Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise

[Ben]

Interesting to see how they pick up from the Cruz plot thread left dangling at the end of On Stranger Tides, since that was suposed to be the first in the next trilogy. However bad that was, it would be a shame if they just disgarded it completely, but there's been no word on Cruz or Rush rejoining the crew, unless I've missed something in all the spotty nature of reports on this outing...?

[Dan]

Disney has been keeping mum about the plot thus far, so your guess is as good as mine. Just as the rumors of Christoph Waltz as the main villain or the possible return of Will Turner.

By the way, has any one seen the short they apparently made under the radar, "Tales of the Code: Wedlocked", which is apparently only available in the mega 15-disc set of all four films?

[Ben]

What...you mean this one?




I didn't know about this until you mentioned it...seems it's a "prequel" to the very first film that leans more on some original ride elements than we got in the final movies.

[Dan]

That would be the one. If I read correctly, this was done around the time they were filming At World's End. A fun little short and, as you said, leans more on elements from the original ride.

Given the success of the Marvel One-Shots, perhaps we'll be seeing more Tales of the Code if the fifth film does well?

[Dacey]

I'm not sure if I fully trust this list, but if we believe what's said here, the most expensive movie of all time is...Pirates 4?

http://screenrant.com/most-expensive-movies-ever-made/

[Ben]

While I wouldn't say it was far off, that article is riddled with inaccuracies. Also, while costs will usually be assigned to an overall budget, some of those films' overall price tags were due to these numbers including previous development and/or scrapping past attempts to start over, which isn't really fair on a final film's actual cost, even though that's how these things are assigned.

I don't think Avengers 3 parts one and two will cost a billion between them, but can see them going into the six or seven hundred million dollars for both films. That's just what these things cost nowadays, and why these films are becoming more and more homogenised to appeal to the widest audiences capable of repaying these outlays.

[Dacey]

Exactly. Tangled especially doesn't seem like a fair inclusion, as it's unlikely the actual movie cost that much to make by my math. It's also telling that you get a different list each time you read an article on this subject.

But if Pirates IV and Half-Blood Prince really cost THAT much, where did it the money go? It certainly didn't seem to be on screen!

[Ben]

Funny enough they just ran Pirates here a couple of nights ago, starting at half eleven, so you can imagine how long into the night it ran! I didn't make it all the way through, but I hadn't seen it since it came out (and once more on BD) so I thought I'd give it another try...and I couldn't believe just how crap it was.

These movies can still be fun, and I think they know there's a lot riding on the next one, but they're really going to have to pull something magic out of the bag. It's also a shame that it seems the voodoo doll Jack plot isn't going to be continued...not that it was spectacular to start with, but they teased it at the end and even without Cruz it would still be cool for that doll to turn up somewhere unexpectedly and for her to maybe make a comeback in a later, better instalment.

They just seemed to run off the mythology tracks with the fourth film: the elements were all there, but having to shoe-horn Pirates lore into a pre-existing book really set things off course. Until we see any new trailers (with Star Wars?) I'll hold off judgement, but I am hoping the next will return to the slick and streamlined fun of the first and second films.

[Randall]

I spent 10 days with Ben last summer, and I still don't know what "half eleven" means.

[ShyViolet]

11:30 I think?

[Ben]

Ya vol!

[ShyViolet]

It's almost the same phrase in Hebrew.

[Randall]

Due to the order of the words, it seems more like "half an hour before eleven," but I did think it was likely 11:30, based on several conversations with Ben. It still seems like an odd turn of phrase to my Canuck ears, though. And don't get me started on "Bob's your uncle."

Meanwhile, I still haven't seen the last two Pirates films. We've watched the first two over the last two New Year's Eves, so maybe we're due to see the third one this Dec. 31. Don't worry--- expectations are being kept low. It's gotta be done, though.

[Ben]

It's basically a short cut for eleven and a half, but "eleven half" doesn't sound right. Usually, it would be "when shall we meet? Eleven, half eleven?", which perhaps clarifies a bit more for "foreigners"...

Amongst my film friends, we just say, "...and Bob Zemeckis!" instead of uncle.

Keep those expectations low for Pirates 3 and 4. Actually, 3 isn't *too* bad - you can find my spoiler free reviews for both here on the site - and I just gave up trying to figure the plot out and just enjoyed the free for all sword fights at the end, but 4 is underpowered and overbloated, a particularly nasty combination on a big studio film. It doesn't fit in with any of the three previous films mythology and doesn't look to continue in the next one, so it seems it may be the "black sheep" of the Pirates family. You could probably skip it and go right on to the new ones next...!

And, just for the heck of it, here's another wink!

[Bill1978]

I just always assumed the origin of half eleven stemmed from people being too lazy to say Half past Eleven. I think a lot of time phrases are going archaic because of the embracement of digitial time over analog time. My favourite is listening to my students try to be all knowing and announce something as being 45 past 2. I cannot resist and always say 'How about you try quarter to 3 instead'

Back to the topic. I never fully understood the massive hate thrown at 3. But then I'm only a casual pirates fan. The only complaint I've ever had with the pIrates film was the one (I think its 2) where Jack was stranded on a jungle island and Will had to save him. And it ends with Jack in a giant ball rolling down a hill. It was 30 minutes of nothing that progressed the plot at all. I kept waiting for it to be referenced. They could have easily just had Jack passed out in a brothel or an inn and the story would still have made sense.

I enjoyed 4 mainly because I didn't have to remember any of the previous mythology to 'understand' the plot. Even if said plot was unnecessarily complicated. I guess we aren't going to ever find out what happened with the priest and the mermaid in number 5?