From Disney and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer come all the fun, epic adventure and humor that ignited the original. Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. A tale of truth, betrayal, youth, demise -- and mermaids! When Jack crosses paths with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz), he's not sure if it's love, or if she's a ruthless con artist using him to find the fabled Fountain of Youth. Forced aboard the ship of the most feared pirate ever, Jack doesn't know whom to fear more -- Blackbeard (Ian McShane) or the woman from his past. Directed by Rob Marshall, it's filled with eye-popping action, mystery and all-out wit. Complete with a bounty of bonus features, this is one thrilling journey you won't want to end.
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332 of 375 found the following review helpful:
I enjoyed it...May 20, 2011
By Brian Nallick
"METALMANMN"
...and after the sound thrashing the critics gave it, I was not expecting to. No spoilers, I promise.
Is it worth seeing in the theater? Did you enjoy the first three? Then the answer is a resounding yes. I think the critics were expecting more of a rebirth for the franchise and that's not what this movie is. It's called part 4 for a reason lol. It's a definite continuation. It was a little weird not having Orlando and Keira there but the new actors brought a wonderful new dimension to the film that after a few minutes I didn't miss Orlando or Kiera...not that I wouldn't mind seeing them in a future installment. Ian McShane and Penelope Cruz were wonderful and perfect for this film.
So what was good? Pretty much everything. It's a Pirates of the Caribbean movie folks. It's got action, action, and more action. I've heard other complaints that it was paced too slowly. ??? Are you kidding, for a two hour plus movie this flew right by me. The acting was excellent. The score, pacing, cinematography was perfect. A lot of people were turned off by the story line in part 3 and yes, it had it's moments of who's on first, who's on second, who is double crossing who in what scene from the next. "Stranger Tides" does not suffer from this. The story was interesting and enjoyable but not difficult to follow.
What didn't I like? The first half of the movie is VERY heavy on action with little bits of dialog in between the chaos...not enough dialog actually. The second half of the movie cuts back on the action and gives us way more character development and story. The second half was actually much more enjoyable for me as the first half felt a tad unbalanced.
That minor gripe aside..if you loved 1,2 and 3 of the Pirates franchise, you'll enjoy this. Not a rebirth but a darn good continuation of a series I love. The magic has NOT been lost... Funny. A great story. Incredible acting from everyone. Entertaining. Action...lots of it. Can't wait for part 5. Highly recommended.
121 of 146 found the following review helpful:
A Sequel That's Worthy Of The SeriesMay 24, 2011
By Barry
"Barrybgb"
In recent years, we've had franchises return for a fourth installment. Indiana Jones. Die Hard. Rambo. Scream. All of varying worth. Many critics say that these long running franchises returning for a 4th film never live up to the hype or to the series they are a part of. Well, 'Pirates 4' comes along to change all that. It is a sequel, coming 4 years after the last one(which is like 10 years in this generation where last week is old), it is a part 4, and it's wonderful. Critics say otherwise, but this is one movie where the audience has spoken, and they are loving it.
I could go into the story, but why bother? By now, everyone should know that Capt. Jack Sparrow(Johnny Depp)is back, and he is journeying to the famed fountain of youth, along with old foe Barbarossa(the great Geoffrey Rush), evil Pirate Blackbeard(the even better Ian McShane), and old flame Angelica(Penelope Cruz) who may or may not be Blackbeard's daughter. Along the way, our characters run across exciting adventures and scary mermaids.
First of all, people and critics were quite vocal on how the two sequels were too complicated, over-stuffed, and confusing. Thankfully, this latest adventure simplifies the material in a way that harkens back to the wonderful, and now classic, original 2003 film. There is now B and C storylines to dampen down the festivities. Everything is pretty simple and crystal clear and easy to follow along. In fact, the whole movie has such a refreshing air to it, that it really does go back to the original. The immense charm of the original film with Depp's Sparrow and humor is here in full force. The magic is there. The fun time, popcorn blockbuster is there. Part 3 was disappointing and was missing most of this, but it's here in spades with part 4. Also in abundance is the action. Part 3 was so long that the action felt few and far between. Here, there is plenty of action. The movie never slows down and is never boring. Ever. New director Rob Marshall keeps things moving at a fun and brisk pace. It's continuously watchable and gorgeous, like all the others, to look at. It is, without a doubt, the most fun and entertaining movie in the franchise since the first one.
The cast is great. Johnny Depp is these movies. People come to see him in this role and he doesn't disappoint in this one. He seems more alive, lively, refrshed, and as amusing as ever. Elsewhere, you will be wondering "Orlando and Keira who?" You won't miss them. Penelope Cruz holds her own as Angelica. Rush is as great as he always is in the other films. And then there is Ian McShane. He is just cool. Blackbeard is a character to be reckoned with, and McShane is so evil and icy cool, that he owns every scene he is in. There are new characters littered throughout the film, but none of them really bring much. I will say though, that the actrss who plays Serena the mermaid, and I don't remember her name, may be one of the loveliest beauties I have seen on the silver screen in some time.
The critics have not been kind. Some have been downright savage, and I cannot understand why. The audienc I saw it with clapped at the end. "On Stranger Tides" may not be so strange, but it delivers what everyone wants and hopes for in a Pirate's movie. Easily the best of the sequels, the movie is great fun. It has a new zest of life and has a sharp script filled with rousing action, some great dialogue, and some great humor. What more can you ask for? I am a huge fan of the franchise. Part 3 was not what everyone wanted, but "On Stranger Tides" does a great job of steering this mighty franchise back on course. Part 5 cannot come fast enough!
21 of 26 found the following review helpful:
3D Review by a 3D ConnoisseurNov 26, 2011
By Keith Niemeyer My ratings are based mainly on the QUALITY OF THE 3D, not the video content.
Not counting the shallower effects, there are about 64 out of screen effects that extend about 10% of the way, from the screen to the viewer but approximately half of them are very quick. 2 effects made it to 20%, 11 around 25% and 5 more at 30%. The majority of the effects are after the first half hour of the film. Honorable mention effects included swords being thrust through a door (20%) or being pointed towards you (30% 3 times), a boney hand (30%), flakes falling from an explosion (25%), and the grumpy monkey (25%). There is also a real nice 10% sequence involving a water drop.
The 3D in itself is very good but Disney did struggle with scene framing, focusing and lighting, to best benefit a 3D film. I should clarify that the focusing issue is just the blurring of foreground objects to draw the viewers' attention to where the director wants it. This tactic has been used a lot in recent years for normal movies but it is just not conducive to a good 3D viewing experience.
Don't get me wrong, this is a worthy addition to any 3D collection. 3D cartoons are easy to produce but for real life 3D, there is a definite learning curve.
*** Jack and the gang are great in 3D ***
MY 3D RATING = VERY GOOD (poor, fair, good, very good, excellent)
Note: As far as the percentages go, everyone's eyes are different. What I see at 25% you may see at 15% or 35%. To fully realize how far something is out of the screen for you, pause on an effect and direct a partner with an extended finger to the tip of what you are seeing. You may be surprised.
Click on `See all my reviews' for the lowdown on other 3Ds
34 of 44 found the following review helpful:
Not a great movieNov 10, 2011
By Whatsawhizzer On stranger tides follows the continuing story of Jack Sparrow after the end of At World's End. Taking place several years later, after Jack's map lead him to a dead end, he continues the search for the fountain of youth. I could say that the movie was OK, but suffered from several issues that just did not put it on par with any of the previous movies.
The first issue was the antagonist, Blackbeard. Although he had a dramatic intro, after that, his character just waned. He was not intimidating, scary, or even particularly piraty. At no point could they decide what supernatural powers to give him, so they toss him a giant hodgepodge of whatever was convenient at the time. As a result, one minute he has the mystical power to control rope, another moment he can shrink ships into bottles, another moment he can resurrect the dead, no, he can make voodoo dolls, wait, he can control the wind? His ship has... a flamethrower? They claim him to be evil, and spend the entire movie declaring how evil he is... but he doesn't perform a single evil act in the entire movie. He kills a mutineer and captures and leaves to die a vicious mermaid who murders people... that's it. Other than that, for a pirate, he was actually a pretty decent guy.
This leads to the next problem, they make all the other characters "good" so that Blackbeard seems evil in comparison. Pirates and thieves are suddenly altruistic and noble. Blackbeard's evil deed is being the only character in the movie that actually acted like a pirate, and not even a good one. This comes nowhere near the backstabbing, thieving, and traitorousness of the pirates of the first three movies. Suddenly Jack and Barbossa are best chums, this new girl which people keep saying added "much needed sex appeal" looks like a Latino stunt double of Swan. Her motivations, once again, despite being allegedly corrupted in evil, are completely altruistic and unpirate like.
The final issue is how every scene was done. I swear the directors and writers sat down with the scripts of the first three movies and said, what is your favorite scenes from each movie and how can we shove them all into one? Oh, I loved the scene where the Kraken grabs all those people up. Ok, let's have that scene with magical ropes instead. Oh, I love that scene where will and jack fight on the roof planks in the blacksmith shop. Sounds good, let's do that again with jack and that latin girl. How about that scene where Davy Jones pulls out the long cannons. Great! We'll make it a flamethrower instead! What about the scene where Jack escapes the soldiers. Sure, but we'll have him escape from the middle of the estate now! What about the turner/swan love interest. Yeah, we can throw some altruistic guy in their so he can sloppily be corrupted by pirates while falling in love with an "unattainable" woman outside his station.
So yeah. That was the story. We have the antiheroes who have just turned into heroes, the bad guy that is little worse than any of the good guys, "needed" sex appeal that looks no different than the last 3 movies, except latin now. We have almost scene for scene grabs from the original trilogy, more poorly done and in the case of the relationship, was so out of place it could have just been left out.
I give it 3 stars, because it was an OK watch, had it's fun moments with Jack Sparrow, and there was occasionally some witty dialogue or interesting scenes. However, ultimately completely unnecessary and anyone who love the trilogy could completely go without watching this.
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
What's not to LOVE??Sep 29, 2011
By Barbara M. Salle I am a big fan of the Pirates movies and Johnny Depp. The third one was my least fav but have watched it over and over. This movie was fantastic contrary to what the critics said. What is wrong with them??? Maybe they didn't see the same movie?? All the actors were fantastic, the storyline was great and fresh and the humor was at times rib splitting for me. The bed scene with Barbossa, Jack and the skeleton of Ponce de Leon is hysterical. Penelope Cruz did a great job as a pirate both going up against and laying down with our Jack Sparrow!! Lucky girl!! The story was new and different------but still had the same magic of the pirates and some of the old familiar faces and fall backs to the other movies and of course Jack's humor and tricks but added new faces and different locations. I loved it and highly recommend it! Can't wait till #5 comes out!
based on 346 reviews
( 346 customer reviews )
