Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Waters (2011)w/ Spoilers.

[Leah]

Saw Pirates4 this past Sunday.  Liked this one. Better character development than Pirates 2 and 3,  and the storyline didn't wander all over the place.  Kind of lagged some in the middle though.

JACK SPARROW is still a hoot and he seems to have gone a bit heavier on the eyeliner this time.

And ... yes ... there are mermaids.  And you will never quite think about them the same way after seeing this!   

I didn't realize that Mermaids are the equivalent to an aquatic succubus.

[BoyScoutKevin]

I meant to see this Sunday, but I wasn't feeling well that day, so I now plan to see it on Memorial Day.

But, here are the facts so far, as I know them.

Audiences seemingly like it better than the critics. Well, what else is new?

Its foreign opening gross is a new record. Beating the previous record holder "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" by some $20 million. But, if you add the domestic opening gross to the foreign opening gross, then the "Harry Potter" film beats this one by some $48 million.

Both the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series and the "Harry Potter" series seem to appeal to different audiences.

There seems to be few who are neutral about this film. They either love it or hate it. Which makes it hard to get a handle on how good or bad this film is.

And I'll probably have more comments on it, when I--hopefully--see it Monday.

[RD]

I liked the first 2, I honestly don't remember too much about the 3rd.

This one compared to parts 2,3 was scaled down with a much simpler story, get to the fountain of youth. It was a pretty entertaining movie and depp  obviously has a lot of fun playing Jack Sparrow. So if you're looking for a fun time waster it's worth checking out.

[Derf]

I saw this the other day. It's enjoyable. There are some HUGE plot holes/What the? moments, but the overall movie is fun. The Spanish Armada's role puts an interesting twist into the story, and Ian McShane's Blackbeard is nicely understated next to Depp's Sparrow. They make a nice contrast.

[Criswell]

I went in with almost no expectations, but I actually thought it was better than the 2nd and 3rd. It was a fun movie, what more can I say about it?

[venomx]

Watched it. Loved it! The Mermaids and Blackbeard were BOTH really cool.

Sparrow kicked @$$ this time around. He delivered lots of action and trickery.

SPOILERS BELOW...

At the end of movie. From the words of Capt Barbossa: "Tortuga"

So... thats for the next movie. Tortuga? I wonder why?

[BoyScoutKevin]

I finally saw it on Memorial Day Monday, and these are my thoughts on it.

If you want to see something that is totally new, then do not see this film. If you want to see a perfect film, then do not see this film. But, if you want to see a film, where the pluses outnumber the minuses, then see this film. The pluses . . .

The SFX

The sets

The scenery
See if you recognize the island at the end of the film.

The sailing ships

The old cast
Johnny Depp is the same, but Geoffrey Rush, Kevin McNally, and Keith Richards just keep getting better and better.

The new cast
I was surprised at the performances that were elicted out of Penelope Cruz, Ian McShame, Sam Claflin, Astrid berges-Frisbey, Richard Griffitsh, Dame Judi Dench, etc. Well, maybe not out of Dame Judi Dench.

The music

The moral ambiguity
Excluding the Spanish, there is only one true villain, Blackbeard, and one true hero, the missionary,  in the film, the rest are morally ambiguous, including Jack Sparrow. "There's a captain in there somewhere."

The laughs
The mutineers were portrayed as such dolts, as soon as one opened his mouth, I wanted to do a face palm.

The fight scenes
The individual swordfights have always been a highlight of the previous films, but for the first time, they got the mass combat right. And the fight between the sailors and the mermaids has to be one of the most vicious and violent fights ever captured on film. And next time, I like them to do a ship-to-ship combat, one of the hardest fights to do right on a film, because I think they are one of the few people who could do it right.

The ending
Stay to after the credits, as in the previous films, the most memorable scene is the last scene in the film.

The atmosphere
There was one new thing in the film, and that was the atmosphere. The film had an atmosphere of a horror film, and that was before they even left London.

And the film would have been a much lesser film, if not for the skills that the casting director, cinematographer, director, the guy who does the lights, etc. brought to the film.

[Neville]

I was entertained, but I think this is the weakest film in the series. I loved the mermaid stuff, but the rest is all "have been there" but worse. Gore Vervinski had a great ability to mix humor and action, and his skills are missed here.

[Doggett]

Still haven't seen this and I really liked the sequels.

Especially the second one.

Knightly as pirate king in the third was kinda pushing it though... 

[Flick James]

On a slightly related note, has anybody here been the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland anytime recently? I haven't in many years. I'm wondering if they've made any alterations tying it into the movies at all?

Just curious.

[RD]

On a slightly related note, has anybody here been the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland anytime recently? I haven't in many years. I'm wondering if they've made any alterations tying it into the movies at all?

Just curious.

I was on it earlier this year, they've added Jack Sparrow, and he pops up in several different places.

[akiratubo]

The first one was ok, the second one sucked, and the third was damn near unendurable.  I'll wait for the $1.50 theater to see this, if I ever see it.

[Ted C]

On a slightly related note, has anybody here been the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland anytime recently? I haven't in many years. I'm wondering if they've made any alterations tying it into the movies at all?

Just curious.

I was on it earlier this year, they've added Jack Sparrow, and he pops up in several different places.

Barbossa was also visible when I was last there.

[BoyScoutKevin]

There is also a water screen at the beginning of the ride which use to display the face of Davy Jones (Bill Nighy.) His face has been replaced with that of Edward "Blackbeard" Teach (Ian McShane.)