Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Posted May 25, 2012 by Speed - 0 comments

After saving his beloved Gibbs from certain death, Captain Jack Sparrow escapes from the King of England who wants him to find the Fountain of Youth before the Spanish Armada does. While doing so, Jack finds out someone else is impersonating him and recruiting people. Of course, Jack wants to know who this supposed “other Jack Sparrow” is and goes digging to find a woman from his past who asks him to join her on her quest for the Fountain. Before he knows what’s really going on, he’s on Blackbeard’s ship that’s filled with a zombie crew and in a race against the English and Spanish.

Sound and Vision:
When you look at the image quality of this blu-ray transfer, it’s like you’re on a rollercoaster ride. It starts off slow, but quickly picks up the pace and leaves you with a feeling of “wow”. The image does not immediately blow you away, but starts off quite nicely and manages to improve as the movie progresses. This does mean that it isn’t consistent, but at no point does it ever disappoint. Shadow detail is great, contrast is spot on, colors are vibrant and bold, skin tones are natural, the picture is deep and the level of detail is awesome. The only point that prohibits a perfect score is some minor amount of noise being present.

Similarly, the 7.1 soundtrack is also an absolute winner with plenty of power sent to the subwoofer, while the surround channels hardly ever get any rest but the dialogues remain crystal clear and localization of effects is superb. The amount of detail that went into this soundtrack make it absolutely awesome.

Extras:
– Bloopers of the Caribbean
– Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: Captain Jack’s Brick Tales

We got a 2-Disc combo pack which means you get a Blu-ray version + DVD version which both have the same two extras that actually aren’t worth much.

Conclusion:
On Stranger Tides is the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean and the first of a possible new series after the original trilogy was closed off neatly. Unfortunately, it’s like Disney wants to do just repeat the first trilogy with as main difference some cast changes.

Gone are Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, and in are Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane who portray Angelica Teach, an apparently long lost love of Jack, and the feared pirate Blackbeard who’s life seems to be running out. The cast change is welcomed and the acting has clearly improved, but the story seems to be all too similar to that of the original Curse of the Black Pearl.

This fourth episode overall steals too many scenes from the first and doesn’t quite manage to excell in other departments. It’s more of the same without much being added and the new characters – although welcomed – don’t manage to make up for that.

Technically On Stanger Tides is a real winner, but on the extras department it’s a sore loser.

Eagle, The – Special Edition Haven – Season 1