The thing is - Pirates of the Caribbean did almost everything right, storyshowing wise. It would've been just an average pirate movie, had it not been for Johnny Depp's brilliant performance. For quite the long time, Depp was Pirates of the Caribbean and Pirates of the Caribbean was Depp. They couldn't now make a movie that captures audiences with another lead, like their planned new movie with a lame, boring girl boss, for example. Have you, by any chance, watched the old Sandokan movies?
Very true about Depp and this movie, I also think it’s not just him but the direction that was so good and the other actors who play the two other leading men (Norington & Turner) who are amazing. Every actor is perfect in this movie.
As to Sandokan never heard of those movies what are they?
Indeed, you are right! Like I mentioned, they did almost everything right, Depp's acting and screen presence was simply the cherry on top. I also agree about Noringron and Turner :D I will send you a link in the dm for Sandokan.
Odd, I always noticed they all seemed to swoon over Jack, and in my high-school scorned Will and even Norington.
Strangely all the guys in my school admired all three men and considered them all badasses. I remember many of them seething with rage at the following two films, and how they failed to have the three proudly fight together in at least one scene (and at their plots over-all).
Ah d’accord, I suppose there were girls who liked Orlando Bloom. I remember some people liking or disliking him, he’s a very good actor him and Depp had great chemistry.
I just remember the Jack craze and wonder that there were not more pirate movies made after the success of Pirates 1. Seems odd that Hollywood didn’t turn it into a fad like with superheroes.
Bloom is all right. I think they just plucked him out of acting school too early. He’s gotten better with time. Depp definitely stole the show here though. But I’m also a huge Depp fan in general so perhaps I’m a bit biased.
I think he had talent and did good in Pirates and Troy, but it is true he has really improved his craft overtime. That said Depp definitely stole the show.
I wonder how enamored you'll be with my Captain Anit'za :D Would you like me to post one small except paired with a fanart from one of my readers? She really loves the good captain... well... I am yet to talk to a female reader of mine who does not like him lol
Funny enough, I was working on a review essay of this film myself just the other week (perhaps I should just finish that, lol).
There’s so much I love about these films (well, at least the first three. The last few I didn’t really care for). Just all in all really well written. Plus, I’m a big historical pirate fan in general (if you couldn’t tell by my previous article on the subject), so this just added to that.
One of my favorite little nuances is Jack’s theme. It’s an old operatic tradition that many of the characters have a particular musical theme play upon their entrance. You see it in Star Wars as well as these films. It’s more subtle with the others but with Jack it’s more obvious. And boy is that music catchy. Hats off to Klaus Badelt for composing such a beautiful piece.
Very good point about his theme song and also about the quality of this movie. And do complete your review! I’d love to see your thoughts on this film. Hope you don’t mind that when I do up my character and scene analysis essays for this movie I reference your essay and link to it.
There definitely is, I remember hearing that first theme and falling in love. I have a hard time listening to it sometimes, as the first time I heard it I was with my Dad (he’s no longer alive).
That said, I think it was one of the last; I’d argue the Librarian trilogy had a good deal of adventure in it, but it was chasing the shadow of Indiana Jones and Mummy. I might argue that this movie is the last ‘Dumas-styled’ adventure film though so am inclined to largely agree with you.
I understand the difficulty of a son losing a father... my condolences, regardless of the timeliness, or lack thereof.
I've only seen one of the Librarian movies, it was good for what it was, but yes, definitely chasing a trend!
I don't think another good swashbuckler, or Dumas-styled, movie could be made today. It seems the entire adventure genre, one that I think relies on a sense of wonder, is a lost art. People are too cynical, too invested in the likes of GRRM, to appreciate a tall tale.
And I’ll disagree with that last statement; apparently a Quebecois-France production recently made Comte de Monte Cristo (the first French production of such a story since the 70s or so) and it is sweeping across the Francosphere (I plan to go to see it at the end of this month).
Who knows, I feel terribly let down by recent Japanese films and British movies. I may be clinging to the French ones as my last hope for adventure stories.
Ouais, I'm not saying non, but just not right away. I think you've asked a fascinating question. I think the hypergamous girl in fiction could be an interesting topic. I've long wanted to write about it from a new perspective.
Its the bad boy I hesitate about, but will write about down the road I just want to make sure I'm in a good head-space before I tackle it (I'm not in the best place right now mentally to deal with such a dark topic in a mature and sober manner due to work and trying to get into a new line of work that's less erm... emotionally draining).
So I'll get into the hypergamous girl trope, but on the same stroke if you don't mind I'll tackle the hypergamous man first as that's a trope I want to hammer into men's minds and bludgeon home just to be fair as too many guys think hypergamy is a one way street (it really isn't).
It is the perfect example of how women love the bad boys. That would make an interesting essay, discussion on the Arch type, bad boy anti heroes that women don’t want to but love. A good example First on top of course is Iron man Tony Stark (movie) in books,
I’m not sure I’d rank Tony Stark as a bad boy, he’s rich that’s somewhat different.
To be honest, I’d say that the love for bad boys is a purely modern thing and has its roots though in the love for the bad boy Lancelot. But that it is itself a subversion and shows how subverted they’ve become.
Oddly I’m hesitant about writing such an essay as I’ll have nothing good to say about women, and the research for it will likely leave me depressed. I’d say that it falls under the foolish notion of ‘good’ = safe, and bad boy = dangerous. When arguably it is the reverse, the safe option is the bad boy and the good man is the more ‘dangerous’ the ‘riskier’ option.
If anything it shows a risk-adverse attitude, as it takes guts to like someone like say Tom Builder, Jack Builder, Sigurdr, King Arthur, and such. The Good Man is ambitious but doesn’t usually start wealthy.
Like I said, nothing good could be said, nothing positive can be found, and while I’ve been asked to type such an essay before, I’d have to say I still don’t feel comfortable.
I’d say that this is the ‘Shadow-Damsel’ mentality.
And I kind of already did cover this to an extent in my Lucy Westenra essay.
Maybe if you really, really want me to do it I might. But this is would be one essay that would really peeve off some people, and involve lots quarrelling. So I’ll tell you what, if you want me to do it I’ll do it when things are more settled irl. As I’ve some family stuff that’s going really bad lately and I’m having to help deal with some visa stuff and also other family stuff so maybe next month or the month after.
Also no please do not write something that makes you uncomfortable, you’re totally correct that it may be a device issue, I had not thought that through. I’m sorry that you are having a difficult time right now. I have to say I have often thought when reading your posts that you are one of the kindest people. Your positive attitude, your thoughtful replies, your generosity when thanking and promoting others is something you should be very proud of. You don’t seem like the kind of person to boast about yourself, so I am doing it for you. Very sincerely Lauren
Oh hahaha thanks you're too kind, I don't brag because it honestly makes me uncomfortable but do appreciate your affection for my writing and yeah I'm right now uncomfortable so won't especially as my personal life weirdly involves a girl who dumped a bad boy for me (the good guy), and my work involves dealing with this stuff right now hahaha.
I'll get better. It'll hopefully be all cleared up before this week is over, though some things have left permanent emotional and spiritual scars.
That said, I think you've hit upon an important device issue, and major theme in literature one I've not addressed, and should very much like to. Arguably it is a major one, and I'm thinking I'll start doing research on it when the dust has settled how's that?
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the few films (especially in recent history) to have pretty much done everything right. I thought the 2nd and 3rd films were a bit forced (plot wise at least; also hated the way the third one ended though they did fix that with the last film), but loved the 4th and 5th ones almost as much as the 1st. Alas though, if they go ahead with the 6th I fully expect it to be a flop without Johnny Depp in it. Maybe if the character were to be given a proper send-off and a smooth transition to a new cast of characters (even Star trek did that with having a familiar face from the previous incarnation of the franchise help introduce the new one and doing the same again when the moves switched from TOS to TNG and even the reboot), but, without one, I don't think it stands much of a chance.
I do agree, I may not have liked the 5th one and hate the idea of a 6th one, but the 1st and 4th ones I liked. They felt natural, and good though I do dislike Barbossa being in the 4th one.
But if I treat #4 as a Prequel I think I can stomach his presence. I just think he had a great death in the 1st one and should not have been revived.
#2 & 3 were very much forced and made little sense.
They fell into the trap of trying to carry a single plotline into the 2nd and 3rd films. If they’d gone the ‘interconnected standalone’ route they could have found a way to have a good 2nd and 3rd film instead of the rubbish they gave us. There were some good parts in them, but they just tried to hard to force a continuity between stories that wasn’t needed.
I enjoyed Barbosa’s character so it didn’t bother me too much seeing him revived after his death in the first one, but that was another one of the weak points in the 2nd as I don’t think they ever really explained how he’d been revived.
I liked the way the 5th one corrected the ending everyone hated from the 3rd one. Barbosa dies again in that one too, but with a slight redemptive arc story to it and I liked that.
It's weird how this movie works. I could be remembering wrong but I think it was one of the first movies Disney was doing to try to capitalize on their IP. Pretty sure there was a Haunted Mansion movie that came out around the same time and it bombed. Also, and again I could be misremember but I don't remember a big media push for the movie like you'd get with a Marvel movie these days. It's not like it was an indie film that became a hit, but I doubt Disney thought it would be the blockbuster and franchise that it turned out to be.
I think it works because like you said, it's a movie that has a little bit of everything. Adventure, romance, horror, and comedy. And a cast that completely nailed their parts. Like you said, it's not just Jack Sparrow; Will, Barbosa, Norrington, and Elizabeth are all great characters as well with their own stories and arcs, they're not just there to react to Jack. If Jack Sparrow was a more serious character it wouldn't work. Or if they made him too slapstick it wouldn't have worked either. I always thought of the character as Keith Richards (obviously) meets Kramer from Seinfeld. I should watch it again, it's been a while.
Haunted Mansion I believe came out around 98, though you raise a good point, I honestly had plans for an essay down the road comparing the two, in order to explain why one failed and the other succeeded but you explained the business aspect quite well and how Disney likely did indeed expect to fail. I wonder if Pirates was meant to be a tax write-off or something at the start.
But it does work quite well exactly because everything is just perfectly placed, acted and produced. To put it lightly this movie is really fascinating, as it mixes so many different ideas, themes, notions and such and just makes every single one of them work.
I went back and checked because I wasn't sure, both Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean came out in 03. I would definitely be interested in reading your thoughts on why one succeeded and one failed. I'm pretty sure the Haunted Mansion movie that came out last year was also a dud. Maybe Disney would leave that one alone.
According to Wikipedia, there is a Haunted Mansion movie that came out in 1998, but it's a Hong Kong horror movie and just based on the DVD cover, it looks creepy as hell.
Ah ok so I got the date mixed up with the HK one, ouch on my part. Silly error, anyways I will definitely re-watch the movie (its been about 20 years) and write an article comparing the two. Could prove interesting.
I’m definitely planning though, writing an article analyzing Will Turner and Norington from the og film (love those two).
There's still fun to be found in many a place and time, but given how evil the house of mouse was and is, it's no great pity that a film like that first one is far beyond the reach of their current ability to create.
It is interesting however, that people will happily have more of the same, but be it book, film or video game delivering more of the same has only been accomplished by a few people like Brian Jacques.
Some people talk of people getting tired of sequels, but it is when the formula is betrayed is when problems really start to crop up.
You can write a bounty hunters claiming targets till the cows become burgers, detectives solving cases till a city is depopulated and magical girls defeating the monster of the week till the moon falls, but when you try to do something else, it's dangerous, difficult and often doomed.
To try for a ‘different’ thing each sequel is especially hard, even in a healthy corporate environment, nevermind a sickly one.
There's a lot to be said for reaching for the sun, and a lot for recognising your wings are bound with wax.
Very well said on every front, I do think the House of Mouse is sick, and always had an infection buried within since the passing of Walt, Ronald and the 9 Old Men.
But yeah this movie was good simple fun, but also adventure, beauty and had a tragedy in there about the nature of evil.
Indeed, it is when they decide they are too clever for us simple peons and begin to subvert and deconstruct, when the winning formula is ruined and there is no more fun. Then... well... then us the stupid peons, the audience, we become guilty for their own folly and are labeled racists, nathzees, etc etc. Which is why they will go the way of the dodo and soon.
Well put, so it was with Disney’s animation department in the 70s which is why Don left, then when the suits got out of the way in 89, he cheered but then got bought out by the suits at Fox in the 90s and they then ran his animation studio into the ground and fired him and chased him out of the animation industry which pretty much died not long after.
So it is with most other brands. But the trouble is brands themselves. The minute something like art becomes a brand it immediately stops being about beauty and fun and art, and it becomes dead.
The paradox is that an orthodox brand needs a standard of quality, of artistry to be behind the trust the brand symbolises, but alas, Apple is proof that you can keep a brand going through a very different kind of art.
The art of the con.
At least that enchantment is fading, for all the spin in world can only last so long. Jobs is dead after all.
It's harder to con with vegetables or stories than consumer electronics though.
Spot on, mon ami! The sad part is that most people fail to see that the suits, as we call them, are parasites, plain and simple. Utterly incapable of creating anything of worth, they fail to even manage an IP and always run it into the ground. As one of the richest men I knew said:
“The ability to grift does not make you superior.”
Undoubtedly, but just as an obsession with profit kills, so too an obsession with propagandizing, so as surely as the heartless robber baron suits murder the golden goose, those who wish to torture us for our own good torment too that glorious golden goose.
Suits think that art is a product, a pencil to be hawked for cracked coins on the side of the street. This is by far one of their greatest folly, and why they always destroy everything they touch.
The thing is - Pirates of the Caribbean did almost everything right, storyshowing wise. It would've been just an average pirate movie, had it not been for Johnny Depp's brilliant performance. For quite the long time, Depp was Pirates of the Caribbean and Pirates of the Caribbean was Depp. They couldn't now make a movie that captures audiences with another lead, like their planned new movie with a lame, boring girl boss, for example. Have you, by any chance, watched the old Sandokan movies?
Very true about Depp and this movie, I also think it’s not just him but the direction that was so good and the other actors who play the two other leading men (Norington & Turner) who are amazing. Every actor is perfect in this movie.
As to Sandokan never heard of those movies what are they?
Indeed, you are right! Like I mentioned, they did almost everything right, Depp's acting and screen presence was simply the cherry on top. I also agree about Noringron and Turner :D I will send you a link in the dm for Sandokan.
Yeah, I kind of wish instead of the sequels we got, if instead we had gotten a Norington spin-off yet sadly we never got one.
But okay.
Haven't seen the movies, but I have read Salgari's books. I was just a little kid, but they really had me!
Ah okay gotcha.
Couldn’t agree more. While all the other girls swooned over Will, I was far more enamored with Jack.
Odd, I always noticed they all seemed to swoon over Jack, and in my high-school scorned Will and even Norington.
Strangely all the guys in my school admired all three men and considered them all badasses. I remember many of them seething with rage at the following two films, and how they failed to have the three proudly fight together in at least one scene (and at their plots over-all).
All my friends were head over heels for Will. I was the only Jack fan.
Ah d’accord, I suppose there were girls who liked Orlando Bloom. I remember some people liking or disliking him, he’s a very good actor him and Depp had great chemistry.
I just remember the Jack craze and wonder that there were not more pirate movies made after the success of Pirates 1. Seems odd that Hollywood didn’t turn it into a fad like with superheroes.
Bloom is all right. I think they just plucked him out of acting school too early. He’s gotten better with time. Depp definitely stole the show here though. But I’m also a huge Depp fan in general so perhaps I’m a bit biased.
I think he had talent and did good in Pirates and Troy, but it is true he has really improved his craft overtime. That said Depp definitely stole the show.
We all wanted them three to stay and fight together! Such a terribly missed opportunity for Disney...
Agreed
I wonder how enamored you'll be with my Captain Anit'za :D Would you like me to post one small except paired with a fanart from one of my readers? She really loves the good captain... well... I am yet to talk to a female reader of mine who does not like him lol
Sure, please do! I’d love to see that!
Post away!
Here you go https://substack.com/@theblackknight/p-147613607
Merci
In a minute you will both see the tag :D
K
Funny enough, I was working on a review essay of this film myself just the other week (perhaps I should just finish that, lol).
There’s so much I love about these films (well, at least the first three. The last few I didn’t really care for). Just all in all really well written. Plus, I’m a big historical pirate fan in general (if you couldn’t tell by my previous article on the subject), so this just added to that.
One of my favorite little nuances is Jack’s theme. It’s an old operatic tradition that many of the characters have a particular musical theme play upon their entrance. You see it in Star Wars as well as these films. It’s more subtle with the others but with Jack it’s more obvious. And boy is that music catchy. Hats off to Klaus Badelt for composing such a beautiful piece.
Very good point about his theme song and also about the quality of this movie. And do complete your review! I’d love to see your thoughts on this film. Hope you don’t mind that when I do up my character and scene analysis essays for this movie I reference your essay and link to it.
I don’t mind at all! Link/reference away!
Merci X)
There's a certain bit of nostalgia induced here. I can still remember the first time I heard that now iconic theme.
That first movie was lightning in a bottle, and they've been chasing it ever since. A perfect balance of adventure, humor, romance, horror and action.
Thinking on it, was this the last of the truly great, adventure films?
There definitely is, I remember hearing that first theme and falling in love. I have a hard time listening to it sometimes, as the first time I heard it I was with my Dad (he’s no longer alive).
That said, I think it was one of the last; I’d argue the Librarian trilogy had a good deal of adventure in it, but it was chasing the shadow of Indiana Jones and Mummy. I might argue that this movie is the last ‘Dumas-styled’ adventure film though so am inclined to largely agree with you.
I understand the difficulty of a son losing a father... my condolences, regardless of the timeliness, or lack thereof.
I've only seen one of the Librarian movies, it was good for what it was, but yes, definitely chasing a trend!
I don't think another good swashbuckler, or Dumas-styled, movie could be made today. It seems the entire adventure genre, one that I think relies on a sense of wonder, is a lost art. People are too cynical, too invested in the likes of GRRM, to appreciate a tall tale.
Merci
And I’ll disagree with that last statement; apparently a Quebecois-France production recently made Comte de Monte Cristo (the first French production of such a story since the 70s or so) and it is sweeping across the Francosphere (I plan to go to see it at the end of this month).
That's fair, I suppose I'm approaching it from a distinctly American position. On the other hand, perhaps our French brothers will show us the way!
Who knows, I feel terribly let down by recent Japanese films and British movies. I may be clinging to the French ones as my last hope for adventure stories.
Have to go where the quality is!
These movies aged well. Loved the first two! I still put it on here and there to rewatch.
Yeah they really have X)
Not at all, no worries, ever 😃
Merci!
I understand your thoughts and thank you for sharing them.
Ouais, I'm not saying non, but just not right away. I think you've asked a fascinating question. I think the hypergamous girl in fiction could be an interesting topic. I've long wanted to write about it from a new perspective.
Its the bad boy I hesitate about, but will write about down the road I just want to make sure I'm in a good head-space before I tackle it (I'm not in the best place right now mentally to deal with such a dark topic in a mature and sober manner due to work and trying to get into a new line of work that's less erm... emotionally draining).
So I'll get into the hypergamous girl trope, but on the same stroke if you don't mind I'll tackle the hypergamous man first as that's a trope I want to hammer into men's minds and bludgeon home just to be fair as too many guys think hypergamy is a one way street (it really isn't).
It is the perfect example of how women love the bad boys. That would make an interesting essay, discussion on the Arch type, bad boy anti heroes that women don’t want to but love. A good example First on top of course is Iron man Tony Stark (movie) in books,
1. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
4. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
5. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
6. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
7. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
I’m not sure I’d rank Tony Stark as a bad boy, he’s rich that’s somewhat different.
To be honest, I’d say that the love for bad boys is a purely modern thing and has its roots though in the love for the bad boy Lancelot. But that it is itself a subversion and shows how subverted they’ve become.
Oddly I’m hesitant about writing such an essay as I’ll have nothing good to say about women, and the research for it will likely leave me depressed. I’d say that it falls under the foolish notion of ‘good’ = safe, and bad boy = dangerous. When arguably it is the reverse, the safe option is the bad boy and the good man is the more ‘dangerous’ the ‘riskier’ option.
If anything it shows a risk-adverse attitude, as it takes guts to like someone like say Tom Builder, Jack Builder, Sigurdr, King Arthur, and such. The Good Man is ambitious but doesn’t usually start wealthy.
Like I said, nothing good could be said, nothing positive can be found, and while I’ve been asked to type such an essay before, I’d have to say I still don’t feel comfortable.
I’d say that this is the ‘Shadow-Damsel’ mentality.
And I kind of already did cover this to an extent in my Lucy Westenra essay.
Maybe if you really, really want me to do it I might. But this is would be one essay that would really peeve off some people, and involve lots quarrelling. So I’ll tell you what, if you want me to do it I’ll do it when things are more settled irl. As I’ve some family stuff that’s going really bad lately and I’m having to help deal with some visa stuff and also other family stuff so maybe next month or the month after.
Also no please do not write something that makes you uncomfortable, you’re totally correct that it may be a device issue, I had not thought that through. I’m sorry that you are having a difficult time right now. I have to say I have often thought when reading your posts that you are one of the kindest people. Your positive attitude, your thoughtful replies, your generosity when thanking and promoting others is something you should be very proud of. You don’t seem like the kind of person to boast about yourself, so I am doing it for you. Very sincerely Lauren
Oh hahaha thanks you're too kind, I don't brag because it honestly makes me uncomfortable but do appreciate your affection for my writing and yeah I'm right now uncomfortable so won't especially as my personal life weirdly involves a girl who dumped a bad boy for me (the good guy), and my work involves dealing with this stuff right now hahaha.
I'll get better. It'll hopefully be all cleared up before this week is over, though some things have left permanent emotional and spiritual scars.
That said, I think you've hit upon an important device issue, and major theme in literature one I've not addressed, and should very much like to. Arguably it is a major one, and I'm thinking I'll start doing research on it when the dust has settled how's that?
Sounds good, 😊
Thanks for the patience, I really do love to cater to my readers so I feel kind of bad saying ‘please wait’.
Hey it’s 4:30 in the morning, what are you doing up !?! 😂🌛
I’m usually up at 3;30 am some times 3 am.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the few films (especially in recent history) to have pretty much done everything right. I thought the 2nd and 3rd films were a bit forced (plot wise at least; also hated the way the third one ended though they did fix that with the last film), but loved the 4th and 5th ones almost as much as the 1st. Alas though, if they go ahead with the 6th I fully expect it to be a flop without Johnny Depp in it. Maybe if the character were to be given a proper send-off and a smooth transition to a new cast of characters (even Star trek did that with having a familiar face from the previous incarnation of the franchise help introduce the new one and doing the same again when the moves switched from TOS to TNG and even the reboot), but, without one, I don't think it stands much of a chance.
I do agree, I may not have liked the 5th one and hate the idea of a 6th one, but the 1st and 4th ones I liked. They felt natural, and good though I do dislike Barbossa being in the 4th one.
But if I treat #4 as a Prequel I think I can stomach his presence. I just think he had a great death in the 1st one and should not have been revived.
#2 & 3 were very much forced and made little sense.
They fell into the trap of trying to carry a single plotline into the 2nd and 3rd films. If they’d gone the ‘interconnected standalone’ route they could have found a way to have a good 2nd and 3rd film instead of the rubbish they gave us. There were some good parts in them, but they just tried to hard to force a continuity between stories that wasn’t needed.
I enjoyed Barbosa’s character so it didn’t bother me too much seeing him revived after his death in the first one, but that was another one of the weak points in the 2nd as I don’t think they ever really explained how he’d been revived.
I liked the way the 5th one corrected the ending everyone hated from the 3rd one. Barbosa dies again in that one too, but with a slight redemptive arc story to it and I liked that.
I hate the idea of Barbossa being revived and redeemed because he’s supposed to be evil incarnate ‘so evil hell itself spat him back out’.
But yeah I do agree with your assessment on the 2nd & 3rd movies.
He wasn't redeemed much though 😂 and largely just for his daughter at the very, very end. But, yeah, I see where you're coming from with that though.
I also don't understand why thematically he should have a daughter, but maybe I'll do a watch-party and write about each one in detail down the road.
I'm sorry but how many years ago?! 😱
I get that
Mediocre work of yours. Prefer your character and scene pieces.
Valid criticism I'll have to oblige.
Ya stuck to your word. Well done! ;-)
Hahaha thanks I try hard to keep my word.
It's weird how this movie works. I could be remembering wrong but I think it was one of the first movies Disney was doing to try to capitalize on their IP. Pretty sure there was a Haunted Mansion movie that came out around the same time and it bombed. Also, and again I could be misremember but I don't remember a big media push for the movie like you'd get with a Marvel movie these days. It's not like it was an indie film that became a hit, but I doubt Disney thought it would be the blockbuster and franchise that it turned out to be.
I think it works because like you said, it's a movie that has a little bit of everything. Adventure, romance, horror, and comedy. And a cast that completely nailed their parts. Like you said, it's not just Jack Sparrow; Will, Barbosa, Norrington, and Elizabeth are all great characters as well with their own stories and arcs, they're not just there to react to Jack. If Jack Sparrow was a more serious character it wouldn't work. Or if they made him too slapstick it wouldn't have worked either. I always thought of the character as Keith Richards (obviously) meets Kramer from Seinfeld. I should watch it again, it's been a while.
Haunted Mansion I believe came out around 98, though you raise a good point, I honestly had plans for an essay down the road comparing the two, in order to explain why one failed and the other succeeded but you explained the business aspect quite well and how Disney likely did indeed expect to fail. I wonder if Pirates was meant to be a tax write-off or something at the start.
But it does work quite well exactly because everything is just perfectly placed, acted and produced. To put it lightly this movie is really fascinating, as it mixes so many different ideas, themes, notions and such and just makes every single one of them work.
I went back and checked because I wasn't sure, both Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean came out in 03. I would definitely be interested in reading your thoughts on why one succeeded and one failed. I'm pretty sure the Haunted Mansion movie that came out last year was also a dud. Maybe Disney would leave that one alone.
According to Wikipedia, there is a Haunted Mansion movie that came out in 1998, but it's a Hong Kong horror movie and just based on the DVD cover, it looks creepy as hell.
Ah ok so I got the date mixed up with the HK one, ouch on my part. Silly error, anyways I will definitely re-watch the movie (its been about 20 years) and write an article comparing the two. Could prove interesting.
I’m definitely planning though, writing an article analyzing Will Turner and Norington from the og film (love those two).
Pirates of the Caribbean was an excellent film franchise. The best in storytelling! 🏴☠️♥️ @The Brothers Krynn
Very true! Love this one and the fourth one.
Above all else though it was genuine good fun.
There's still fun to be found in many a place and time, but given how evil the house of mouse was and is, it's no great pity that a film like that first one is far beyond the reach of their current ability to create.
It is interesting however, that people will happily have more of the same, but be it book, film or video game delivering more of the same has only been accomplished by a few people like Brian Jacques.
Some people talk of people getting tired of sequels, but it is when the formula is betrayed is when problems really start to crop up.
You can write a bounty hunters claiming targets till the cows become burgers, detectives solving cases till a city is depopulated and magical girls defeating the monster of the week till the moon falls, but when you try to do something else, it's dangerous, difficult and often doomed.
To try for a ‘different’ thing each sequel is especially hard, even in a healthy corporate environment, nevermind a sickly one.
There's a lot to be said for reaching for the sun, and a lot for recognising your wings are bound with wax.
Very well said on every front, I do think the House of Mouse is sick, and always had an infection buried within since the passing of Walt, Ronald and the 9 Old Men.
But yeah this movie was good simple fun, but also adventure, beauty and had a tragedy in there about the nature of evil.
Indeed, it is when they decide they are too clever for us simple peons and begin to subvert and deconstruct, when the winning formula is ruined and there is no more fun. Then... well... then us the stupid peons, the audience, we become guilty for their own folly and are labeled racists, nathzees, etc etc. Which is why they will go the way of the dodo and soon.
Fully agree, and dammit Wednesday cannot come soon enough, I enjoyed our last chat way too much hahahaha.
It will be glorious :D
Tres vrai
All entertainers would do well to never forget, people can and will just leave.
Brands and franchises lose charm far faster than suits want to believe.
Agreed
Brands die when suits take them over.
Well put, so it was with Disney’s animation department in the 70s which is why Don left, then when the suits got out of the way in 89, he cheered but then got bought out by the suits at Fox in the 90s and they then ran his animation studio into the ground and fired him and chased him out of the animation industry which pretty much died not long after.
So it is with most other brands. But the trouble is brands themselves. The minute something like art becomes a brand it immediately stops being about beauty and fun and art, and it becomes dead.
The paradox is that an orthodox brand needs a standard of quality, of artistry to be behind the trust the brand symbolises, but alas, Apple is proof that you can keep a brand going through a very different kind of art.
The art of the con.
At least that enchantment is fading, for all the spin in world can only last so long. Jobs is dead after all.
It's harder to con with vegetables or stories than consumer electronics though.
Very well put
Spot on, mon ami! The sad part is that most people fail to see that the suits, as we call them, are parasites, plain and simple. Utterly incapable of creating anything of worth, they fail to even manage an IP and always run it into the ground. As one of the richest men I knew said:
“The ability to grift does not make you superior.”
Agreed especially on that quote hehehehe
Undoubtedly, but just as an obsession with profit kills, so too an obsession with propagandizing, so as surely as the heartless robber baron suits murder the golden goose, those who wish to torture us for our own good torment too that glorious golden goose.
Very well put and very well observed.
Suits think that art is a product, a pencil to be hawked for cracked coins on the side of the street. This is by far one of their greatest folly, and why they always destroy everything they touch.
True enough