Pirates: Dead Mans Chest

[Race Car Driver]

Anyone else watch this? I picked it up last night and really enjoyed it. It was a really fun movie :T Still asked myself... this is a Disney movie?!
Id say pq and sound were very well, I really didn't have the volume up much though, as it was a late night with the lady and we were just chillin on the couch. I have a feeling if I the volume is up the movie might really come to life.
A little long, but good IMO. :T

[Foxman]

Can't say I have seen the DVD, but I did take the family to a rare apperance at the local cinema.

Overall, I liked the movie well enough to see it again, but it was long and not nearly as interesting as the first POTC movie IMO. It isnt a purchase for me, but then again my puchase's have dropped to not more than a handfull a year since I joined Netflix.

I would grade the movie :35: out of :5: overall

[audioqueso]

Bought it yesterday, but didn't get a chance to watch it. I'm actually going to watch it right now while I eat my breakfast. :T

[dyazdani]

I saw it in the theater, but will go buy the DVD tonight most likely. :T

[Chris D]

I saw this on an airplane a few weeks ago. Wasn't bad, a fun rental. But I don't seem to be into the Pirates series like others, so I wouldn't buy it.

[George Bellefontaine]

So happens I watched my copy last night. To be honest, I didn't like it as much as the first one, and Depp seemed to be overdoing the Keith Richards thing this time. Or maybe I was just imagining things. I , too, felt it was a little overlong. But all in all, it was enjoyable.

I'll say one thing, this dvd is recorded with a very high sound level. My amp is usually set at -12 and I had to move it down to -21 or else lose my hearing. And there is some awesome LFE on this baby, too.

[wildfire99]

I picked this DVD up yesterday. Is it just me or does the film seem abnormally dim? I thought my projector was on the blink or something, but switching to other discs shows the usual level of brightness I am accustomed to. Even outdoor shots on Pirates2 seem like an overcast day.

What really ticked me off about this disc though were the commercials. I don't know where the 'menu' button is by default on the remote, but I know by touch where the 'chapter skip' button is. You have to click that what, about 8 times to get to the menu? What the hell! I'm really going to enjoy watching advertisements for 2006 films when I respin this one a few years from now.

I hate Disney, and their greedy little plots with digital media. Whatever happened to Walt?

(Oh yeah, the movie was weak. It's one of the few where I actually was squirming in my seat in the theater wanting it to end. You can tell, even from the pacing and script in the opening 10 minutes, that this movie's only point was to move the story along and hold the characters up a bit more to rake in a new release. Here's hoping "End of the World" makes up for it. I thought Pirates1 was a fantastic film specifically because it didn't seem to have any expectations for itself.)

[George Bellefontaine]

I picked this DVD up yesterday. Is it just me or does the film seem abnormally dim? I thought my projector was on the blink or something, but switching to other discs shows the usual level of brightness I am accustomed to. Even outdoor shots on Pirates2 seem like an overcast day.

What really ticked me off about this disc though were the commercials. I don't know where the 'menu' button is by default on the remote, but I know by touch where the 'chapter skip' button is. You have to click that what, about 8 times to get to the menu?

Yeah the film seemed to be shot in lowlight. It is also a very dark film. If your brightness is set too low you will see no shadow detail whatever. As for the commercials, I too was ticked off at having to hit the skip button so many times. Some will let you go directly to the menu and others won't so you have to use skip.

[Race Car Driver]

I picked this DVD up yesterday..
(Oh yeah, the movie was weak. It's one of the few where I actually was squirming in my seat in the theater wanting it to end. You can tell, even from the pacing and script in the opening 10 minutes, that this movie's only point was to move the story along and hold the characters up a bit more to rake in a new release. Here's hoping "End of the World" makes up for it. I thought Pirates1 was a fantastic film specifically because it didn't seem to have any expectations for itself.)

So you saw it in the theater and just wanted it to end? But then picked up the DVD?

[audioqueso]

So happens I watched my copy last night. To be honest, I didn't like it as much as the first one, and Depp seemed to be overdoing the Keith Richards thing this time.

I forgot to post my comments on the movie. lol
I didn't see it in the theaters. A lot of people had told me that Johnny Depp seemed to have overdone the character. A little too strong or bizzare. However, when I started watching it, I caught something that I think a lot of people missed. He IS suppose to be a little bit more overboard in this movie. The pirates were saying that he hasn't been himself lately, and come to find out, it's because of his fear of this Davy guy.

I found the movie to be a lot of fun. I'm not sure if I liked the first or second one more. The first had more adventure (I think), but the second one seemed more to look forward to (if that makes sense).

On the technical side, I found the PQ and SQ to be very crisp and precise. I don't have a HDTV, so I don't have the darkness issues that George was talking about. My nice RPTV always has great contrast, but no Hi-Def. The movie itself seemed very well processed in regards to PQ and SQ. Very pleased. Overall great fun movie!

[wildfire99]

So you saw it in the theater and just wanted it to end? But then picked up the DVD?

Yep. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, it just needed to be 35 minutes shorter. But yes, you caught me... I actually violated my "No HD--No Sale" rule for this title because a friend wants to see it and I'm not wanting to play waiting games with Netflix.

It ends up actually being a rather good reference title for shadow detail and black level, though the audio doesn't seem as aggressive as the Pirates1 disc.

[wildfire99]

I forgot to post my comments on the movie. lol
I didn't see it in the theaters. A lot of people had told me that Johnny Depp seemed to have overdone the character. A little too strong or bizzare. However, when I started watching it, I caught something that I think a lot of people missed. He IS suppose to be a little bit more overboard in this movie. The pirates were saying that he hasn't been himself lately, and come to find out, it's because of his fear of this Davy guy.

Part of the reason I find this film to be weaker than the first is because of the presentation of the Jack Sparrow character. In the first film, Sparrow was presented as something short of a force of nature, a completely unstoppable free spirit, who lived on his wiles and luck. It's the perfect characterization of a romantic buccaneer.

In the sequel however, Sparrow is portrayed to a high degree as something short of (IMO) a bumbling imbecile, who gets through life on nothing more than chance and reprehensible thievery. Especially towards the end, the Sparrow character seems to go to lengths to attempt to offend the audience with his, well, truly despicable pirate spirit. That's not the way I'd like to see it.

His nemesis, Davy Jones, is almost forgettable. Though we see small glimpses of what should be a masterful tyrant and captain, most of the time Davy is nothing more than an eery yet impotent shadow trailing our heroes. Heck, the best he can do is to summon up a squid to do his dirty work.

In the first film, Captain Barbossa was far more 3-dimensional and menacing.

On the other hand, we do get to see a truly gallant, if human, William Turner, and his equally luminescent fiance. It's almost as if there were three different writing teams on this film who had to compare notes and quilt something together right before filming.

[George Bellefontaine]

I pretty much have to agree with what Patrick said about Jack Sparrow and the storyline of Deadman's Chest. If you actually measure screen time, you'll likely find much more given to the William Turner character, than Sparrow, too.