JoshuaRed

I freakin LOVED it when Davy pulled out his pipe and started puffing and the smoke was coming out of the severed tentacle, or was it a vent of sorts? Anyway it was sweet.

You're right Mad Jack, and we have to look at the franchise that way. I mean c'mon..they sure ain't "pirate" movies. So far we have about 5+ hours of movie time between part 1 & 2 with not a single act of traditional piracy. (By which I mean the robbing of a merchant ship) And did anyone notice that in DMC there was not even a single shot of a black flag? (unless I'm mistaken)

See, people? SEE? Thanks Desert Pyrate, I KNEW something was rotten with this show. When the HISTORY Channel stops caring, there's a problem. I tried to keep watching this show last night, but the sight of "Henry Morgan" wearing an 18th century outfit was the deal-breaker for me. The History Channel might argue "who cares, people think that is what pirates looked like, so that's what we're showing"....but this particular offense is SO much of a stretch that it literally would be akin to the History Channel doing a Revolutionary War show and allowing reenactors to wear Civil War uniforms. Same stretch of time difference. Pathetic.

True! I loved when Jack went "hat shopping" in Tortuga. Classic.

I've got it tivoed and am still working my through it. It's no better or worse than any other mainstream low-budget "documentary of pirates" type thing. I'm enjoying it because it's about pirates, as I enjoy almost anything about pirates...even Bob Hope playing pirate. With that said, I think that a once-respected brand such as the History Channel, with the big imposing red H as the logo should strive to do a little better. Small efforts can make a big difference in the integrity dept. and don't cost that much more. Little things like realizing it might not be a good idea to use tricorn/cocked hats & redcoat uniforms during the mid 17th Century Henry Morgan sequence. Or foregoing the skull n' crossbones bandanas and hoop earrings. If armchair weekend warriors like us can know these things, surely The History Channel can, and should. This was honestly more of what I'd expect from the Travel Channel or something. Look at Deadwood...proof positive that the public has a voracious appetite for some stank on their history and will not change the channel just because it's not really about cowboys having gunfights and chasing Indians around the desert.

Who do you think Chow Yun Fat's Chinese Pirates are? Here's ANOTHER one: In Empire, the movie opens with Han rescuing Luke from a monster on Hoth, which serves as a way to bring them together. In DMC, we see Will rescuing Jack from monsters on the island, which serves as a way to bring them together. (Although techically Will isn't rescuing Jack, but it's the same ball o' yarn, ya know?)

Black John, great point about Barbossa/Lando. Here's even more: Tia Dalma and Yoda both live in swamps. Both have deep connections in the past with the bad guy. Yoda with Annakin, Tia with Davy. The only spot I can't quite figure is Norrington, but I'm guessing he could be Boba Fett? I haven't seen Empire in some time, so I'm kinda fuzzy on it, but didn't Boba freelance for both the Empire and Jabba? And he was sort of responsible for Han succumbing to Jabba's debt, just as Norrington was for Jack succumbing to Davy Jones' debt. And now we see Norrington freelancing for the EIC to further his own gain. Unless it's all part of Norrington's longterm plan to bring the EIC down from the inside, save Jack and become a hero.

Oh cool! Thanks for the tip Bess. They needed to linger on that shot just a half a second or so longer. I *thought* I was seeing something potentially important, but it passed by so fast. And Sir Eric, you are SPOT ON. GREAT post mate. That's what I was getting at, about the archetypes. I wasn't insinuating that Pirates copied Empire, but rather that the usual suspects of iconic literary character types are alive and well. It just happens to align very well with Empire in this case, and is fun to ponder.

Weird -- Jack Sparrow = Han Solo, the reckless pirate & scoundrel Gibbs = Chewbacca, the loyal, reliable first mate Will = Luke, the noble hero Bootstrap = Darth Vader. Father of the hero who fell into the dark side and is imprisoned forever. Liz = Leia, the noblewoman with spunk who is more than she lets on Davy Jones = Jabba The Hut. Han was on the run to try and repay a debt to Jabba, but got frozen in carbonite. Jack was on the run to try and repay Davy, got eaten by the Kraken. Beckett/E.I.C. = The Empire. Bent on domination by corruption & force. Pintel & Ragetti = R2 and C3PO. They just get sucked along for the ride, and are an ever present factor no matter which side they are currently stuck with. Tia Dalma = Yoda, the presence of spiritual guidance & wisdom. No wonder DMC is the coolest sequel since Empire...it follows their recipe for success!

Saw the movie tonight...loved it! Gawd what a friggin' BLAST! Sure it's over the top and absurd, but I can't recall ever having so much fun just enjoying a movie for the sake of enjoying it, ya know? ***Spoilers Below*** Where to begin! So many GREAT lines, so many great scenes. Here's something cool -- when Jack's face popped up thru the coffin in the beginning...the theater erupted with applause and cheers. I have never seen a film in all my years where a beloved character gets honest-to-goodness applause in the beginning! Everyone in the theater was having a blast the whole time. It was really fun having the whole crew back, with Gibbs, Pintel, Ragetti...what a terrific supporting cast. Gibbs' superstitions just slay me. Especially when he first saw Jack's black spot in Tia Dalma's shack, and did that little spin around dance thing, which Pintel & Ragetti immediately repeated. Davy Jones was a great character...loved his accent combined with the slurpy squid noises, especially that *pop* noise. It'll take a couple more viewings to pick up the details, but another one I loved was in Tortuga when Norrington says his story is the same as Gibbs, just a chapter behind, then 2 minutes later he gets tossed into the same pigpen that Jack finds Gibbs in back in Part 1. The visual effects on the Dutchman's crew were so impressive. It took real guts to show them strutting around in broad daylight, but they pulled it off without a hitch. The whole looney tune sequence of the pirates escaping from the Pelegostos had the theater in stitches. Especially when they were swinging the bone-ball cages back n' forth trying to reach the cliff. Somewhere Tex Avery is looking down on this with Doug Fairbanks, Errol Flynn and Burt Lancaster, and they are laughing their disembodied a$$es off. Same with the wheel sword fight too. My personal favorite was when Elizabeth begins desperately chucking rocks at the boys to get them to stop fighting on the beach. Will's tribute to Doug Fairbanks in the Black Pirate was cool. Bootstrap was cool. Tia Dalma was cool. Barbossa's return was REALLY cool. Cool cool cool! It was great to hear the score remain faithful to the original Badelt themes but expand on them. The addition of the organ during the Dutchman & Kraken scenes was AWESOME. Overall this was one of the most effective sequels I've ever seen...definitely the best since Empire Strikes Back, imo. Speaking of which, there are some INTERESTING parallels to Empire. Space Pirate Han Solo/Frozen in Carbonite/Friends must rescue him in Part 3...Sea Pirate Jack Sparrow/Embedded in Kraken Belly/Friends must rescue him in Part 3...and look at the similarities of the Empire to the EIC. Just two big questions remain for me: How the hell did Pintel & Ragetti get the Pearl afloat and turned around EVEN with the world's most perfect tide helping them and nary an anchor spring in sight? And how on earth does a lead musket ball suddenly gain incindiary properties so that it can instantly ignite a barrel of powder? Although I forget too quickly that in Bruckheimer land, ANY inanimate object can blow up at a moment's notice. Many more thoughts/observations to come...

Well, good. Glad it's not going to ruin the experience for you. I hope you enjoy the movie. I will especially enjoy it, now that I know I have a little goodie to look forward to after the credits!

I still don't see how that is akin to a spoiler. It's not as if they said exactly WHAT or WHO is shown after the credits. And it sounds like you are someone who takes this movie-watching thing seriously enough to stick around thru credits anyway. So if you DID sit through all the credits and there was nothing there, you'd feel as though you'd wasted your time learning who all the Grips were in the crew. At least now you know it will be time well spent. I'd call it more of a "Friendly Tip" than a Spoiler.

Here's a trick that I found works wonders --- all those rude annoying people tend to avoid early matinees for some odd reason! I guess it has to do with "the freaks come out at night". Anyway, for years now, we've gone to see our movies at unassuming times like 3pm on a Monday, or Saturday at 11am, etc. It's nearly always half-empty, even on opening weekend, and not a teen in sight. It's cheaper too, and you can usually get an actual parking spot within a half mile of the theater, lol. Our plan is to hit Magic Kingdom tonight and enjoy the ride some more, then catch an early matinee tomorrow for a nice jam-packed Jack Sparrow weekend. Huzzah!

Gee, thanks mate, right back at ya! Ironically, even though it's one of the oldest, it's perhaps the only pirate movie I've seen that really takes it's time showing an entire act of piracy from beginning to end. In the beginning we get to see the pirates chase down the ship that Fairbanks is on, they harass it, shoot at it, board it, loot it, interrogate the crew, transfer goods and booty back to their ship, and ultimately burn her to the waterline. How COOL is that? You'll never see that in any pirate movie these days. Oh and how could I forget the scene where the prisoner swallows the jewel to avoid it being taken by the pirates. The pirate captain sees this, and calmly hands a sharp knife to one of his men and points to the man who swallowed the jewel. The pirate with the knife steps off camera, and a moment later returns, nonchalantly handing the captain a blood-soaked jewel, wipes off his knife and goes back to looting. This movie should be required viewing for pirate enthusiasts! Off-topic, but some good advice: check out "Down To The Sea In Ships" starring the lovely miss Clara Bowe for a TERRIFIC seafaring silent film. Though it's about Nantucket whalers and not pirates, the whaling/seafaring scenes are REAL, not staged, and are some of the most priceless footage you'll ever see. This was filmed back when whalers were still sailing on some of the same shipsor ship types from the heydey of whaling, and using the same methods.

Mr Scabbs I agree completely. I LOVE The Black Pirate. The art direction and muted technicolor are absolute masterpieces. Fairbanks was such a fan of Howard Pyle's pirate art & tales that he sought to recreate it on screen, and as a result, much of the visuals of the film strongly resemble Pyle's work. The fight scenes and looting scenes are great...I wish more people would see it.

Cool! See my thread a little further down for pics of the WDW Jack Sparrow.

Greetings everyone! For anyone interested, I'm posting my review on the POTC Ride Rehab here. If you don't want to know the details, don't scroll down! V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V So this morning we decided to make a brief tactical excursion into the Magic Kingdom at WDW to peruse the enhanced POTC ride. We knew the park would be mobbed, with today being the 4th...but it was worse than mobbed, it was murderous! Luckily we got into the park just as the mid-day parade was going on, so it with some quick maneuvering we ducked the crowds and made a beeline for Adventure Land...coolest spot ever! The first thing that hits you when you enter the Caribbean Plaza is the spiffy new installment of the mast/wreckage. Note the skeleton on lookout up in the crow's nest! The parrot is gone from the entrance, and there are some nicely designed wait time signs hanging up. The queue is so cool now -- they play music from the film score, and they got rid of the annoying turnstiles. There is now a sign over the inner entrance naming the fort "Castillo del morro". The wait time said 30 mins, but it was more like 15 mins, no biggie. As we wound down the queue corridors, I kept hearing this booming sound. I couldn't figure out if it was bass from the POTC score that plays throughout the wait area (mixed with the traditional ride music), or if it was simulated distant cannon fire. Either way it really adds to the atmosphere and builds anticipation. The boats look the same, brown plastic. Now to the good stuff! The ride begins as before, rolling into the dark tunnel. But the music is so cool - it's this perfect mix of the film score and the yo-ho theme. Right when the "Deeaaad men tell no tales" voice comes in, you go through the new Davey Jones waterfall effect. Lemme tell ya, this thing is AWESOME. The most impressive theme park effect I've ever seen. I mean it looks exactly like a real waterfall. Even when you can reach out and touch it, you can feel that it's just fog, but your eyes still tell ya that it IS a waterfall. Davey Jones is basically contradicting the ghostly narrator voice, telling you that "Nay, Dead men DO tell tales.." and he proceeds to segway into telling about how Barbossa laid seige to this town to flush out Sparrow. Then you roll past the skeletons on the desolate beach, and the phantom helmsman, who has new lighting effects. The talking skull has been removed before the waterfall drop. After the drop, the film score comes in heavy, and you roll thru a fog bank to see Barbossa on the ship bombarding the fort. This is where the rehab shines. The cannons are nice and LOUD now, and there are enhanced explosion/impact effects in the water around your boat and on the fort walls. The detail on Barbossa is terrific and we had no trouble understanding his voice, which is unmistakably Rush. He's yelling at the fort that he just wants Sparrow and he'll spare the town. Then you round the corner and see the governor being dunked in the well. I think the pirate in charge of this operation has a new outfit and a silver gray beard. He's also got a bandana instead the hat he used to wear. Just past this, Sparrow makes his first appearance, hiding behind some ladies at the edge of the water. Again, the detail and likeness is stellar, and the movement is amazing. Rolling into the wench auction everything has been noticeably spruced up. The lighting and colors are much brighter. When the one pirate fires his musket, hitting the tin sign..that is really loud and noticeable now. Moving into the burning & looting scene, there are some really cool new fire effects that look like real flames, not just the billowing red silk (though some of that remains). I think they may have a few small gas jets spitting out some real licks of fire here and there. The pirate sitting in front of the barrel inspecting his treasure map with the magnifiying glass is now talking about how if Sparrow wants to find the treasure, he'll have to do it by taking a gander at the map. Right on cue, Sparrow pops out of the barrel behind him and peers over his shoulder at the map. Then we move into the prison scene, which looks the same. But the final scene is the most drastic change of the whole ride. All those drunken pirates rolling around on the ground are gone. The officer tied up to the chair inside is gone too. Now it's a victorious Capn' Jack Sparrow, tilting the chair back at a rackish angle, festooned with gold and jewels! He's holding a mug and talking to the infamous parrot who is sitting on a stack of barrels/chests next to him. The dialogue was awesome, and very easy to hear. Johnny's voice sounds great in there! Sparrow is going on about what a great pirate he is, which actually makes him a bad pirate, and then sings some of the yo-ho song, talks some more about what a waste it is to keep all this treasure locked up in a dark room, sings some more...I was surprised at how long this monologue was. The movement on this particular AA is incredible, the way he leans back in the chair, tilting it up on one leg and swilling his rum. I am very very impressed and happy with the way this rehab turned out. Two hooks up! **Bonus** After finishing the ride we went back out into the Caribbean plaza just in time to catch the Jack Sparrow character greeting. This guy was great! He immediately had a large crowd gather around him, and he proceeded to pick little kids and teach them how to sword fight (which amounted to running away with dignity). The crowd LOVED him, and he had them in stitches. It was so nice have a character interaction with a real living person, and not a mute stuffed suit. The detail on the costuming of him and his cohort was very well done...and here's some pics to prove it! Enjoy! Ahhh, the joy of corrupting young minds...

Hands down, without a question, the undisputed Treasure Island champ is the TNT version from 1990 with Christian Bale and Charlton Heston. In fact it's pretty much the best pirate flick ever made! No joke!

Know what's addictive? The remix of "He's a pirate" from the POTC score, over in the POTC Game Lobby at VMK. Man I can't get that sucker outta my head! Not because it's especially good or anything, but because it's a repeating 30-40 second loop.

It was great for about the first 2 minutes, then it got a little old. But they did a stellar job synching up the clips with the beat!

In the film The Bounty, there is a cool scene with Mel Gibson as Fletcher, getting tattooed by some island beauties. He's perpetually on the verge of passing out from the pain, and mean ol' Capn Bligh reprimands him, demands he put his wool uniform on at once, over the raw tattoo and report to the ship. OUCH!

Woohoo! Only a few more days till our POTC here in Orlando is back open...can't wait!!!

Thanks Bo! Well said. It wasn't until the British navy was regularly visiting the South Pacific in the later years of the 18th and the turn of the 19th C that tattooing even had the beginnings of being a fad. And it wasn't really commonplace until well into the 19th, as Bo said.

Tattooing among European seamen was virtually unheard of until the late 18th century. It just wasn't popular the way we wish it was. In all the period texts I've read, and all the period art I've studied I have yet to find one actual example of a GAOP sailor sporting a typical nautical tattoo. With that said, I do think that it's entirely feasible that Europeans who spent time among indigenous tribes who did tattoo, might well end up doing it to endear themselves to those tribes, but it was FAR from the norm.

I would have to say I definitely agree with your worst and best. Ya nailed it!