Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (with free artcards, exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)

If only the writers of the entire series had managed to be as consistently good as Johnny Depp is with his character. Worth watching any of the films for Depps Captain Jack Sparrow interpretation, but the 1st and 2nd films are the best. Depp himself could not be better, his acting is excellent in all of them.

Unlike Lord of the Rings where the trilogy gets better and better, Pirates is the opposite. The first Pirates movie is a truly exceptional movie, very more-ish indeed, not just the story and scenery and characters but all the actors (especially Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush who are so very well matched). Black Pearl is full of surprises which never fail to still excite me on subsequent viewings but Dead Man's Chest lacks anything that good except Depp is still amazing as Keith-Richards-as-Pirate-Jack. However, it's still a great fun movie.I enjoyed the theme about Will and his father but wish there wasn't the attempt to try to match Knightley opposite Depp which simply doesn't work. Depp is an extremely powerful actor and clearly is trying to underact with Knightley so as to allow her a chance to seem adequate as a foil to him but the actress simply can't do it even then. No matter how hard Knightley tries, she is inadequate the moment she diverts her attention from her nice admirer Will played by Orlando Bloom. This may not be that the actress is inadequate but that the part has been changed too drastically and the change isn't believable, hard to say which is the reason. Elizabeth was always a bit domineering and a bit of a tomboy in Black Pearl, but now she's become less believable.Worse, Bloom's character is charming and light, a style he plays so well, and I can't imagine Will even fancying what Elizabeth is made to become. Depp and his character devious charismatic Jack need a very much stronger actress as a foil and such a woman simply wouldn't gel with Bloom's character.I'm sorry to have to say it as it sounds so feminist, but I do feel the Elizabeth character since meant to be opposite Bloom originally should stay opposite him. Elizabeth is eye candy in this kind of story, and Knightley would come over far better keeping in that characterisation and putting her talents to making it impressive rather than diverting into an increasingly tedious tomboy who comes to overpower poor Will completely in the story whilst not managing to match up to what's required in the script. Do we really want Will to look like a wimp or Elizabeth's other (excellently acted) admirer to be sidelined?I wasn't impressed by the Davy Jones character whose continually twitching octopus face mask really turned me off and I think made him far less imposing than he should have been. He's a big disappointment after the thrilling contest for supremacy between Depp's and Geoffrey Rush's characters in Black Pearl although some aspects of this new opponent for Depp are very good.The Dead Man's Chest story isn't as good as Black Pearl and there's too much rather irrelevant slapstick filling in time much as the slapstick is always fun. However, it's still good fun although you need to have seen Black Pearl to entirely understand what's going on.The proof of getting what you really want in a movie is I think being compelled to buy the DVD as soon as it appears which I didn't feel inclined to do even now that the third movie is out. I shall probably buy copies of 2 and 3 when the prices have dropped right down, so as to complete the collection.

When it was first announced, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest brought a mixture of responses with it. Some said that the first instalment, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, did not need a sequel; it started brilliantly and finished perfectly. Others rejoiced: "Another Pirates of Caribbean? That's got to be the flick of the year!" But, as ever with sequels the big question was; is it as good as the first one? The answer to that question is not a simple one.Dead Man's Chest is the follow up to one of the biggest surprise hits of 2003. The Curse of the Black Pearl had virtually no hype behind it and no-one expected too much from it. But they were all wronged as Pirates turned (or should I say Turner-ed!) out to be an amazing film of true quality; it made swash-bucklers more than cool. To put it simply, I could just say that there aren't many people now who look blank or don't smile when they hear the name Jack Sparrow being mentioned. And now Dead Man's Chest takes off from where the original left off, in a hope to be a similar, if not better success. The film begins on the day of William Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann's (Keirra Knightly) wedding. The occasion however, is rudely interrupted by the arrival of the East Indian Trading Company, who, upon arrival arrest William and Elizabeth in consequence to them allowing the wanted pirate Jack Sparrow - sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow - to go free. They are both under the penalty of death, but Will is sent to get Jack's compass from him, Jack, while his `bonny lass' is left behind in jail. From there the story takes you to many places; some familiar - Tortuga - while some unfamiliar, such as Cannibal Island; and many humorous, action packed and altogether memorable, adventures ensue. The film follows a similar template, as it were, to its predecessor; there is a lot of chasing around with ships across the Caribbean as each character follows his own journey and then reunites with another. Also, there are several references to some of the classic jokes from the Curse of the Black Pearl, for example a certain character asks "Why is the rum always gone?" But this does not mean the story is similar - because it is not. Dead Man's Chest takes a more `mythical' and darker turn with the ship that plunges under the sea, The Flying Dutchman, which is captained by the sinister Davy Jones and his crew of coral creatures, not to mention the Scandinavian legend; the Kraken: a horrific giant sea beast with many tentacles well capable of destroying a ship, as you'll find out!The films ends leaving you with questions, and also there is a huge link to the Curse of the Black Pearl, right at the end which of course I won't give away, but the film ends on a cliff hangar. Yes that's right, after about two and a half hours worth of action suspense, lots of talking and generally great cinematography you are left with a cliff hangar! This of course does not make the film bad. In fact it makes it better as overall it's a great film that's bound to have you stuck to your seat the whole way through, whether you've got your breath held with tension or whether your laughing at a ridiculous moment. Though, it must be said, the answer to the ominous question asked at the beginning of this review is "No". But only just. It may be great but it's not greater than the Curse of the Black Pearl. All I can say is roll on Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End!

Always a good family movie to watch

Great film but hating paying for it when already pay for prime

So great

RR me hearties yo ho

Great video, good quality