It is difficult to examine the quality of certain films without memories of inferior sequels leaving a bitter taste. This can be said for "Halloween" (1978), "Rocky" (1976), and the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Each was the first in a series followed by questionable sequels. Films such as these must be viewed on their own merits to be fairly judged. For the sake of this review, the rest of the Pirates franchise will be ignored (the second was alright, the third was horrible and the fourth was not much better).
Pirates of the Caribbean has been a money-making device long before a film was ever made. It originated as a theme park ride at Disney theme parks. The task of creating a film based on such source material could have been very generic and bland, which is usually the case (I didn't say Transformers, you're the one thinking it). Luckily, Disney decided to commit one hundred percent to the project and produced a film that appealed to both children and adults. Its success was due to its originality and revival of the pirate genre. Movie-goers were ready for a swash-buckling adventure film; they were just waiting for a good one.
Elizabeth Swann is set to marry Commodore Norrington. Before this can occur she has an accident in which she winds up in the bay and the medallion she is wearing, upon touching the water, puts forth a chain of events that involves undead pirates and a cursed ship. The crew of the Black Pearl needs every piece of the Aztec gold in which Elizabeth's medallion is a part of in order to break the curse. The crew is led by Captain Barbossa, who mutinied against the Pearl's original Captain, Jack Sparrow. However, Sparrow managed to overcome this and arrives on the scene to "aid" Elizabeth and Will Turner, a blacksmith's apprentice turned hero, against the cursed pirates.
Basically, I like this movie. I remember when it was first released, and can recall children and adults alike being enamoured with it. The generation in which it came out had never seen anything like it, and took to it immediately. Yes, the special effects were amazing, but it was the plot of the film that made it so memorable. That, and of course Johnny Depp's carreer defining performance. Suddenly, he was no longer that guy who played Edwards Scissorhands; he had BECOME Jack Sparrow. I believe Depp was deserving of his Oscar nomination that year, and possibly should have won.
No matter how many unbelievably complex sequels they make, nor how many thousand action figures Disney shells out, the name Pirates of the Caribbean will always conjur the image of the pirate skeletons walking on the ocean floor. It was a great moment in cinema, and perfectly defines why this film is so loved.
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