Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Name: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Family
Released: July 9, 2003
Duration: 143 min
Rating: 63
Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Pryce, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom

2003

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 1153 Ratings

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8.8

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8.8	User Score Universal acclaim based on 1153 Ratings

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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Movie Details & Credits

Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: July 9, 2003 | PG-13

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Johnny Depp, Jonathan Pryce, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom

Summary: For the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), the crystalline waters if the Caribbean present a vast playground where adventure and mystery abound. But Jack's idyllic pirate life capsizes after his nemesis, the wily Captain Barbossa (Rush), steals his ship, the Black Pearl, and kidnaps the Governor's (Pryce) beautiful daughter,For the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp), the crystalline waters if the Caribbean present a vast playground where adventure and mystery abound. But Jack's idyllic pirate life capsizes after his nemesis, the wily Captain Barbossa (Rush), steals his ship, the Black Pearl, and kidnaps the Governor's (Pryce) beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Knightley). (Disney)… Expand

Director: Gore Verbinski

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Family

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 143 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

Keith Phipps

Verbinski knows when to break out the stunning action sequences and when to let his characters dominate the film, and he handles both modes expertly. Read full review

Shawn Levy

Flawed though it may be, it's frequently an unaffected pleasure, in no small part because of Depp but also because of a raffish air that's a welcome respite from the heavy going of "The Matrix Reloaded," "The Hulk" and other behemoths. Read full review

Lawrence Toppman

A film that dares to be smart, reasonably complicated and scary while swashing its buckles. Read full review

David Ansen

Fortunately, whenever the movie starts to sag, Depp flies to the rescue. It’s a truly piratical performance: with his flamboyantly fluttering fingers he steals every scene in the movie. Read full review

David Edelstein

Pirates is OK, in patches even better. Read full review

Peter Travers

Depp swans through this swashbuckler with a scene-stealing gusto unseen since Marlon Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty." He's comic dynamite, but this plodding, repetitive bore should walk the plank for timidly refusing to light his fuse. Read full review

Scott Foundas

The booty here is 100 percent fool's gold. Read full review

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User Reviews

MelissaR.

Jul 22, 2006

this movie is the best also dead mans chest.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

BenB

May 28, 2007

64? Why do the critics dislike this movie so much? Every single person I know who has seen this movie loves it! I mean LOVES it! All the girls say it's their favorite movie! It has everything you good want: good acting, humor, spectacular action scenes, romance, and one of the best 64? Why do the critics dislike this movie so much? Every single person I know who has seen this movie loves it! I mean LOVES it! All the girls say it's their favorite movie! It has everything you good want: good acting, humor, spectacular action scenes, romance, and one of the best soundtracks ever created. Not to mention Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp acting together! This movie is awesome. If it doesn't make you want to grab a sword and go off to sail the seas, then you're probably dead.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

Splatt3r

Oct 17, 2010

I think it is a very great movie. The atmosphere with the characters, especially Sparrow, the music and the settings are great. I can watch this movie over and over again and I can recommend this movie to anyone who likes this adventure-type of action movies.

34 of 39 users found this helpful345

DBPirate1129

Jan 11, 2015

While I was originally skeptical about the film, the first installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series will leave you wanting for more fast-paced adventures with Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbossa.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Jmsbpp

Jul 29, 2013

Excelente trabajo mostrando talento, originalidad y una forma de demostrar que disney puede dar accion buena y no de princesas por un man si no puede sacar y sacarle el jugo a la accion

3 of 15 users found this helpful312

FilmBuff94

Mar 31, 2016

One would think it's a curse to have to transform a theme park attraction into a summer cinematic spectacle, but shiver me timbers, the only hex that burdens Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is its unwieldy title. This rollicking adventure from director GoreOne would think it's a curse to have to transform a theme park attraction into a summer cinematic spectacle, but shiver me timbers, the only hex that burdens Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is its unwieldy title. This rollicking adventure from director Gore Verbinski is in love with the sights and sounds of pirate movie tropes—sailors swinging from ship ropes, sword fights, cannon balls flying through the air, glistening pirate bounty—and benefits immensely from both the filmmaker's successful fusion of arch comedy, swashbuckling action, mild horror (a trick neither his execrable The Mexican, nor his leaden The Ring, could pull off), and his willingness to let Johnny Depp overact his heart out.

Depp, dressed up in a variety of colorful scarves that only partially contain his unruly tangle of dreadlocks and beaded hair, plays infamous pirate rascal Captain Jack Sparrow with limp wrists, a prancing gait, and a lilting British drawl that turns every “th” sound into an “f.” An androgynous king of the high seas, Sparrow is a gracefully asexual fop who, by embodying both feminine prettiness and masculine brashness, seems well aware of how to bend it like Beckham. Flashing his gold-toothed smile with a roguish delight that playfully hints at the naughtiness being concocted inside his scraggly head, Depp commands the screen so forcefully that it's difficult to sustain interest in the film when he's not front and center. During such lulls, one is forced to contend with the de facto love story between blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who is kidnapped by the undead crew of the legendary Black Pearl for possessing a piece of their cursed gold. Swann's abduction and Turner's quest to save her (which involves enlisting Sparrow's help) is the plot's catalyst, but since Pirates' greatest asset is Depp's uninhibited antics, things tend to drag when the puckish Sparrow is confined to mere supporting player.

Bloom does an admirable job looking like a mini-Errol Flynn, and Knightley's delicate features clash winningly with her character's unladylike feistiness, but both are regularly upstaged by Depp, Geoffrey Rush as the decrepit Captain Barbossa, and a gaggle of peripheral characters (pirates and British alike) who contribute to the richness of Verbinski's theme park-inspired tapestry. Narrative repetition muddles up the film's second act, in which the adventurers find themselves visiting, and then revisiting, the same locales and skirmishes, but the occasionally monotonous escapades are bolstered by some playful Harryhausen-esque CGI villains—the Black Pearl's pirates, when caught in a blade of moonlight, are revealed to be walking, talking skeletons—and the director's eagerness to embrace, while slyly poking fun at, the hoary clichés his film must dutifully adhere to. Like the hidden stash of Caribbean rum that Sparrow and Swann enjoy after being stranded on a remote island by the dastardly Captain Barbossa, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is an intoxicating delight that abounds with woozy charm and delectable spiciness.… Expand

0 of 4 users found this helpful04

PattyL.

Jul 8, 2006

The story sucked. Not nearly as good as the first one. The characters didn't even display the same personality as in the first. Seems as if the writers rushed through writing this one. Hugely disappointing.

0 of 9 users found this helpful

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3	#3 Most Discussed Movie of 2003
23	#23 Most Shared Movie of 2003