Video Picks & Passes
Pirates of the
(2003)
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: PICK
(2003)
Treasure Planet: PICK
(2002)
The Black Pirate: PICK
(1926)
Content advisory:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The
Curse of the Black
Considering its theme-park origins, the original Pirates of the Caribbean is more entertaining, funny, thrilling and romantic than it has any right to be. Critics have compared it to such genre-celebrating pictures as Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Princess Bride and, while it’s not in the same league as either of those films, it’s in the same spirit.
Director Gore Verbinski brings a light touch, neither taking the material too seriously nor crossing the line into self-aware satire. The sly, well-crafted story entails pretty much everything you could want in a pirate movie: an ancient treasure, a terrible curse, a secret island-cave hiding place, a feisty damsel in distress, ships blown into driftwood, bottles of rum, planks to walk, desert islands, swordplay and rope-swinging, and an ominous, ghostly vessel crewed by cursed souls who look human by day but whose true nature is revealed by the moon.
The film is powered by Johnny Depp’s unclassifiable performance as Captain Jack Sparrow,
a down-on-his-luck buccaneer who may be either the best or the worst pirate in
the
For family-friendly pirate
adventure, two recent animated films offer a blend of excitement and moral
drama. DreamWorks’ rousing animated swashbuckler Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas blends Arabian folklore and Greek
mythology, pitting Sinbad, thief of
Treasure Planet, Disney’s animated sci-fi updating of Robert Louis Stevenson’s
Finally, don’t overlook the
spectacular acrobatics of Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in The Black Pirate, one of the silent era’s most spectacular action
blockbusters, filmed in an early Technicolor process that makes it one of the
only color silent films. The film includes a famous and widely copied stunt
recycled in the new Pirates of the
Caribbean movie — riding down a sail on the edge of a knife. And, unlike
Orlando Bloom,
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- July 9-15, 2006