Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead.

Director:

Gore Verbinski

Writers:

Ted Elliott (screen story), Terry Rossio (screen story)

Stars:

Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom

Top Rated Movies #250 | Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 38 wins & 98 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johnny Depp	...	Jack Sparrow
Geoffrey Rush	...	Barbossa
Orlando Bloom	...	Will Turner
Keira Knightley	...	Elizabeth Swann
Jack Davenport	...	Norrington
Jonathan Pryce	...	Governor Weatherby Swann
Lee Arenberg	...	Pintel
Mackenzie Crook	...	Ragetti
Damian O'Hare	...	Lt. Gillette
Giles New	...	Murtogg
Angus Barnett	...	Mullroy
David Bailie	...	Cotton
Michael Berry Jr.	...	Twigg
Isaac C. Singleton Jr.	...	Bo'sun
Kevin McNally	...	Joshamee Gibbs (as Kevin R. McNally)

Storyline

This swash-buckling tale follows the quest of Captain Jack Sparrow, a savvy pirate, and Will Turner, a resourceful blacksmith, as they search for Elizabeth Swann. Elizabeth, the daughter of the governor and the love of Will's life, has been kidnapped by the feared Captain Barbossa. Little do they know, but the fierce and clever Barbossa has been cursed. He, along with his large crew, are under an ancient curse, doomed for eternity to neither live, nor die. That is, unless a blood sacrifice is made.

---

Plot Keywords:

curse | undead | pirate | governor | caribbean | 

---

Taglines:

Prepare to be blown out of the water.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for action/adventure violence

Details

Official Sites:

Cascade Film [Russia] Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 July 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

P.O.T.C.

Filming Locations:

Bequia, St Vincent and the Grenadines

Box Office

Budget:

$140,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$46,630,690, 13 July 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$305,413,918, 8 January 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$654,264,015, 11 January 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The filming began on Wednesday 9th October 2002 and ended at Friday 7th March 2003.

---

Goofs

Throughout the entire movie we are lead to believe that whoever possesses one of the cursed pieces of gold becomes one of the undead. So the question becomes how come Elizabeth wasn't part of the undead when she possessed one of the pieces of gold all those years? Answer: It's only people that take the gold from the chest directly. Otherwise Will would have also been undead as a boy since his father passed it to him. Jack only became undead towards the end because he took one directly from the chest.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Young Elizabeth: [singing] Yo, ho, yo, ho/ a pirate's life for me/ Yo, ho, yo, ho/ it's a pirate's life for me/drink up me hearties, yo, ho...
Mr. Gibbs: [surprises her by coming up from behind her] Quiet, missy! Cursed pirates sail these waters. You want to call them down on us?
Norrington: [sharply] Mr. Gibbs, that will do!
Mr. Gibbs: She was singing about pirates. Bad luck to sing about pirates, with us mired in this unnatural fog... mark my words!
Norrington: Consider them marked.
Mr. Gibbs: 'Aye, Lieutenant.
[as he moves off]
Mr. Gibbs: Bad luck to have a woman on...

---

Crazy Credits

There is a short scene with the monkey at the end of the credits where he steals a piece of Cortes' gold and becomes a skeleton. He then bites the screen.

---

Alternate Versions

When shown on BBC one the movie has been edited for violence for example when will Turner threw an axe in a pirates back the Impact and the sound of the pirate screaming in agony is removed as well as the part where will Turner removed the axe from the pirates back. All profanity is fully intact in the BBC version.

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Damsels in Distress in Movies (2014)

---

Soundtracks

Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)
Words by Xavier Atencio
Music by George Bruns
Performed by Lucinda Dryzek, Keira Knightley, and Johnny Depp

User Reviews

A Pirate For Our Times

What lifts this film above typical Disney fluff is Johnny Depp's humorous performance as pirate Jack Sparrow, the eccentric, individualistic anti-hero, who confronts other pirates, and outwits a humorless, incompetent bureaucratic establishment. Sparrow looks more like Cher than Johnny Depp, and talks more like William F. Buckley than a pirate. Geoffrey Rush is a worthy foil as the main rival pirate, Barbossa, a character who vaguely resembles Margaret Hamilton in "The Wizard Of Oz".

Most of the plot is silly. There's lots of fighting, shouting, and general mayhem, all accompanied by a frantic score. It's a cinematic slight of hand that conveys an illusion of substance. Still, it's an entertaining popcorn flick.

I'm glad I watched it. Depp's deft performance gives us a memorable character, one that is perhaps unique in cinema history.