Avast, ye scallywags! For our latest adventure in film exploration, my son and I take to the high seas with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the new episode of our Film at 11 podcast, we review the movie from both perspectives – a parent who hadn’t watched the movie in years, and a kid who’d never seen it at all. We also ponder the age-old mystery of whether the name should be pronounced “kar-uh-bee-uhn” or “kuh-rib-ee-uhn.” I’m still not sure if I got that part right.
I first saw the original Pirates of the Caribbean during its theatrical release back in 2003. A friend and I made a long afternoon of taking in a double-feature of this movie and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. We enjoyed them both, but sided with the general consensus of the time that Pirates was more fun and the better blockbuster. However, as Pirates of the Caribbean turned into a franchise followed by repetitive and frankly tedious sequels, I quickly burned out on the whole thing and hadn’t felt compelled to revisit it, until now.
Doing so with my son Thomas, I find that Curse of the Black Pearl holds up just fine on its own. The movie’s still a good time. All the same, I’m ready to leave it here and have no immediate plans to suffer through Dead Man’s Chest or the other sequels anytime soon.
| Title: | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl |
| Year of Release: | 2003 |
| Director: | Gore Verbinski |
| Watched On: | Disney+ |
| Also Available On: | Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray FuboTV Syfy Various VOD rental and purchase platforms |
Video Streaming
As far as I can remember, I hadn’t watched Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl since seeing it in the theater opening weekend. At least, I don’t believe I’d watched it all the way through again – maybe just bits and pieces here or there if I encountered them on television.
The movie was a fairly early release on the Blu-ray format in 2007, and scored rave reviews for picture quality at that time. However, I suspect that disc probably wouldn’t hold up all too well to modern standards. Most of Disney’s early Blu-ray transfers were over-processed with Digital Noise Reduction and artificial sharpening, and don’t look great when viewed on a large screen today. Moreover, Pirates of the Caribbean was shot on Super 35 film with a 2K Digital Intermediate in the early days of that process. Many movies from that era suffer in retrospect from the technological limitations imposed upon them.
Disney remastered Curse of the Black Pearl for 4K Ultra HD in 2022, to a huge outcry of disdain from viewers who felt the 4K transfer looked worse than the Blu-ray. Chief among the complaints were even more digital processing and a much darker, duller color grade. Because I’d never bought the movie on physical media, I opted to stream it from Disney+ for this viewing. I assume that the 4K version I streamed was sourced from the same underlying video master as the Ultra HD Blu-ray edition.
Having braced for the worst, the 4K transfer doesn’t look quite as bad as I feared, even if it’s still rather underwhelming. The 2.35:1 image shows noticeable signs of both DNR and edge enhancement, but I honestly wonder if those issues might be baked-in to the original Digital Intermediate. Despite them, the picture doesn’t look too smeary and the edge halos are generally mild. This may not be the sharpest or most detailed image, but it’s watchable enough for the most part.
However, the color grade is decidedly dark and drab. I believe the intent may have been to emulate the style of Baroque Era paintings from the 17th and 18th Centuries, which were known for their very deep blacks and gloomy atmosphere. If that’s indeed the case, the look may have some merit. Nevertheless, my memory of the film was always much brighter and more colorful than this. The 4K remaster casts a pall over the movie that drains some of the fun out of it. I don’t really see the point in it.
The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack, at least as conveyed by streaming, also sounds very muddy and dull. Gunshots are weak, and the cannon battles devolve into an undistinguished mass of bloated and boomy noise. Perhaps that’s mostly a compression issue. Unfortunately, I don’t have a lossless physical media copy to compare against.
Related
- Johnny Depp
- Keira Knightley
- Orlando Bloom
- Jerry Bruckheimer (producer)
Note: All screenshots on this page were taken from the 1080p SDR streaming edition of the film on Disney+, grabbed off a web browser, and are used for illustration purposes only.
The Video File Blog 
coincidentally, did the same last year with my kids last year as well as I hadn’t seen the films in years.
found At Worlds End to be my favourite sequel though and Dead Men tell no tales was better on the second viewing.
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‘At World’s End’ is my favourite sequel, too, because of THE BEST CAMEO EVER Keith Richards. He completely steals and owns the movie. I also like ‘Dead Men Tell No Tales’ – never understood the hate. Javier Bardem is perfect.
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I was obsessed with ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ in the summer of 2003. Saw it three times (with various groups of friends), the first-time ever I saw a movie thrice in theatres (twice had occured before). I remember sitting in an all-empty theatre the very first time, because I thought there might be a surprise after the VERY LONG (15 minutes) credits. And yes, there was! This was before Twitter and Facebook or the MCU. I hadn’t read about the easter egg, I just assumed it as a nerd haha.
The first movie is still the best. I never liked ‘Dead Man’s Chest’ (super convoluted plot – it was the first time I could feel that the writers were just writing by the seat of their pants, at that the script was rewritten on set. I still don’t get Cutler’s exact plans or deal. Tom Hollander gives a terrific performance however), but I did like ‘At World’s End’ (see other comment on this blog) because of Keith Richards’ perfect cameo. ‘On Stranger Tides’ was disappointing and was saved again by Keith Richards (‘Does this face look like it’s been to the fountain of youth?’ may be the franchise’s funniest line reading).
I remember YouTube 4K reviewers being absolutely ANGRY over the supposedly horrible 4K PQ of ‘Curse of the Black Pearl’ so I had to check it out for myself. Waited until the disc was comfortably priced (picked it up at € 15/$16) and found it perfectly acceptable. Perhaps my television set isn’t properly calibrated (need Zyber to visit Europe) but I am pleased with my ‘Black Pearl’ on 4K. Others mileage may vary.
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I saw Curse of the Black Pearl theatrically and enjoyed it but I remember the ending started to drag and I kept looking at my watch. I have enjoyed it more over the years. Dead Man’s Chest is my absolute favorite. I found it so thrilling and entertaining, a true spectacle. I have to agree that Dead Men Tell No Tales is pretty awesome as well. I have the UK 3D version Salazar’s Revenge which is a really impressive conversion. I always found At Worlds End to feel really bloated and kind of disappointing but sometimes a fresh eyed perspective can change that. Maybe I’ll do a Pirate-thon next month after I get some stuff on my watchlist cleared.
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