Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" Review

I was invited last monday at the press screening of Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" and here is my review. So, did i liked it? Yes i did - not as much as the first POTC movie, though, but i think it was pretty good. I specially enjoyed the Rob Marshall filming that i found a bit more "stylised" than the three first movies. I will try to don't spoil in this review the whole story but i warn you that there will be some inevitable spoilers below.

What i can say is that the storyline is a bit like "Treasure Island" - a group of people are sailing overseas to find an island - except that in this case they are "three" groups who don't look for an island with a treasure but with the fountain of youth. Which, i agree, is a different kind of "treasure".

I liked very much the beginning in London - an old 18th century London to be precise. Captain Jack Sparrow try to help one of his friend to escape...only to discover that someone else is using his name to enroll sailors for a long trip overseas. However Jack is captured and it's in this opening sequence that we also see the return of Barbossa, played by Geoffrey Rush. Below, a short clip of Jack's escape in London in front of the king of England.




The trip to the fountain of youth island will not be that easy, specially considering that they need to capture a mermaid for a reason i don't disclose here. The mermaids sequence is one of my favorites and i think they did a pretty good job on this one. More adventures awaits Jack and his friends before they arrive at the fountain of youth and i let you the pleasure to discover them.

About the actors, now. Johnny Depp is playing Jack Sparrow just like the filming didn't stopped since the third movie, but there is nothing really surprising in the way he plays it. Ian McShane is playing a dreadful Blackbeard - who is able to create zombies - and is very good, and Geoffrey Rush playing Barbossa is absolutely formidable. But Geoffrey is such a great and enjoyable actor that each scene he's in is saved by the way he acts. Penelope Cruz is not bad at all, actually. She is Blackbeard's daughter and she is doing a good job, just like Astrid Berges-Frisbey who plays one of the mermaids.

There is less supernatural elements than in the three previous POTC movies - the part with the zombies is very short - but the production of the movie is really good. Actually, they even succeed to place a scene from the POTC attraction, and it's the one that DLP guests can see at the end of the ride when you're in the treasure grotto scene. Just in front of the treasure there is the "captain cabin" scene with a skeleton sitting in an old luxurious bed, and you will see the same scene inside the Ponce de Leon ship, a spaniard ship who disappeared since 200 years and that everyone is looking for for reasons you will see in the movie.

This next video will show you some scenes with Blackbeard and also the zombies and the mermaids.




A few last words about the 3D. As usual 3D is used to give some depth and there is just a few pop-up effects, but not mre than five or six. Personnally i think that in this case the 3D, although well done, doesn't brings a lot to the movie and i even think that i would have prefered to watch it in 2D. If you can't see it in 3D, don't worry, you won't miss a lot.

Just let us know in the comments what you think of this Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides"!

Pictures and videos: copyright Disney

Pirates of Caribbean 4 Premiere at Disneyland - Red Carpet Videos

It was Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" Premiere yesterday at Disneyland and here is a choice of videos showing the red carpet on Main Street. We begin by Geoffrey Rush, and please note that i may update this article later today with new videos, so come back later to see more!




Here comes Penelope Cruz.




The legendary Rolling Stones Keith Richards.





The Pirates of Caribbean "Mermaids".




...and of course Johnny Depp.





Look well the next video showing Johnny walking on Main Street. Obviously Johnny wanted to get closer to his fans but was stopped to do so by his body guard...




...and on this next one you'll see Johnny showing to his fans how he is sorry to don't be able to get closer to them.




That said, it seems that it was the same for all the POTC 4 stars who apparently were asked to stay in the "middle" of the red carpet. May be it was for security reasons but as we are at Disneyland, one of the safest place on Earth, it may have been for a "timing" reason. The screening in Frontierland had to begin at a certain time and may be they thought that if Johnny began to sign autographs to each fan the show will have too much delay.

Edited: You'll find on Mice Age a great report about yesterday's POTC Premiere and as you will see on the video below Johnny was able to sign autographs to some of his fans, at least at the beginning of Main Street. More about the Premiere HERE.




Videos: copyright Maximo TV, jkj308, nightclubbing12 and KJohnson2083

POTC Update ! Jack Sparrow AAs coming at DLP POTC for the 20th Anniversary, Blackbeard projection effect replaces Davy Jones at DL, and more...

A big POTC update to end the week, and a great news as i can confirm that Jack Sparrow Audio-Animatronics will be installed at DLP Pirates of Caribbean for the 20th Anniversary! More about this below but before let's begin by the big news that was announced by WDI Imagineer Tom Fitzgerald today (and also revealed by Jim Hill earlier this week): "Captain Blackbeard will make his appearance on the ghostly waterfall in the grotto scenes of the park attractions beginning May 20, coinciding with the release of the new film, “Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides,” in which Ian McShane plays a starring role."



In two words, it means that this new Blackbeard projection effect will replace the Davy Jones projection effect BUT as Tom also says in his Disney Parks article; Davy Jones (will come back) later this year. Does it mean that they will regularly change the two characters on the ghostly waterfall - or will they install another "waterfall"? We'll see this later this year but for now, Disneyland fans will be happy to learn that something new is coming in the POTC ride in less than two weeks from now. More about this in Tom Fitzgerald article HERE.

Tomorrow is the day of the big POTC 4 Premiere at Disneyland and they've built a fantastic stage and a "90-foot-wide, six-story-tall motion picture screen on an island created especially for this event"...



...as well as "a state-of-the-art outdoor amphitheater – fully carpeted with stadium seating – is being built right on the Rivers of America just outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction".



For sure it's going to be a memorable evening and as soon as videos of the event will be uploaded on Youtube i will embed the best of them on Disney and more, so be sure to come back this week-end to watch this!


Talking about POTC, the movie, you may have read that screenwriter Terry Rossio has just turned in his script this past weekend to Disney for a planned fifth POTC movie. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Johnny Depp said "It boils down to story, script and filmmaker,"..but the actor isn't clamoring to jump back into the puffy shirt until a little time has passed after Pirates 4. He didn't relish the brutal schedule that saw him making Pirates 2 and Pirates 3 back-to-back in order to meet studio-mandated release dates in summer 2006 and 2007, respectively. "It's not something where I would say, 'Let's shoot it next month to get it out by Christmas 2012,'" he says. "We should hold off for a bit. They should be special, just like they are special to me."

And if you want my opinion, i think that Johnny is right. There is no good reasons to rush for a POTC 5, the most important thing is to take all the needed time to make sure it will be a good movie.

Let's come now to the other big news of this POTC update: Jack Sparrow audio-Animatronics will be installed next year at DLP Pirates of Caribbean, and this will include the Barbossa AA in the Pirate ship AND the "ghostly waterfall" projection effect, just like at DL and WDW.

I told you before that new effects were envisioned inside Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Mountain but for now - and unfortunately - these are on hold. In terms of enhancements on classic attractions, only POTC is sure for the 20th. No decision has been taken yet on Star Tours 2 for DLP - which doesn't mean that it won't happen as they still have time to change their mind.

So, where will they put the Jack Sparrow AA inside DLP POTC? According to my good sources Tom Fitzgerald apparently decided that the AAs will be placed at the same scenes that you can see them at DL or WDW. Which means that in 12 months from now Disneyland Paris fans will be able to salute Captain Jack Sparrow near the "mayor in the well" scene, hiding behind the clothes...



...and also a bit later in the ride, popping out of the barrel...



...and of course near the end of the ride for his final appearance. As the big treasure scene in DLP POTC is not the perfect place to put Jack's AA it seems that his Audio-Animatronic will be placed just in front of the treasure scene, on the left side, where you can see now the two skeletons drinking wine. They have more room to put this last scene with Jack AA there and it's quite logical.



Barbossa Audio-Animatronic will also appear on the pirate ship, except if in the meantime WDI Imagineers decide to replace him by a Blackbeard AA, which would make sense - and, by the way, why not having both of them?



But where DLP Imagineers will put the "ghostly waterfall" either with Blackbeard or Davy Jones projection effect? At Disneyland, the projection effect is inside the caves. But at DL the caves scenes are at the beginning of the ride, at DLP they are at the end. As it is better for the storyline to have it at the beginning of the ride and not at the end DLP Imagineers have decided to put the ghostly waterfall effect during the first lift, i.e right after the blue lagoon scenes, when we climb up inside the sunken fortress. Whether they will put it at the beginning, in the middle or at the top of the lift i can't tell you, but from what i know this is where the ghostly waterfall effect will appear next year inside DLP POTC.

My only regret is that Tom Fitzgerald didn't decided to put one Sparrow AA in the duelist pirates scene. That scene is unique and only exist at DLP POTC and it would have been great to see Captain Jack swashbuckling in that scene. Technically speaking it is pretty easy to do as they only have to change the head, hands and clothes, but apparently the reason why they will not do it is because these two AAs can have technical problems and when it's the case they usually put a curtain in front of them which means that in this case we will not see the Jack Sparrow AA. It's a good reason i admit, but, still, i think they should do it.

I'm sure this 20th Anniversary news will delight DLP fans - although i'm also sure some will think it's a sacrilege to the original ride - but whether you like it or not Captain Jack is coming at DLP POTC next year. AND, as Johnny Depp is living in France when he's not on a set i won't be surprised to see him at the Jack Sparrow AAs inauguration when it will happen next year, just like he did at Disneyland in 2006 on the video below!




All pictures and video: copyright Disney

Pirates of Caribbean 4 : The Fantastic " Mermaids " Poster !

Disney just released a fantastic new Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" poster. This one is all about the Mermaids who are playing, as we know, an important role in the story. The poster looks fantastic and here it is in high-res!

Picture: copyright Disney-Bruckeimer

Pirates of Caribbean " On Stranger Tides " Trailer 2 !

A new trailer for the awaited Pirates of Caribbean "On Stranger Tides" has been released as well as two new pictures.

This new trailer brings more explanations on the Fountain of Youth and the Mermaids and you will learn what Jack Sparrow needs to access to the legendary "fountain"! On the picture below young missionary Philip Swift (played by Sam Claflin) and enigmatic mùermaid Syrena (played by Astrid Bergès)Frisbey) are mysteriously drawn to each other despite the fact that they should be natural ennemies.



Here is the 2nd trailer in english, and with french subtitles for my french readers!




Pictures and video: copyright Disney - Jerry Bruckheimer