Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me! "Pirates Of The Caribbean," one of Disneyland's most beloved attractions comes to life in this motion picture starring Johnny Depp as the goofy and lovable pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. When bad pirate Captain Barbossa (Rush) kidnaps the Governor's (Pryce) daughter Elizabeth (Knightley), her blacksmith friend Will Turner (Bloom) enlists Captain Jack's help to save his true love. It seems that Barbossa has dragged Elizabeth along to undo The Curse Of The Black Pearl but unbeknownst to him, Elizabeth doesn't hold the key—Will Turner does! Based on Walt Disney's "Pirates Of The Caribbean" (and sure to make you smile a time or two when you recognize some of the theme park's famous scenes). (Tricia Littrell)

Special features on Disc One include "Scoundrels Of The Sea," which are pop-up facts while viewing the film; a movie showcase; and the same three commentary tracks found on the DVDs reviewed in Issues 79 and 92: one with Director Gore Verbinski and Actor Johnny Depp, the second with Actors Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport, and the last with Screenwriters Stuart Beattie, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, and Jay Wolpert. The special features on Disc Two are the same as on the DVD reviewed in Issue 92 and include the 38-minute chaptered making-of featurette "An Epic At Sea," which includes introductions to the actors; highlights on locations, production design, make-up, the ships, and stunts; a look at the visual effects; and premiere footage. Fly On The Set gives you a glimpse at filming five Pirates Of The Caribbean scenes (Town Attack, Tortuga, Blacksmith Shop, The Cave, and Jacks Hanging). There are three diaries: the four-minute producer's (Jerry Bruckheimer) photo diary; the 10-minute diary of a pirate (by Lee Arenberg, Pintel); and the fascinating 11-minute diary of a ship, which follows the Brig Lady Washington from Long Beach past Mexico and through the Panama Canal to the Caribbean Island of St. Vincent. Select the Below Deck menu to face an extensive interactive history of pirates. Pirates In The Parks is a selection that takes you to an 18-minute vintage look at Disneyland's premiere of New Orleans Square and the "imagineering" of the Pirates Of The Caribbean ride and show. There is also a three-minute blooper reel, 19 deleted or alternate scenes, a seven-minute scene progression (concept to completion) of the "Moonlight Serenade," and extensive image galleries (inspiration, concept art, storyboards, costumes, production, and publicity). There is also a seven-minute Becoming Captain Jack featurette, with Johnny Depp; a six-minute Becoming Barbossa segment with Geoffrey Rush, a six-minute Thar She Blows special effects highlight; More "Fly On The Set" featurettes, which go behind the scenes of The Dock, The Tavern, and The Plank; a five-minute visit with a star you may not know—Levi—in The Monkey's Name Is Jack; a four-minute previsualization animatic on the sneak attack; a four-minute sample of Pirates Of The Caribbean in 14 different languages; a seven-minute Spirit Of The Ride featurette; and a 14-minute Dead Men Tell No Tales highlight on Walt Disney's vision for Pirates Of The Caribbean.

he H.264 AVC-encoded 2.40:1 Blu-ray Disc looks superb, with deep blacks and well-rendered shadow delineation. Combining this with the well-balanced contrast creates impressive depth to the image, and image detail is fantastic. Colors are bold and vibrant, and the fleshtones look accurate. This is a very enjoyable image overall. (Danny Richelieu)

The uncompressed 24-bit, 48 kHz linear PCM 5.1-channel soundtrack is fantastic, with very good dynamic range and superb fidelity. There are instances when the dialogue can sound slightly thin, but not consistently throughout. The mix is quite enjoyable, with each of the channels incorporated well, and deep bass is presented in each of the channels. (Danny Richelieu)