Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

 

Part Deux

 

The story of Dead Man’s Chest isn’t actually all that easy to summarize. In short, Jack Sparrow must find the key to a chest that houses Davy Jones’s still beating heart to repay a debt to him. Along the way there are many diversions and side stories but very little gets resolved. Another common complaint about this film is Depp’s character, Jack Sparrow. I agree with those that say his role in the first film was nearly perfect; he was a charming, fun and interesting character but in Dead Man’s Chest, the directors over used him. He went from this great character to an often-annoying one, with many scenes that were unnecessary and embarrassing. I didn’t really think any of the characters developed very well in Dead Man’s Chest; it was a very hollow feeling film, but there were flashes of excitement and, distractions aside, there was still a fairly coherent point to it all. While not as well put together or thought out as the first, it’s still not a “bad” film per se.

 

Fortunately, the same quality that went into the transfer to Blu-ray is maintained here, so you can expect a top-notch experience when it comes to the video and audio; in short, everything looks and sounds pristine. That sounds incredibly vague, but it’s really the case. Outdoor environments, heavy action scenes, low light environments, the CG, the characters—it looks and sounds excellent. From a directorial point of view, the costumes and set designs are quite nice, too. The audio won’t disappoint in its uncompressed 5.1 format that is mixed extremely well.

 

Not As Much Treasure In This Chest

 

Dead Man’s Chest doesn’t come packed with quite as many features as Curse of the Black Pearl, but there should be more than enough here to satisfy any Pirates fan. Totaling about seven hours, the extras spill over to a second disc. These extras include an interactive game and some excellent behind the scenes features that total well over an hour in themselves. A few audio commentaries, none of which feature big stars or the director oddly enough, are also provided. There are also some Disney Blu-ray trailers and a “movie showcase” feature that skips to particularly action packed sequences of the film that demonstrate the power of Blu-ray nicely. Actually, this entire release demonstrates the ability of Blu-ray video and audio quite nicely.