, Feature Film - Period or Fantasy Film, Brian Morris

ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

BAFTA Awards

Golden Globes

  • Nominee, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, Johnny Depp

The Eddies, American Cinema Editors, USA

Saturn Awards, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

Screen Actors Guild Awards

  • Winner, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Johnny Depp
 
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