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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - 3D Limited Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andy James & Noor Razzak (14th November 2011). |
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The Film
 Johnny Depp's appearance as Jack Sparrow (Captain) in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003) is one of the greatest, most succinct character introductions in modern film. He rides into port on a sinking ship, perched perfectly in the crossbeams and elevates an otherwise reasonably straight ahead pirate ghost adventure film to something special. Orlando Bloom’s Will and Keira Knightley’s Elizabeth are our nominal heroes but Depp’s Captain Jack saunters in and makes off with the whole film, grinning as he does so. He’s a fantastic character, and the film is a lot more fun because of him; "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" is an exceptionally well made blockbuster film. It’s a shame then, that no Pirates sequel has been able to capture what made the first film so magical. The first two sequels became over-stuffed with new and returning characters and needlessly overcomplicated plots and mythology. There were reversals, betrayals and counter-betrayals nearly every minute, losing the audience’s compassion for any character whatsoever. With the fourth film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides", a new director in the shape of Rob Marshall came aboard and the attempt was made to strip the film back: shorten the run-time and simplify the plot mechanics. Now it’s like they’ve gone too far in the opposite direction, stripping out any sense of fun or craft. The plot involves some guff about the Fountain of Youth. Captain Jack arrives in London, having heard about someone impersonating him to procure a crew. The impersonator turns out to be an old flame, Penélope Cruz’s Angelica, who also happens to be the long lost daughter of the much feared and legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Blackbeard has heard of a prophecy regarding his death, which is why he’s heading to the Fountain. And Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is back, this time as a privateer under the auspices of King George (Richard Griffiths). Barbossa is out for revenge on Blackbeard and the English are looking to beat the Spanish, so that’s why he’s heading to the Fountain. The only one with no real motivation to be going to the Fountain… is Jack. Oh, and the Spanish are there for some reason but they barely book-end events and seem to be (yet another) random element thrown in to the mix (they serve, quite literally, absolutely no purpose to the film. None). Placing Captain Jack Sparrow front-and-centre seems like the obvious decision to make; a recurring criticism of the last two films was that Orlando and Keira should have been jettisoned after the first. This makes him no longer a character commenting on the action from the sidelines but neither does the action of the film revolve around him. Oh, they make a game attempt to pretend like it does but Captain Jack is such a passive protagonist here. He now has no clear motivation and is brought along by others for the ride. Ian McShane does his level, glowery, stompy best as Blackbeard and manages to bring the menace in every scene and he and Geoffrey Rush’s Barbossa actually have some great enmity between them. But the Orlando and Keira replacements are such blank non-entities I’m struggling to even remember their names. They’re both introduced late into the piece, rather than having things revolve around them and their love-story, and Depp keeps his distance from both of them. I guess with "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" I just couldn’t muster up too much enthusiasm. The last two sequels have their supporters, and I’ll admit they have some fun set-pieces in them, but I’m no fan. Coupled with the fact that all advance word I had heard about "Tides" prior to its theatrical run was, well, not that great my expectations were suitably lowered. It just seems that screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio are still scrambling to find out why the first film worked so well and just throwing everything in with no real thought (I, for one, hope they're jettisoned from any follow-up films. Their writing here is pretty lazy and terrible). Having said that, I didn’t find it to be complete rubbish, with everything chugging along at a decent enough pace and certainly not being a blockbuster crime of the "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (2008) level. I think Johnny Depp still enjoys playing the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, but they just need to give some motivation next time. As for this stranger tide? It all just washed over me leaving no discernable imprint.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 and in high definition 1080p 24/fps mastered in AVC MPEG-4 compression. The film is offered in either HD 3D or 2D versions on the Blu-ray. The film was shot in native 3D so the source material is true to the format and will translate well on a 3D TV. This image is very pretty to look at. The 3D is solid, without being too gimmicky. Depth looks good making use of the vast frame. There's no ghosting that I could see, overall it was a smooth 3D image that maintain consistency throughout. The image quality is superb, detail is phenomenally brilliant right down to the individual hairs on Depp's face, his mish-mash costume details also pop, however it's the film's vast canvas that really shines from the intricate and detailed sets to the breathtaking locations the production travelled to all look great. Colors are vibrant and bold, black detail is solid and inky, skin tones appear natural and the overall image is clean. No edge-enhancement or compression related issues were found, overall it's excellent.
Audio
Five audio tracks are presented here in English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, French DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1 also mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, Spanish DTS-HD High Resolution 7.1 again mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, French Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its impressive English DTS-HD audio. This track is everything you could ever want, it's loud, clear, boisterous, robust, rich, deep, complex, it's simply brilliant. Dialogue is clear and clean, the action scenes explode off the screen in rapturous and immersive sense that puts your entire audio system through an incredible workout. It's such a wonderful track that beautifully incorporates all the elements that make an action-adventure film so much fun. The disc features English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista/Disney has released this film with a deluxe 3D package that features five discs. Included are an audio commentary, bloopers, a short film, sync feature, a documentary, four featurettes, a series of deleted and extended scenes, promos and bonus trailers along with a DVD copy of the film and a final disc featuring a digital copy of the film. DISC ONE: 3D BLU-RAY This disc doesn't included any extras, on the 3D version of the film. DISC TWO: 2D BLU-RAY First up is a feature-length screen-specific audio commentary with director Rob Marshall and executive producer John DeLuca. I was expecting a rather drawn-out and dry track that would bore me to tears... instead it wasn't as dry as I had anticipated, thankfully. These two comment on the challenges of filming a film of this scale, from the various complications to the location shooting among other production issues. They comment on the development of the film, working with the cast and on continuing the popular franchise. There's also a "Bloopers of the Caribbean" (1080p) blooper reel that runs for 3 minutes 29 seconds, line flubs and missed cues plus a selection of cast members cracking up in the middle of a take, there's some funny moments but it's largely forgettable. “Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean” (1080p) is a short film that runs for 5 minutes 19 seconds, it's basically a series of scenes from the film cut as a lego film... not worth repeated viewings. The disc includes the "Disney Second Screen" sync feature that allows you to use your tablet device to access exclusive content through this app. "What is Disney Second Screen?" is a promo that runs for 50 seconds and basically tells viewers what this feature is. "Timon and Pumbaa Blu-ray 3D" promo runs for 4 minutes 23 seconds is a promotional clip that introduces viewers to Blu-ray 3D. "Disneyfile digital copies" promo runs for 1 minute 4 seconds and tells views about the portability of digital copies. The disc also includes Blu-ray info screen which is basically text info about the disc. A selection of bonus trailers (1080p) are included for: - "Disney Studio All Access" promo which runs for 1 minute. - "The Muppets" which runs for 2 minutes 21 seconds. - "Cars 2" runs for 40 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" promo which runs for 20 seconds. - "Phineas and Ferb" which runs for 32 seconds. - "Disney Parks" which runs for 32 seconds. - "John Carter" runs for 1 minute 44 seconds. - "Treasure Buddies" runs for 1 minute 2 seconds. DISC THREE: BLU-RAY This disc opens up with the "Legends of On Stranger Tides" (1080p) documentary running 36 minutes 16 seconds, this starts out as an in-depth look at the filming, from the development and getting to make a fourth film, working with a new director that's new to the Pirates world, then switches to an actor's personal video diary which seems a little out of place, and almost seems like a separate feature within the documentary then goes back to being a full-fledged doco back to the behind-the-scenes features, overall it's a decent clip that shows the production at work but there's a fair bit of back-patting. "In Search of the Fountain" (1080p) is a featurette that runs for 10 minutes 59 seconds, this basically covers the main aspect of the film, from the development of the plot line, conceptualization and shooting it. "Last Sail, First Voyage" (1080p) is the next featurette that runs for 8 minutes 20 seconds, this clip takes a closer look at the newest cast member to join the Pirates world, Ian McShane as the fearsome Black Beard and also looks at his iconic ship The Queen Anne's Revenge including the production crew building the set. "Under the Scene: Bringing Mermaids to Life" (1080p) featurette runs for 9 minutes 20 seconds, this takes a look the casting of the Mermaids, this clip's for the fellas if you're keen on seeing footage of attractive young women in bathing suits! There are a collection of five deleted and extended scenes (1080p) w/ introductions by director Rob Marshall, they can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option, they include: - "Old Bill" runs for 1 minute 32 seconds and is a scene based on a sequence from the original Disneyland ride. - "Smart Now" runs for 58 seconds is a scene on Barbosa's ship. - "Tonight" runs for 1 minute 17 seconds and features the pirates talking about a mutiny. - "Tango" runs for 3 minutes 17 seconds, is an extended clip of the Tango scene with Jack and Angelica. - "Voodoo Doll" runs for 1 minute 41 seconds, is an extended clip of Angelica seducing Jack with the voodoo doll. "Johnny Vs. Geoffrey" (1080p) is the last featurette that runs for 2 minutes 41 seconds, this takes a closer, yet very brief look at the chemistry between Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. The disc also features "Blu-ray" info that runs for 18 seconds and are a collection of disclaimers and piracy warnings. DISC FOUR: DVD This is the standard definition DVD version of the film, the extras on this disc are the "Bloopers of the Caribbean" blooper reel and the “Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean” short film, as well as the same bonus trailers, as well as the "Timon and Pumbaa Blu-ray 3D" and "Disneyfile digital copies" promos. These are the same extras as seen on the second disc only in standard definition. DISC FIVE: DIGITAL COPY This is a digital copy of the film.
Packaging
Packaged in a deluxe Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case with a 3D lenticular cover.
Overall
The film review was originally published on the blog Rockets and Robots are Go! by Andy James. The A/V and supplements were reviewed by Noor Razzak.
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