Pirates 4: On Stranger Tides

SPOILERS.

Yes, when they greenlit the 4th film, they cut the budget back to $200mil from AWE's $300mil, and told Elliot and Rossio to write more land-based scenes. Maybe that's why it felt so NOT epic.

I do agree that the writing is partially to blame, but I feel that even with the story and the dialogue given him, Marshall could have made a very decent film - at least almost as interesting as the first Pirates movie. I think the whole thing is just a mess. Also, I think Cruz could really have shone if Marshall knew how to handle her. Ian McShane did a good job, but they kind of cut his character off at the balls with the backtalking missionary bit among other things. And the flamethrower bit with the guy in the boat was ridiculous. They could have used that in a battle scene and it would be a regular Flying Dutchman's front cannons thing.
 
Is it worse than At World's End? That movie was awful.

I liked Curse of the Black Pearl and Dead Man's Chest, so if it's closer to those than At World's End, I would like to see it in the theaters.

But if it's closer to At World's End, I'll wait until I can see it on Netflix, or pick it up cheap on Blu-ray.
 
I love Jack Sparrow. But the 3rd movie really killed it for me. I am going to see this probably out of a fan of pirate movies in general though.

I cant resist seeing pirate and post-apocalyptic movies, even when I know they are bad (2012), I still must see them.
 
In terms of story-line and weirdness (or lack thereof), it's closest to The Curse of the Black Pearl. It's like a really bad version of CBP, actually. AWE was f..king awesome. Just sayin'...
 
Man-oh-Man....I don't have a clue on what you guys are thinking. It wasn't the greatest movie in the world...but it was definitely entertaining. I didn't expect anything more or less from this movie. The kids loved it...and that's what I'd expect for a Disney pirate fantasy movie. I actually read the comments here in this thread first...then took the family out to see it (just got back) expecting the worst...but ended up having a good time. I don't get it..

What do people expect from a series like this? it delivered everything I expected then again...maybe me reading this thread first lowered my expectations...so...for that i guess I can give some thanks....maybe (lol)? Anyways...if this movie was filmed on a Red (like I believe it was) then...IMO there is absolutely no reason to use film anymore. It looked that good. Please tell me that was all digital. If so...maybe that's part of where they cut the $100 million budget to film this one.

It's pure fantasy folks. The story does not have to be complicated. Movies like this should be enough for a simple storyline like that. Kids watch it like it was a ride at Disney world. In that case I'd say Disney did exactly what they set out to do. Maybe as they (the kids) get older they'll see all the holes in the plot etc. but so what. I mean...my famiy and I actually got to see the REAL Fountain of Youth 3 weeks ago...and I'll tell you...it was nowhere as dramatic and exciting as this movie made it out to be. But...I went into this with an open mind...and ....was entertained. I'm also glad they moved into a new direction with brand new characters. The Will Turner and what's her name...were um...respectably....ANNOYING...LOL (at least by the 3rd movie). With that said I'm kind of curious to see where they end up in the next two installments.

I don't think it's a bad movie at all. But yes...the original (1st) movie was the best.
 
I was supposed to work on this film, but had to bale because I had to find daycare for my daughter. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of this series anyway. I guess I'm getting old....
 
@Ian-T, the movie was entertaining enough while I was in the theater, seduced by light on a wall. But it didn't take too long after stepping out of the theater for me to realize that nothing had changed between purchasing my ticket and going home except that I now had $13.50 less than I'd had before. As a stand-alone film, On Stranger Tides is a 6 on a scale of 10. It was a decent-enough story, but there was no meaning and it felt really sloppy and honestly very anti-climactic. As part of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a franchise that I love from start to finish (finish being the last film)... it was more of a 3 or a 4 on a scale of 10.

Part of it may indeed be that I had "gotten my hopes up" at the thought of all the epic treats in store (mermaids, zombies, Depp, Cruz, Rush, McShane, etc.), but at this point in the franchise, those expectations come with the territory. Marshall just didn't deliver. At all.
 
By the way, the film was shot on Red. Personally, I didn't like the look anywhere near as much as the other films. There was a grittiness about the original trilogy that is lost in digital.
 
Michael Traven said:
I liked Keira and Bloom. :grin:
Click to expand...
In my opinion, their characters were fine in the first movie, tolerable in the second movie, and downright obnoxious in the third.

Particularly Elizabeth. That "rousing speech" she gave in At World's End was one of the most obnoxious and cheesy things I have ever watched.
 
agcohn said:
In my opinion, their characters were fine in the first movie, tolerable in the second movie, and downright obnoxious in the third.
Click to expand...

Ha ha..that's just about how I'd put it.

Michael Traven said:
By the way, the film was shot on Red. Personally, I didn't like the look anywhere near as much as the other films. There was a grittiness about the original trilogy that is lost in digital.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...you think so? Well....at least it wasn't like "Knowing" (though it looked good there were certain things that jumped out as different to me in that movie). In my opinion most recent movies shot on film look super clean (like digital) to me. A few years back they were all (movies in general) more gritty looking but I'm not sure what they are doing to make these "films" look as clean as they do. Maybe it's just me.
 
Michael Traven said:
Every "rousing speech" ever made on film is cheesy. You either like it or you don't - I loved it.
Click to expand...
In my opinion, it just didn't make any sense at all that a bunch of bloodthirsty pirates would take anything Elizabeth had to say seriously, let alone follow her to their certain deaths. Most times the rousing speech makes sense in the context of the film (sports movies, Braveheart, etc), but not in At World's End. But there was a lot about At World's End that didn't make sense. The whole idea of a pirate council is ridiculous.

It really is a shame how bad At World's End turned out, because Dead Man's Chest was really very fun, and Davy Jones was an awesome villain. At World's End was really just too damn self-indulgent.
 
I think Ian-T is more likely on the money. The IMDB reviews are starting to pour in, and the viewers in general are giving it a 7.3 out of 10. That isn't great, but it's a far sight (har) from Mr. Magoo, which got a 3.4.

I know the reviews have been savage, but it wasn't that bad. If you view it as great cinema, yeah, you'll be disappointed. If you view it as an opportunity to watch Jack Sparrow cavort around in a silly romp, then it's fine, and I certainly thought it was a whole lot better than POTC 2 (even though their IMDB ratings are the same).

As far as the user rankings at IMDB go:
Black Pearl: 8.0
Dead Man's Chest: 7.3
At World's End: 7.0
On Stranger Tides: 7.3

The tomatometer is much rougher:
Black Pearl: 78%
Dead Man's Chest: 54%
At World's End: 45%
On Stranger Tides: 34%
 
Like I said, On Stranger Tides is a decent 6 as a stand-alone film. For people who hated 2 and 3, I can see why they'd like 4. Some people just have bad taste.
 
Whenever audio of Keira Knightley is played at my house, the paint starts to peel off the walls, pretty weird?
 
I don't understand people who hate certain actors so much. Bias only makes your world smaller - why limit yourself like that?
 
I really enjoyed the film. I would buy this on
bluray but not 2 and 3 at all. I'd even go see this one again. I think the fun was brought back.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top