Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
(2003)
You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner, you're in one
See if your favorite person, TV series or motion picture is available: video/DVD/books
A sinking boat heads for a British port past majestic cliffs. The sole occupant is the eccentric, flamboyant and constantly drunk Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands). He removes his hat as he passes lynched skeletons beside a sign, "Pirates, ye be warned." The boat sinks completely as he steps onto the dock and bribes the harbormaster to leave his name off the books.
So begins Disney's most entertaining non-kiddy movie in decades, and their first PG-13 (the R-rated comedy Splash, in which a mermaid changes into a nude woman who walks ashore, was released under their Touchstone name). It seems Sparrow's crew mutinyed and left him to die on an island. They now sail the Black Pearl ship without him, but under a curse. Ever since stealing coins made of stolen Aztec gold, they have been undead - they can't be killed, but they can't eat or enjoy life either. So they are in search of the remaining crew member, whose blood will lift the zombie curse.
On the island, the very proper British something-or-other is about to fix up his daughter with some Navy twit when she remembers a pirate coin she removed from a shipwrecked boy years ago. She and Sparrow escape from the British and end up on the Black Pearl (she doesn't yet know about the curse). The Captain thinks she might have the missing coin and invites her to dinner. She refuses. In that case, she's told, she'll be dining with the crew, "And you'll be naked." She reconsiders.
As the Captain is telling her about the curse, the Moon comes up and she sees that the crew outside turns into the living dead at night (I think this is a new zombie rule - normal human in Sun or lamplight, living dead skeletons in Moonlight). Because she has the pirate amulet, she's assumed to be a blood relative of the dead crewman.
So they take her back to their pirate lair and are about to spill her blood on the cursed coins when Jack Sparrow shows up, with the British Navy chasing right behind him. He makes a deal, and off they go to deal with the British - living dead skeletons walking on the bottom of the ocean (Ray Harryhausen would have loved to animate this movie). Watch close in the scene where the British are fighting the zombie pirates in hand-to-hand combat. The humans were filmed first, then the undead skeletons were put in and there weren't enough to go around so some of the British are fighting with air (see Trivia notes below).
Pirates of the Caribbean movie trailer (click twice to play clip)
Johnny Depp on cable/TV:
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005 remake of Willy Wonka)
Thu Jun 21 12:00P on HBO
Tue Aug 7 08:00P on Cinemax
Wed Aug 15 10:35A on Cinemax
Sun Aug 19 11:15A on Cinemax
Sat Aug 25 06:30P on Cinemax
Fri Aug 31 06:30P on Cinemax
Making of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (15 mins, 2005)
Mon Aug 13 06:30A on Cinemax
Cry-Baby (1990 spoof of '50s teen musicals)
Wed Aug 1 12:00A on Sundance Channel
Ed Wood (1994, starring Depp, with Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi)
Sun Aug 5 3:45/6:45pm EST on Independent Film Channel
Mon Aug 6 9:05am/12:05pm EST on Independent Film Channel
Thu Aug 30 3:45/6:45P EST on Independent Film Channel
Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands
Thu Apr 26 01:20P on Encore Love Stories
Sun May 27 04:00P EST on Fox Movie Channel
Sat Jun 2 03:00A on Wam!
Sun Jun 17 06:00P on Wam!
Sun Jun 17 07:00P on Movie Plex
Fri Jun 29 10:00A on Wam!
Mon July 2 12:00P & 8:00P on Encore
Thu Aug 9 10:05A on Encore
Sat Aug 18 06:15A on Encore
Thu Aug 23 12:15A on Starz Kids and Family
Nick of Time (1995, Depp must assassinate Gov. of California or own daughter will be killed)
Thu Jun 21 12pm & 2am on Bravo
Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, as one of the kids)
Mon Jun 18 02:00A on Cinemax
Fri July 6 10:05A & 4:45P on Thrillermax
Wed Aug 8 09:00P on More Max
Fri Aug 17 02:10A on More Max
Sat Sep 1 03:20A on More Max
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991, Nightmare on Elm Street 6, cameo only)
Thu Jul 19 02:00A on Cinemax
Tue Aug 7 02:50P on Thrillermax
Sun Aug 12 02:00A on Thrillermax
Mon Aug 13 02:00A on Thrillermax
Fri Aug 17 02:15P on More Max
Mon Aug 20 01:30A on Thrillermax
Wed Aug 22 12:00P on Thrillermax
Tue Aug 28 10:00A on Thrillermax
Fri Aug 31 09:50A on Thrillermax
The Ninth Gate (1999, book buyer searches for a volume about the Devil)
Mon Jul 30 02:30P on American Movie Classics
Tue Aug 21 05:00P on American Movie Classics
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003, here there be monsters)
Fri June 1 08:00P on USA Network
Sat Jun 16 08:00P on ABC
Sat Aug 25 09:00P on USA Network
Sun Aug 26 06:00P on USA Network
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Jack Sparrow schemes to get out of paying a debt to Davy Jones. 155 mins, PG-13
Sun July 1 07:40P & 3:20A on Starz Kids & Family
Sun Aug 5 01:05A on Starz
Sat Aug 11 11:35A & 9:00P on Starz Edge
Sun Aug 12 05:45A on Starz Edge
Mon Aug 13 03:00A on Starz
Mon Aug 13 12:35P & 9:00P on Starz
Wed Aug 15 11:10A, 9:00P & 7:05A on Starz Edge
Wed Aug 22 12:00A on Starz
Wed Aug 22 11:00A & 8:29P on Starz
Thu Aug 23 10:05P & 5:50A on Starz Comedy
Fri Aug 24 01:40P on Starz Comedy
Sat Aug 25 02:30A on Starz
Sat Aug 25 02:05P & 10:45P on Starz
Fri Aug 31 06:05A, 2:30P & 10:50P on Starz
On the Set: Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End (2007)
Sun May 27 01:00P on Starz in Black
Sat Jun 2 06:20A on Starz
Platoon (1986, supporting role)
Tue Aug 7 12:30A on American Movie Classics
Thu Aug 23 01:30A on American Movie Classics
Private Resort (1985, Depp & Rob Morrow as lustful buddies are on the prowl at a hotel)
Sat Feb 17 04:10A on Encore
Wed Mar 14 01:10A on Starz Comedy
Wed May 23 04:00A on HD Movies
Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999, Washington Irving's classic about a Headless Horseman)
Thu Jul 26 09:00P on TNT
Stephen King's Secret Window (2004, as horror novelist being stalked by killer)
Fri May 4 08:00P on MyNetwork TV (previously UPN)
Fri May 4 8pm/11pm EST on WOR New York
True Hollywood Story: Johnny Depp is profiled (60 minutes, 2003)
Sat Jul 28 08:00A on E!
A&E Biography: Johnny Depp (120 min, 2006)
Sat May 26 09:00A on A&E Network
Inside the Actors Studio: Johnny Depp discusses his career with host James Lipton (60 mins, 2002)
Fri Jun 22 04:00A on Bravo
Pirates of the Caribbean - all 3 in a row
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Trivia (courtesy the Internet Movie Database)
* The movie is inspired by the ride (of the same name) at the various Disney theme parks.
* Stick around after the credits for an additional scene
* References to the Disneyland attractions include (but are not limited to):
- three uses of the song "(Yo Ho, Yo Ho) A Pirate's Life for Me" by X. Atencio and George Bruns in the opening scene (sung by young Elizabeth), when Jack and Elizabeth are marooned on the island, and in the end by Jack.
- The jail scenes, in which the prisoners try to tempt the dog who holds the key to their cell. Jack says, "That dog is never going to move"
- although the movie dog eventually does, the one in the ride doesn't. Jack later tries to tempt it with a bone, as does one of the audio-animatronic pirates in the ride.
- The "burning town" sequence, and within it, the redheaded prostitute (who slaps Jack), and the "stuffed pirate" drinking the rum spurting out of a barrel
- Jack's initial discovery of Gibbs sleeping with the pigs
- The line "Dead men tell no tales", said by the macaw, which is repeated throughout the ride's narration
- A quick shot of a skeleton sprawled on the beach of the Isla de Muerta, with a crab nearby
- During the raid on the town, seen is a man being dunked into a well.
- A skeletal Barbossa drinks wine, which trickles through his exposed ribcage, as one of the skeletal pirates do.
- During the battle scene between the two ships, Black Pearl and the Interceptor Captain Barbosa refers to his crew as "bloomin cockroaches" just like the captain in the ride does when his ship attacks a local town fort.
- In Tortuga, we see a pirate drinking rum on top of two barrels and is wobbling just like in the ride.
- There are references to cursed treasure in the ride: old pirates speak of cursed treasure and how you probably don't believe in it, and the line "Who knows when that evil curse will strike the greedy beholders of this bewitched treasure."
- The woman wearing a red dress at Tortuga island that slaps Jack and he wonders if he deserved it is a character in the ride.
- Part of the Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is called "Port Royal".
* Jack Sparrow's line "...and then they made me their chief," is a tribute to British comedy series "The Fast Show" (1994), of which Johnny Depp is an ardent fan, so much so that he guest starred in one episode. The line was originally said by a character, played by Mark Williams, who usually appeared in a kitchen and is, in its entirety "...and then they made me their chief. Which was nice." The line has also been said by another character, in The Fast Show, Sir Roly Birkin (played by Paul Whitehouse), who blurts out random sentences during his drunken, mumbled ramblings. The Fast Show was shown in the US under the title "Brilliant". (Depp uses another Fast Show catchphrase (again from a Mark Williams character) in an unused version of the "parley" scene in the cave when he says, "I'll get me coat..." - this deleted scene can be seen on the DVD.)
* The island Isla de Muerto is Spanish for "island of the dead".
Tortuga is also Spanish, meaning "turtle".
* The film's last spoken line - "Bring me that horizon" - was conceived by Johnny Depp on the morning the scene was filmed.
* The ship used for the HMS Interceptor, the Lady Washington, is the same vessel used to portray the HMS Enterprise in the holodeck scene of Star Trek: Generations
* When returning from a night shoot on one of the Caribbean islands, Keira Knightley's boat struck a reef and went down. The only people aboard were Knightley, her mother and the boat's skipper, all of whom escaped unharmed and were rescued within a few hours. However, the incident ultimately determined that the rest of the island night shoots needed would complete filming in a studio, rather than on location.
* The title was originally just "Pirates of the Caribbean" but the name was changed in the hope that it would do well at the box office and a sequel could be made.
* The movie's world premiere was located at Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort in California, home to the original Pirates of the Caribbean attraction, on June 28, 2003. This was the first ever movie premiere at Disneyland.
* Johnny Depp's character, Captain Jack, is portrayed as having gold teeth in the film. These are real and Depp had his dentist implant those and others into his mouth for the production. Jerry Bruckheimer thought there were too many and asked him to remove all but a few.
* Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski wanted to use the massive water tank in Baja, Mexico used for Titanic (1997) and Pearl Harbor (2001), but Peter Weir's film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) had the tank booked during the time Pirates was scheduled to shoot.
* The "walking under the row boat" scene is a direct homage to The Crimson Pirate (1952)
* The scene where Orlando Bloom impersonates Johnny Depp's performance was devised by Bloom who asked producer Jerry Bruckheimer if he could put it into the movie.
* The tattoo that Orlando Bloom got on his right wrist during The Lord of the Rings is covered throughout most of the film. It's visible during the swordfight in the blacksmith shop when Will raises his sword to parry after Jack's "You're not a eunuch, are you?" and again below decks on the Interceptor where Elizabeth reveals she took the medallion and Will realizes it was his blood the pirates need to lift the curse - you can see it just as he reaches to touch the medallion on her chest.
* Many of the crew got seasick while filming.
* The final cannon shot during the Black Pearl's siege of the town, billows into a Mickey Mouse head shape against the night sky
* The Jolly Roger that the Black Pearl flies is a skull and crossed swords, which had originally been flown by historical pirate John "Calico Jack" Rackham who is most famous for having the two most famous female pirates of the Caribbean in his crew, Mary Read and Anne Bonney.
* This is a common mistake. John Rackham's flag was actually a chipped skull with two swords, not the infamous Jolly Roger, which no known pirate ever actually sailed under.
* The name of one of Jack's crew members, Ana Maria, is a reference to the two most famous female pirates of the Caribbean, Anne Bonney and Mary Read.
* In an attempt to ward off the seasickness that struck the rest of the cast and crew, Keira Knightley took a travel sickness pill... and fell asleep instead.
* Clothing and smears of charcoal were used to conceal Johnny Depp's numerous tattoos. The "Jack Sparrow" tattoo on his arm in the movie is a fake, but he got a real replica after finishing the film, in honor of his son Jack.
* Having decided that pirates were the 18th century equivalent of rock stars, Depp's characterization of Sparrow was inspired by close observation of his friend Keith Richards, though he emphasized in interviews that it was not an impersonation.
* The "Fort" in Port Royal is actually not on St. Vincent's, but at a closed-down amusement park (Marineland) in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
* In the cave at Isla de Muerte, one of Barboassas pirates can be seen with what appears to be a smoking beard. According to the legends of Blackbeard (a famous pirate) he used to attach slow burning fuses to his beard before a raid.
* When Will wakes up after being knocked out he looks out into the port and you can see the same girl who played the young Elizabeth sweeping at a doorway (Lucinda Dryzek).
* When Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio, the screenwriters, originally pitched the movie to the Disney executives in the early '90s, it was rejected.
* Alan Silvestri was first suggested to provide the score but has been replaced by Klaus Badelt. However, some movie posters still show the credit "Music by Alan Silvestri". These posters also show a different story credit, omitting the fourth story writer Jay Wolpert: "Screen Story by Beattie, Stuart and Elliott, Ted and Rossio, Terry".
* Governer Swann's first name is Weatherby, Commodore's is James, and Barbossa's is Hector.
* The substance sprayed on William Turner after the sword fight between him and Captain Jack Sparrow is actually powdered chocolate
* The East Indian Trading Company really did brand pirates with a "P" but it was put on their foreheads instead of their arms.
* Industrial Light and Magic designers scanned turkey jerky to create the effect of decomposing skin when the pirates turn into their skeletal forms.
* The various "eunuch" lines were improvisations by Johnny Depp.
* When filming in the cave, excessive makeup was added to the characters so they wouldn't looked washed out on film. When the crew realized how cool the makeup looked on Johnny Depp, they continued to use it on him for the rest of the movie.
* On the DVD commentary with director Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp, it is revealed that Captain Barbossa's first name is Hector.
* Jimmy Buffett was offered a role as a pirate, but had to decline due to previous engagements. Means no
* The words "pirate" and "piracy" are said 56 times.
* Johnny Depp wore contact lenses which served as sunglasses so he wouldn't be squinting in the sun all the time.
* According to the screenwriters' commentary on the DVD, Will Turner is the best swordsman in the film, Barbossa and Commodore Norrington are evenly matched, and Jack Sparrow is actually the worst.
* A scene in the movie spoofs Michael Caine's MonsterVision movie The Hand (1981)
* Port Royal, Jamaica, is built on a low spit of sand south of Kingston Harbor, nowhere more than about ten feet above sea level. The movie set has it built atop hundred-foot basaltic cliffs.
* When Elizabeth discovers that the pirates are cursed, a pirate is seen sitting on the capstan playing a concertina. The concertina was not invented until 1829
* HMS Dauntless and HMS Interceptor are shown flying the British Blue Ensign. Prior to 1864, the color of a Royal Navy vessel's ensign was determined by its posting. The color of the Caribbean squadron's ensign was red, as should have been the Dauntless' and Interceptor's (blue was the color of the south Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans)
* In the beginning of the Commodore's promotion ceremony "Rule Britannia" is played in the yard. The song was not composed until 1740.
* The tattoo on Captain Jack Sparrow's wrist is a swallow, not a sparrow. The tail on the bird is the giveaway
* When Norrington arrives on the HMS Dauntless to fight the cursed pirates, some of the naval personal are fighting no one because the CGI skeletons weren't put in
* In the mid-17th century, "Commodore" was simply a new title for captains that were in charge of squadrons, not a promotion. Commodore became a promotion in mid-to-late 19th century America
* There are no opening credits, not even the production company and studio bumpers, save the title.
* There is a short scene with the monkey at the end of the credits where he steals a piece of Cortes' gold and becomes a skeleton. He then bites the screen.
* Keira Knightley was only 17 when they filmed the first Pirates movie. She was 19 when they filmed Dead Man’s Chest and 21 by the time main shooting was done for Pirates 3 in 2006
* The Walt Disney logo at the end is golden.
* Official website: Disney.com/pirates (click the coin, if you dare) On their video page check out the 2 trailers and the 2 clips, the 2nd clip is best. The pirate-ship game on their website is a bit difficult since you have to allow for both gravity and where the other moving ship will be when the cannonball comes down Disney official homepage: www.Disney.com °o°
* Sequels: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (summer of 2006) and
Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (2007). The two sequels were filmed back-to-back in 2005, after which Disney Studios entered the only American ship in an around-the-world sailing ship race, complete with skull & crossbones flag: Pirates Carib in Race news
* There was an unrelated movie called "Ice Pirates" set in space that featured Robert Ulrich Ice Pirates
Sparrow: "No! Not good! Stop! Not good! What are you doing?! You burned all the food, the shade, the rum!"
Elizabeth: "Yes the rum is gone."
Sparrow: "Why is the rum gone?!"
Elizabeth: "One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels! Two! That signal is over a thousand feet high. The entire royal navy is out looking for me! Do you really think that there is even the slightest chance that they won't see it?!"
Sparrow: "But why is the rum gone?!"
Satellite TV For Pc! Elite Edition. Now Includes Unlimited Movies, Music, MP3s, Games, & TV Shows! Improved Technology! 600x Faster. WORKS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: U.S., U.K., Canada, Japan, India, Russia, etc. Connect To A Whole New World Of Online Entertainment. Click Here!
Fun fact:
Sailers and others have sometimes reported seeing a ghostly rainbow at night. Seen by lunar light alone, they appear in shades of gray instead of color. This British website caught one in color at sunset, and has an explanation as to why they usually look gray. But no explanation as to why zombie skeletons can only be seen that way in moonlight.
This used to be an ad-free, banner-free, pop-up free website! No more pop-up ads! Right now, Angelfire/Lycos is suffering technical difficulties and I'm waiting for them to return my messages. Even though I paid the monthly fee on July 16, they have added there own banner and google ads to top & bottom of every page. The website size dropped to just 20 megs so I had to delete a bunch of graphics, audio and even some pages. We hope to be fully back up and running again very soon!
The Doctor Who Network schedule page, wait til you see what's coming in September!
* * * * * * * * * * * *
This fan website is not connected in any way with the SCIFI channel. If you buy anything from Amazon.com using their links here, they pay 6% commission, but there were no sales for the last 30 days. At this rate, this website may soon cease to exist.
If you are not American, here is our link to the Amazon.co.uk website
As the Captain is telling her about the curse, the Moon comes up and she sees that the crew outside turns into the living dead at night (I think this is a new zombie rule - normal human in Sun or lamplight, living dead skeletons in Moonlight). Because she has the pirate amulet, she's assumed to be a blood relative of the dead crewman.
* The island Isla de Muerto is Spanish for "island of the dead".
* Official website: 
