Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was our first film introduction to the notorious Captain Jack Sparrow, a role Johnny Depp seems to have been born to play. The rogue captain regularly gets slapped by women and is despised by men, generally because he has stolen something from them. But he is a handsome devil, if a bit crazy. Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the daughter of the Governor of Port Royale, is vacillating on whether to marry Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport) or to follow her heart and be with Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a boy she once rescued from the drifting wreckage of a ship and protected his identity as a pirate by stealing the gold coin medallion he wore 'round his neck.
A fateful day finds the coin hitting the waters of the ocean and alerting the ghost pirates who seek it, led by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) on Jack's ship, the Black Pearl. Elizabeth is spirited away by them and Will must seek her return by springing the scoundrel Jack from prison, thus sealing his own fate as a fugitive. The two must work together to find the Pearl, return the cursed coin to the Isla de Muerta and free the ghost pirates of their worldly shackles. Since when do things go as planned?
In Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest, having finally settled up with the cursed Aztec gold and made the former ghost pirates mortal again, Will and Elizabeth are free to be happily married. That is, until the evil Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander), head of the East India Trading Company, intervenes by arresting the pair for their involvement with Jack Sparrow. Both are jailed, however Elizabeth escapes and eventually finds herself in a desperate attempt to save Will Turner, the man she loves, since Jack managed to trick Will into taking his place on the Flying Dutchman with Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) and crew. Davy Jones keeps his heart locked away in a chest to prevent it from being once more broken by the woman who did him wrong. But if Sparrow can get to the heart, he can be free from Jones. Meanwhile, Beckett also seeks the heart so that he can control the seas. It is here that we are introduced to not only Davy Jones and his barnacled crew, but also Will's dad, Bootstrap Bill Turner (Stellan Skarsgard) and Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), the voodoo woman needed to rescue Jack from his fate. Can Jack avoid doom and a date with the Kraken? Can Elizabeth rescue Will or has she fallen for Jack? This movie ends with Jack being swallowed by the Kraken, having been tricked by Elizabeth, and the group seeking his salvation from Tia Dalma, only to be shocked by the reappearance of Captain Barbossa, long since thought dead at the close of the first film.
Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End brings Chow Yun Fat into the story as Captain Sao Fen, one of the nine pirate lords, members of the Brethren Court. It is this group who initially locked away the goddess Calypso, but must release her from her earthy bonds so that she can stop Davy Jones, her once-spurned lover, and Lord Beckett, who now controls Jones' heart and thus, the seas. Since Sparrow finds himself stuck in the insanity that is Davy Jones' locker, Will, Elizabeth, Captain Barbossa, Jack Sparrow's father (Keith Richards), Tia Dalma and the crew of the Pearl must ban together with the pirate lords to rescue Jack, end Beckett's tyrannical rule and finally defeat Davy Jones. There are more twists and turns in this film than either of the previous two films, with betrayal and death at every turn.
The special effects on this collection are stupendous. To be honest, I was a bit afraid that the CGI would be all too obvious, as sometimes happens with hi-def. Aside from one initial scene in the first film, it all looks amazing and quite simply, breathtaking. Surround sound is fantastic with creaking ship boards and snarling pirates enveloping you entirely. Add to that the special features and you have one amazing collection of pirate goodness. There are numerous making-of featurettes, plus games like Liar's Dice and special features like your own personalized pirate history tour in Scoundrels of the Seas. Basically, if you want to know about a facet of Pirates, you'll get it here.
This is the ultimate collector's edition. I can't tell you how much fun it was to watch the movies back to back over the course of three nights. I didn't enjoy Pirates 2 in the theaters because it just seemed like a bridge, but here, flanked by the other two films, it was a real treat. If you have a hi-def home theater system, Pirates of the Caribbean Collection should be amongst the treasures in your collection. Highly recommended.
