The first Pirates of the Caribbean film was the last great adventure/swashbuckling film

[Bor Gullet]

It's tons of fun to watch with the film having just the right tone, Barbosa is a great villain, and Johnny Depp is perfect as Jack Sparrow in this film (the latter sequels would progressively dumb him down).

Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley both do serviceable jobs as well, I was surprised when I found out Knightley was only 17 when she filmed this movie. She looked a lot older.

And who doesn't love the main theme?
https://youtu.be/yRh-dzrI4Z4

It's a shame the pirate sequels became increasingly more bloated, and even this one is a little too long, but it's always entertaining.

 

[robot]

It's a great film, regardless of how you feel about any of the sequels. Now that Johnny Depp's reputation is out of the gutter I wonder if people will re-evaluate the later ones a bit.

It's long as hell, but I enjoyed this video that goes into detail about the nice touches that made the movie great. The movie is a lot smarter than it had any right to be for being based on a dumb theme-park ride.

 

[Nickgia]

You read my mind OP. I was thinking about watching it this weekend.

 

[Khanimus]

I can't hear the main theme and not hear a Gladiator temp track.

 

[Parthenios]

The second one was great too. Not as good but not anything really wrong with it either.

 

[Moppeh]

Great flick. The theme is so infectious, Depp fucking nails it and the film is a ton of fun.

It's a shame none of the other films could reach the same heights. The most recent one is absolutely dreadful.

 

[Deleted member 9399]

+1 for Dead Man's Chest. Davey Jones is a strong enough addition to make up for its shortcomings.

 

[Liquid Plejades]

Davy Jones from that series still blows my mind.

 

[ZeoVGM]

I put Pirates 1 and 2 on the same level. Love them both.

The most recent one was a blast too. I hope people give it another chance in the future.

 

[Moppeh]

+1 for Dead Man's Chest. Davey Jones is a strong enough addition to make up for its shortcomings.

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It's been a while since I've seen it but I recall enjoying it. I bet that CG holds up better than anything else from that year as well. Davey Jones looked fantastic.

 

[Rendering...]

I rewatched this recently. It definitely holds up.

 

[Chivalry]

2 is pretty good, but 1 is a masterpiece.

 

[Starphanluke]

The first three are all masterpieces and I won't hear otherwise.

 

[molnizzle]

It was one of those movies that as soon as it ended you were sad because you missed the characters. Might be the last movie I saw that made me feel that way.

 

[Transistor]

I love the whole trilogy.

Curse of the Black Pearl is a wonderful standalone film and Geoffrey Rush is so god damn good as Barbosa.
Dead Man's Chest is a bit of a mess, but goes in a crazy direction thanks to Bill Nighy taking the series villain to the next level
At World's End is a convoluted mess of confusion and amazingness. The pirate lords meeting, Keith Richards as Jack's pop, the whirlpool fight at the end, the music, the flagship being blown to pieces by the black pearl and the dutchman. So. God. Damn. Good.

I fell asleep during the other two. Really wasted the talents of Javier Bardem and Ian McShane, IMO

 

[etta]

The entire trilogy was fantastic, they don't make them like that anymore.

The writing had wit and character, flowing thick and rich with personality.

 

[Moppeh]

The most recent one was a blast too. I hope people give it another chance in the future.

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Can't say I agree with that one bit. Depp phones it in so hard. Barbossa's STEM daughter is overwritten feminism that is spoon fed in such a ridiculously patronizing manner. The villain sucks. Shoehorning the old characters in doesn't work at all. None of the setpieces really work, or the ones that do are just straight up lifted from other films (the opening heist is just the vault scene from Fast Five).

It's cool that you liked it, though. But boy, I hated watching that in the theater. Just a colossal mistake on my part to sit through the whole thing.

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

I'd argue that more recent than that would be the Prince of Persia movie.

 

[Ryuelli]

1, 2, and 3 are all a lot of fun, even if they do get a bit messy writing-wise the further into the series you get.

I don't know if I've seen any of the ones after. If I do I don't remember them.

 

[ZeoVGM]

Barbossa's STEM daughter is overwritten feminism that is spoon fed in such a patronizing manner.

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Uhhh.

 

[Astandahl]

First one was simply incredible. Jack Sparrow intro was amazing.

 

[Starphanluke]

I love the whole trilogy.

Curse of the Black Pearl is a wonderful standalone film and Geoffrey Rush is so god damn good as Barbosa.
Dead Man's Chest is a bit of a mess, but goes in a crazy direction thanks to Bill Nighy taking the series villain to the next level
At World's End is a convoluted mess of confusion and amazingness. The pirate lords meeting, Keith Richards as Jack's pop, the whirlpool fight at the end, the music, the flagship being blown to pieces by the black pearl and the dutchman. So. God. Damn. Good.

I fell asleep during the other two. Really wasted the talents of Javier Bardem and Ian McShane, IMO

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I will forever maintain that the convoluted aspect of the 3rd is 100% intentional. You have no idea who is actually on whose side, and that's the point. They're pirates. They don't know whose side they're on.

 

[More_Badass]

Raiders / Crusade
Jackie Chan films
Zorro / Mummy
Pirates 1

That's about it for top-tier modern adventure films

 

[El Bombastico]

I can't hear the main theme and not hear a Gladiator temp track.

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I swear Hans Zimmer is the laziest fucking composer out there. I remember reading that for Interstellar, Nolan had to specifically tell him NOT to reuse any of his old ques.

 

[SneakyBadger]

Jack Sparrow elevates the whole thing to another level. The first iteration of him in Curse of the Black Pearl is the greatest blockbuster movie character of all time.

It's the only film besides LoTR that everyone I knew went to watch at the theaters multiple times.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

It was originally a Monkey Island film...

 

[Moppeh]

Uhhh.

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?

It's badly written. It's not like men can't write feminist stories either. Just look at Ibsen. A Doll's House came out 150 years ago. I appreciate the attempt but it's bad.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

First one is so fun.

 

[Deleted member 19533]

The only one that wasn't really good was the 4th, and it was still decent.

 

[TheSkullPrince]

Saw this is theaters when I was 15 I think, absolutely loved it. All the sequels are trash but the 1st Pirates is excellent filmmaking.

I know its an action-adventure movie, but one of my favorite lines is Barbossa's "I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request" line.

 

[mbpm]

Idk valerian was kind of fun

But srsly The black pearl was good

 

[ZeoVGM]

?

It's badly written. It's not like men can't write feminist stories either. Just look at Ibsen. A Doll's House came out 150 years ago. I appreciate the attempt but it's bad.

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I don't agree. I thought it was fine.

"Overwritten feminism" is a questionable thing to say, honestly.

 

[Strangelove_77]

Well there haven't been many since then. Prince of Persia I guess?

But yeah the first one is fantastic. The only big problem I had with it is Will Turner being a really bland character.
2 is half of a good movie and 3....is 3. Not so good. It's kind of how I felt about the Matrix trilogy. They slowly went up their own ass over time.
Never seen the last two though.

 

[MrPink]

I swear Hans Zimmer is the laziest fucking composer out there. I remember reading that for Interstellar, Nolan had to specifically tell him NOT to reuse any of his old ques.

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While Zimmer (and his company) rehashes a ton of themes, In the case of Pirates of the Caribbean, it was because they had like 2-3 weeks to actually compose the music after Alan Silvestri dropped out, so I think it was more out of necessity.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I fucking love the writing in this film. It oozes that fancy pirate prose all charismatic sea bandits in fiction should have. It's music to my ears, and makes me feel like I'm watching a huge budget play instead of a blockbuster movie.

 

[Halbrand]

Dead Man's Chest is really underrated and has aged well I think.

 

[Moppeh]

I don't agree. I thought it was fine.

"Overwritten feminism" is a questionable thing to say, honestly.

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Eh, fair enough. Overwritten was the wrong word, I think. There are moments where it feels overwritten but in reality, it just feels lazy. The character doesn't have much of an identity beyond leaning into the STEM stuff. It's not like my view on this is unique. Lindsay Ellis brings this up in her video essay, using examples from other Disney films.



In an era where women have more and greater opportunities to be heard and represented, I just think Disney can do better. If you think that it was fine, then more power to you but I didn't.

EDIT: Oh, and if you are going to include a character like that, maybe, I dunno, hire a woman to write the script instead of those dudes? Unless those dudes demonstrate they can actual write that sort of character well.

 

[Deleted member 33120]

Raiders / Crusade
Jackie Chan films
Zorro / Mummy
Pirates 1

That's about it for top-tier modern adventure films

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Yep. And the most recent of those is like... 20 years ago. Just depressing.

 

[Lexad]

I am a huge fan of the first three, really original and haven't seen much like it since. 4 was forgettable, I somewhat enjoyed 5

 

[El Bombastico]

Dead Man's Chest is really underrated and has aged well I think.

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Just like Depp saved the first one, Bill Nighy saved the next two sequels from being utter crap.

 

[jett]

I think not.

 

[mikeamizzle]

It is tremendous. Its also streaming in 4K (HDR10) on Disney+.

Edit: master and commander was great, good pick poster above.

 

[Deleted member 16516]

I'd argue that Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is an adventure/swashbuckling film and is far beyond any of the Pirates films. A genuine masterpiece.

 

[Fatoy]

I dearly love that first film.

 

[jett]

I'd argue that Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is an adventure/swashbuckling film and is far beyond any of the Pirates films. A genuine masterpiece.

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[Deleted member 4262]

I like the second one too but the rest is crap. Maybe I'll rewatch it tomorrow.

 

[Kaswa101]

I love some of these films, but the most recent one left a sour taste.

First two are pretty amazing imo. And the third has some great ideas but becomes a bit too messy (sometimes in a good way though lol)

 

[empyrean2k]

Love love love the first film. Has quite a dark tone for a Disney film (starting with a hanging).

 

[Bor Gullet]

I'd argue that Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is an adventure/swashbuckling film and is far beyond any of the Pirates films. A genuine masterpiece.

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I thought this came out before Pirates 1, but looking at wiki it came a few months after.

But same year so yeah.

 

[GamerJM]

How many good "swashbuckling" films are there even? It seems like kind of a niche thing.