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Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
In director Gore Verbinski's hugely popular comedy,
and fantasy-adventure swashbuckler, the first of a successful film
franchise, and based upon a Disney theme-park ride:
- the prologue: the HMS Dauntless, on its way
to Port Royal, Jamaica, discovered a shipwreck (after a pirate
attack) and recovered its sole survivor, young Will Turner (Dylan
Smith as child) from the ocean; Governor Swann's young 11 year-old
daughter Elizabeth (Lucinda Dryzek as child) found a golden pirate
medallion around his neck, secretly kept it, and then had an ominous,
ghostly glimpse of the Black Pearl pirate ship (and its
flag) appearing in the fog; the scene morphed to eight years later
- and 19 year-old Elizabeth (Keira Knightley as adult) awakened
wide-eyed
The Prologue
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Young Elizabeth Discovered a Gold Medallion Around
Young Will Turner's Neck
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Elizabeth Glimpsed the Black Pearl, now
Captained by Mutinous Barbossa
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Elizabeth Eight Years Later
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- the memorable introduction of Black Pearl pirate
Captain Jack Sparrow (Oscar-nominated Johnny Depp) as he sailed
into Port Royal, Jamaica while standing and balancing himself on
the crow's nest of a small ship in a seemingly dramatic, heroic
entrance to a swelling score, but quickly revealed to be in a sinking
dinghy - when he reached the wooden pier, only the very tip of
the mast was showing above water, and then, in a perfectly-timed
move, he gracefully stepped onto dry land from the submerged boat;
his own ship, the Black Pearl, had been seized during a
mutiny by First Mate Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), who made
himself Captain
Captain Jack Sparrow's Entrance Scene
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- during a marriage proposal by Admiral James Norrington
(Jack Davenport) to Elizabeth (although she was secretly in love
with lowly blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom as adult)), her
tightened corset caused her to faint, tumble backwards and fall
into the bay, where she was daringly rescued by Captain Sparrow
- he noticed the gold pirate medallion around Elizabeth's neck
- it was the last piece of stolen Aztec treasure (a total of 882
gold pieces) that could reverse the curse upon Barbossa's pirates;
Jack was forced to flee when pursued by the British officers
- the long, exciting, acrobatic and chatty swordfight
between Captain Jack, considered a pirate, and straight-laced swordsman
and blacksmith Will Turner in the shop, culminating in Jack's imprisonment
- the portrayal of the beautiful, spunky, Governor's
daughter Elizabeth Swann, who was kidnapped and taken captive by
wily 'undead' cursed pirate Captain Barbossa on his pirate ship the Black
Pearl (summoned by the medallion's pulse); he told her about
his theft of the Aztec gold coins/treasure taken on Isla de Muerta
that turned them into cursed men, and then explained how the effects
of the curse could be reversed if the gold was returned, along with
the bloody sacrifice of each pirate: "We are cursed men, Miss
Turner. Compelled by greed, we were, but now we are consumed by it.
There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of
the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye,
we have the final piece. (Elizabeth: "And the blood to be repaid?")
That's why there's no sense to be killin' ya, yet"
- during an escape attempt, Elizabeth Swann unsuccessfully
tried to stab Captain Barbossa in the heart and flee from the ship,
but she was seized and forced to look at the skeletal forms of the
Captain's crew of 'undead' pirates in the moonlight; when first revealed,
they turned from normal humans to ghoulish, anatomically-detailed
living skeletons: "Look! The moonlight shows us for what we
really are! We are not among the living, and so we cannot die. But
neither are we dead! For too long, I've been parched of thirst and
unable to quench it. Too long I've been starvin' to death and haven't
died. I feel nothin'. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the
sea, nor the warmth of a woman's flesh. (He reached for her, his
hand turning skeletal) You best start believin' in ghost stories,
Miss Turner. You're in one!"
- in the film's conclusion during a moonlit night, the
'undead' pirates snuck up on the British Royal Navy and the HMS
Dauntless (during a rescue attempt to free Elizabeth) by walking
across the ocean floor in skeleton form, and then crawling up the
ropes on the sides of the ship undetected
- the monumental swordfight duel on Isla de Muerta between
the two immortal pirates: Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa;
as the fight concluded, the last two stolen and bloodied Aztec treasure
gold coins (pieces of eight) were dropped into a stone chest by rightful
heir Will Turner; temporarily 'undead' Captain Jack had thrown his
own secretly-stolen coin to Will, to deposit for him in the chest,
to lift the curse and return himself to being mortal
- Barbossa pulled a gun on Elizabeth, but before he
pulled the trigger, Sparrow shot 'undead' Barbossa (who thought he
was still invincible) in the heart. He told Jack: "Ten years
you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot"; but he
was wrong, as Will affirmed while dropping the two coins in the chest: "He
didn't waste it"
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Barbossa's Death - He Was Mortally Shot in the
Chest
After the Curse Was Lifted: "I Feel Cold"
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- the black-hearted pirate's wound - normally harmless,
was now fatal since he had just turned mortal when the curse ended;
Barbossa ripped open his coat and glanced down at his bloody chest
wound - he uttered: "I feel - cold"; as he fell backwards
onto the pile of treasures, a green apple rolled from his hand
- in the epilogue, Capt. Sparrow was about to be hanged,
but was momentarily rescued and then was able to escape by falling
into the water, restoring himself onto the deck of the Black Pearl (with
his crew ready to sail again), where he ordered everyone: "On
deck, you scabrous dogs! Hands to braces! Let go and haul to run
free! Now bring me that horizon. (He hummed the tune to: "Ho
Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)") And really bad eggs. Drink up,
me hearties. Yo ho!"
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A Glimpse of The Black Pearl's Flag
Rescue of Elizabeth by Capt. Sparrow
Sparrow's Sighting of Elizabeth's Medallion: "Where
did you get that?"
Swordfight Between Jack Sparrow and Will Turner
The Gold Pirate Medallion
Kidnapped Elizabeth Confronted by Capt. Barbossa
Captain Barbossa's 'Undead' Cursed Pirates
Will's Toss of the Last Bloodied Coins into Chest to Break
the Curse
Jack's Aborted Hanging and Escape to His Ship
Back Aboard the Black Pearl: "Drink up, me
hearties. Yo ho!"
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