Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl – Blu-ray Disc

June 7, 2007 – 12:57 PM - Posted by: Justin Sluss

– The Movie Itself (has an average rating of 8.0 on IMDb)
– Video Quality (1080p in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50gb disc)
– Audio Quality (in PCM 5.1 @ 6.9Mbps & Dolby Digital 5.1)
– Bonus Materials (are the real “pearl” here. very cool!)
–
– 2003
– 143 minutes
– Disney (Buena Vista)

Buy it for $19.99 @ Amazon.com

The Movie Itself is one that leaves you wondering, “who doesn’t love pirates?” Apparently the answer is no one as these films have become a huge success since this one graced the screen up until now with the release of the third film “At World’s End.” This film primarily stars Johnny Depp (as Captain Jack Sparrow), Orlando Bloom (as Will Turner), Keira Knightley (as Elizabeth Swann) and Geoffrey Rush (as Captain Barbossa).

The film starts us out with Elizabeth at a young age singing the infamous and appropriate “A pirates life for me” on board a British Royal Naval ship with her father Governor Swann (played Johnathon Pryce). She soon spots a boy floating in the water from the wreckage of a nearby ship. The boy is brought on board and she discovers a pirate medallion around his neck, which she holds on to so as to not bring any questions to the boy’s origin. That boy, Will Turner goes onto become a childhood friend to Elizabeth and the local blacksmith. Next we soon get to meet (with a hilarious introduction, I might add) the biggest star of this film, Captain Jack Sparrow as he makes his way to shore in an unconventional manner. Jack Sparrow starts off appearing to not only the British Navy but also the audience as “one bad pirate.” I say “bad” in no means of slang, he appears to be probably the worst pirate ever and a complete nut in the first half hour of the film.

But needless to say Captain Jack Sparrow proves to be a really cool “anti-hero” in ways in this film after the introduction. I’d also like to say this movie has a great sense of humor to it comedy wise. Not only with Jack but also Will and Elizabeth at times have some pretty witty lines in the dialog. Geoffrey Rush proves to be a great villain in this film as Captain Barbossa. It’s also nice to see Jonathon Pryce in this film, another well accomplished British actor. I think not only did Jerry Bruckheimer (as Producer of this film and the entire franchise) really cash in on this film (and films) but in the same time made a really cool film franchise based on what was originally nothing more than a ride at Walt Disney Land obviously titled “Pirates of Caribbean.”

I’d like to state for record that unlike the majority of people out there who have reviewed this Blu-ray that I had never seen this film prior to watching it in High Definition. I think this offers a great example of how well of master like quality this is, almost as good as seeing it in the best commercial theater. Which leads me to my next part of this review…

Video Quality on this release is in AVC MPEG-4 on a 50 gigabyte Dual-Layer Blu-ray Disc. This is nothing short of spectacular. This is easily the best video quality on a Blu-ray Disc release yet. I honestly almost think at times this video transfer could be better than “The Matrix Trilogy“. Which I think most everyone already knows is the real competition on the rival format HD DVD to these films on Blu-ray Disc. Keep in mind that “Pirates” does have a 50gb Blu-ray Disc to work with where HD DVD release of “The Matrix Trilogy” is currently limited to a 30gb disc (per film). But that’s beside the point. The point is that this film offers loads of beautiful imagery and I’m not just talking about Keira Knightley. The views at sea in the opening cinematic make for absolute “eye candy” at it’s finest. The major action scenes like the sword fight between Jack and Will when they first meet are amazing examples of how great this really looks in High Definition. In fact apparently I’m not the only one who believes so, Disney (Buena Vista) included that scene in the “Spotlight Showcase” feature in the bonus materials where they show the most “High Def” worthy scenes from a film on their Blu-ray Disc releases. That scene also offers great sound with the swords clashing and makes a good transition into my next part of this review…

Audio Quality on this release is in Uncompressed Linear PCM 5.1 @ 6.9Mbps as well as standard Dolby Digital 5.1. The sounds of sword fights, crashing waves of the ocean, cannons firing and explosions have never sounded more lifelike. You’ve never heard “Pirates of the Caribbean” like this on your home theater, that is until now. The beautiful musical score to the film has such a great mix throughout all six channels. This really helps to present the more dramatic scenes in the film but also leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat, especially in action sequences.

Overall the audio quality on this release just like the video quality is as I said earlier, “nothing short of spectacular.” I’ve always been amazed in the past by (and at times prefer) Uncompressed Linear PCM 5.1 mixes but this one is easily the best I think I’ve heard to date.

Bonus Materials first off include the first computer animated host to a menu on a High Def disc release, Jolly Roger. He’s nothing more than a skeleton but he really offers some funny and cool feedback as you navigate your way through the menus. Next is the real “pearl” I referred to. It comes in the form of BD-Java (short for Blu-ray Disc Java, developed by Panasonic Hollywood Laboratory). This honestly is the best use of BD-Java yet on a release. This can be found in a bonus feature called “Scoundrels of the Seas: Piecing Together the Treasured Past of Pirates.” This feature allows you to watch the film and get the opportunity to “bank” items that pop up along with fun facts about piracy and such as well as the British Royal Navy in this time period. After (or anytime actually) you have “banked” items from the feature you can view your very own documentary that you’ve created. Or you can just opt to watch all of these “bankable” items at once in the full form of a less personalized documentary. This aside from three commentary tracks (from everyone in the cast to producers to even the screenwriters) is the only bonus material included on the first Blu-ray Disc of this Special 2 Blu-ray Disc set.

The next disc is a Single-Layer 25gb Blu-ray Disc packed full of standard definition bonus materials. In fact there’s nearly 13 HOURS of features here. This is sure to keep hardcore fans of this film busy for days upon end. There’s all the original bonus features from the different DVD releases of this film ported over in standard definition. Including deleted and alternate scenes, a “making of” featurette, blooper reel, Jerry Bruckhemier‘s production diary, easter eggs and an image gallery just to name off some of the stuff found here. The “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” feature shows some great old footage of the original design of the ride itself hosted by the late Walt Disney and also footage of the ride at launch. There’s so much to offer on this 2nd disc I could go on for hours like it but instead I’ll just say this is by far one awesome set of bonus materials. Especially to be bonus materials for just one film.

— Review written by Justin Sluss

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