DVD Reviews

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (Two-Disc Blu-ray / DVD Combo) – Blu-ray Review

By Jeff Swindoll Oct 17, 2011, 14:45 GMT

From Disney and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer comes 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 ...more

Captain Jack is back.  Some critics didn’t much care for his latest adventure, but I had such a good time that I can give the film some slack.  However, if you’re looking for special features you may want to consider the other set.

Captain Jack Sparrow is about to be hung.  He’s hooded and paraded before the court, but when the cover is removed its first mate Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally), but the court believes him to be the infamous Sparrow.  He proclaims it’s a case of mistaken identity but the judge will hear none of it, but thanks to a bit of business he is spared the gallows.

Actually, it’s the real Captain Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) machinations that free Gibbs.  Jack isn’t still too long as a legion of soldiers chases him down. 

When he is caught, he’s brought before King George II (Richard Griffiths) who wants Jack to go on an expedition to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish do. He even offers Jack the service of Privateer Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who is now missing a leg and serving King George, as leader of the expedition.  There’s room for only one Captain so Jack escapes. 

He has other business as he has heard rumor that Captain Jack is putting together a crew, but the problem is that Jack knows nothing of it and wants to find out who is impersonating him.  After a quick run-in and warning from his father Captain Teague (Keith Richards), Sparrow discovers that Angelica (Penelope Cruz) is the one behind the charade before he is shanghaied.

He awakens on the Queen Anne’s Revenge and Angelica claims that she is Blackbeard’s daughter, they’re after the Fountain, but no one has seen the much feared scourge of the seas onboard.  Jack stages a mutiny only to discover that Blackbeard (Ian McShane) is truly aboard, has devilish voodoo powers, and is not amused to have been roused from his cabin. 

The quest is on for a mermaid’s tear and Ponce De Leon’s silver chalices to get eternal life, but now Jack has to figure out a way to shed himself of the most feared pirate to ever sail the seven seas. 

Much was expected of the return of Johnny Depp’s booty producing pirate.  The film opened to critical disappointment and it made lots of money, but somehow seemed to fall below the expectations that it was expected to produce. 

I don’t think we can label the film a flop by no means as it wrangled over 1 billion out of the pockets of moviegoers in the final reckoning, but it seemed more successful overseas.  Argh, as they say.

The film is certainly flawed, but I found it a fun return for Depp and some of the old crew.  The film takes its cues from the novel by Tim Powers but it has been adjusted to fit with Sparrow.

Depp has certainly honed the character over the first three movies and it’s a delight to see him boozily traipse through the film.  The company also wisely has the return of Rush’s surly Barbossa who steals every scene he’s allowed to chew on.  They also add a busty Cruz as the love interest and we can tell that she’s having a ball bouncing off Sparrow.  Also having a good time and scene stealing is the delightful McShane. 

We know that a not-so-distance relation set up a saloon in a Western boomtown but McShane knows how to make a memorable performance.  The screenplay seems a bit of a jumble (not sure how Power’s paced it, that book is on my “need to finally read” list) and the romance between a missionary and a mermaid seems to be too forced although the actors in those parts try well. 

However, I was having so good a time that I happily forgave the problems (repeat viewings might not have the same amount of forgiveness).

On Stranger Tides is presented in a fetching 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1).  Special features are in high definition, but feel very light.  They include a commentary with executive producer John DeLuca and director Rob Marshall, 5 minutes of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean adventures, 3 minutes of bloopers, and the Disney Second Screen that syncs up your PC or iPad with the film and provide extras.  Disc two is a DVD copy of the film.  If you want more special features, including deleted scenes, you’ll have to get the set that includes the 3D version too. 

I greatly enjoyed Depp’s latest Pirates adventure and hope there’s more wind in the series’ sails.  There are some great and grand performances and they seemed to be having the same amount of fun I was experiencing.  I’m a bit disappointed that much of the special features are on the set that I didn’t get, but you can’t win them all.

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