PotC 3

[enemy anemone]

(I was going to post this as a comment in the "what was the last movie you saw" thread but thought the film could use its own thread.)

it was a fun ride. I was especially impressed with the camera work and set design/props/special effects/stuff. I had read a review that compared the special effects in this movie to the ones in Spiderman 3 and it said that Spiderman 3 looked like a video game. as outlandish and campy as this movie is (and appropriately so), I love how the look is gritty and realistic, not shiny and video-gamey.
was the peanut thing a reference to Princess Bride, do you think? or is there another pirate/peanut connection?
one of the theater employees told us to stay after the credits for a bonus scene. I would have forgotten to. this one was better than the one for Dead Man's Chest.
it was fun for me to try to spot the scenes that were filmed in my area. I had seen the ship rock side to side out in the water so there was the aha moment for that. also other folks had seen them submerge the Black Pearl. I had forgotten about this and how other people had said no, it's the Flying Dutchman that goes underwater. so that was cool. and other folks had seen over half a dozen doubles for Captain Jack at the same time, so that makes more sense now. I had seen the monkey trainers working with the monkey, having the monkey run out and grab a pirate hat and put it on, but I didn't spot that in the film.

and I was just looking at the imdb page for the movie and saw this pic of Mary McDonnell, who was at the world premiere. at first I was just like "I love her hair! she's so beautiful!" and then I spotted her necklace. she has the key!! (and not a drawring of the key.) I love her even more! Roslin for President! but Baltar or Davy Jones for VP? XD okay I'm done geeking out now.

swash swash, buckle buckle! 

edited because I can't seem to spel.

[Vlad!]

I haven't seen this one (though it's on the menu), but the things I've heard from the Faithful...aren't that flattering. I have heard accusations of confusing and even, believe it or not, boring. The length is perhaps a little concerning, but I didn't find myself bored at all through Return of the King (which was even longer), so as long as the writers and directors manage to keep dishing up piratey goodness, it's not a problem.

How would you say the plot stands up? I'm not looking for spoilers, but brilliant camera work and special effects can only carry a movie so far, and I doubt many of the scenes were filmed at Blacksburg, so I don't have the fun of looking for familiar scenery, either.

[enemy anemone]

yeah, going into the movie I knew that folks had said it was confusing, even saying it should be called At Wit's End because that's how the viewer feels about the convoluted plot. I was expecting that and just went along for the ride. and I did find myself yawning through some of the exposition even though I wanted to follow what was going on. but there's plenty of piratey goodness and it's quite a ride. there is a battle at the end that is like nothing I've seen before. I can understand those who complain about the film's faults...but overall I enjoyed it more than I had expected and thought it wasn't as bad as the reviews led me to think. there are a few strands from the previous films that they've picked up and expanded on, which I thought were cool. anyway, I found it a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy and a good yarn.  that said, keep your expectations low but have fun.

my little sis wants to go see it so I plan to take her. 
edited to add: except that she changed her mind. darn.

[murlough23]

I enjoyed it. The length did make it a bit overwhelming, but I wouldn't say it was boring. Just a bit too much "epic battle" going on in one movie - it gets way past the point where anything that happens to anyone is remotely believable - or permanent, for that matter. Plus all the switching sides just becomes comedic after a while. For the most part, the only significant criticism I can come up with (other than the herculean amount of suspension of disbelief it requires) is that sitting through a three-hour movie and then having to wait for a secret scene after the ridiculously long credits is really tough on the old bladder.

NP: "A Savior on Capitol Hill", Derek Webb

[Vlad!]

Haha, yeah. I hate that. "Do I leave and miss some of the movie, or stay and be uncomfortable for the rest of it?" is an annoying choice to have to make. And with the second one we all definitely felt that staying through what had to have been ten minutes of credits for the incredibly worthless "secret scene" was just plain adding insult to injury (the injury being the lackluster ending).

[murlough23]

Haha, yeah. I hate that. "Do I leave and miss some of the movie, or stay and be uncomfortable for the rest of it?" is an annoying choice to have to make. And with the second one we all definitely felt that staying through what had to have been ten minutes of credits for the incredibly worthless "secret scene" was just plain adding insult to injury (the injury being the lackluster ending).

I was fine with both the ending and the secret scene, though  could have predicted how the secret scene was gonna go. it set us up nicely enough to believe that the trilogy was over, but they could extend the story if they wanted to, while writing out certain people who no longer want to be a part of the franchise. It could have been more[./i] satisfying, but I was in no way revolted by it or bored with it. I liked the nostalgia of ending on cute references to the first film and all that.

[Vlad!]

Actually I was talking about the second Pirates, while your comments suggest that you're talking about the third. My major problem with the ending to Dead Man's Chest was that it was little more than an advertisement for the third movie. I understood that number three would be coming out soon and all that, but is it really too much to ask that each element of a set stand fairly well on its own?

[murlough23]

Actually I was talking about the second Pirates, while your comments suggest that you're talking about the third. My major problem with the ending to Dead Man's Chest was that it was little more than an advertisement for the third movie. I understood that number three would be coming out soon and all that, but is it really too much to ask that each element of a set stand fairly well on its own?

Most second parts of trilogies set you up for the third. I'd rather know that they had a plan for where they were going to go, instead of the third one feeling tacked on after the fact.

I wasn't aware that you hadn't seen the third one yet. Sorry. Hope I didn't spoil anything.

I will say that the second installment of this particular trilogy is probably the overall weakest one.

NP: "Wanderlust", Bjork

[dgp11776]

GAH!!  A secret scene???  I even thought there could be one, but left after about five minutes of the credits.  What was it?

[murlough23]

GAH!!  A secret scene???  I even thought there could be one, but left after about five minutes of the credits.  What was it?

This comes with an obvious SPOILER ALERT, so...



















Elizabeth and her 9-year-old child (presumably named William Turner III) are standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean at sunset. The expected green flash is seen just as the sun dips below the horizon, and then a ship appears, with William Turner heroically returning for his once-in-ten-years shore leave. Everybody looks wistful and bittersweet. And... scene.

So yeah, nothing all that surprising, but I thought it was cute.

[dgp11776]

Ah, thanks.  Now I don't feel so bad since I didn't miss much.