EntertainmentMoviesFantasy MoviesIs it just me, or did blockbusters peak with Pirates of the Caribbean?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
EntertainmentMoviesFantasy MoviesIs it just me, or did blockbusters peak with Pirates of the Caribbean?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
In the summer of 2003, director Gore Verbinski released his, uh, theme-park-ride tie-in,Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. With the box-office shipwreck that was Cutthroat Island (1995) still fresh in the memory, expectations were modest. A live-actionDisneyfilm based on a park ride? That didn’t exactly work out for Tower of Terror (1997) or The Country Bears (2002).
Meanwhile, sympathetic stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley made an endearingly earnest contrast to Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush’s wildly enjoyable scenery-chewing. Undead pirates, swashbuckling sword fights, bombastic boat battles, sizzling chemistry… The Curse of the Black Pearl truly had everything.
Two sequels (2006’s Dead Man’s Chest, 2007’s At World’s End) capitalised on its success, upping the scale (and budget) while keeping the sumptuous on-location photography and intricate world-building. Davy Jones became a villain for the ages, with Bill Nighy delivering a searing motion-capture performance that wouldn’t be matched until Josh Brolin rampaged through 2018’sAvengers: Infinity War.
Further follow-ups in2011and2017may have tarnished the brand, but the core trilogy still stands as a monument to unbridled directorial vision that now seems unrepeatable. Auteur-led successes such asMad Max: Fury Road, Villeneuve’s Dune films and the Cruise-controlled Mission: Impossible franchise have kept the flame alight but, in a post-MCU/DCEU/Disney-era Star Wars world, the landscape of blockbuster cinema is strewn with the flotsam and jetsam of heinous visuals (pay your VFX artists!) and a profound lack of risk-taking.
It took 20 years for the blockbuster to genuinely surprise again… this time witha film based on a plastic doll, rather than an on-the-rails boat ride. But the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, especially Black Pearl, remains the pinnacle of tent-pole cinema, yet to be bettered. Or is it just me?
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
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Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”