Who knew the success that Disney would have making a movie based on their 1967 amusement park ride. Not only did the first one do beyond expectations but this sequel broke all box-office records taking the spots previously occupied by “Spiderman” and “Star Wars Episode III”. “Dead Man’s Chest” grossed $55.8 million on its opening day alone and has gone on as of November to make an estimated $1,064,087,628 worldwide. Not bad for a movie that understandably had critics and movie fans alike skeptical back in 2002 when the idea of the first movie was announced.
Much like “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Dead Man’s Chest” is being shot back to back along with the third sequel that will be released next summer So far the gamble has paid off even thought “Dead Man’s Chest” ends with a ("Empire Strikes Back" like) cliffhanger. The entire filming lasted over a year and had a rough time with Mother Nature not always playing nice. Regardless, the results paid off and Disney has a successful franchise on their hands.
As with the DVD release of the first movie, “Dead Man’s Chest” is a two-disc set that is offering over 5 hours of Special Features. Not bad although the original movie had over 10 hours of extras but I suspect 5 hours is more than enough to satisfy.
Disc one has the movie with optional commentary by the two writers who helped write the first one as well. Although the original movie contained commentary by the director and Johnny Depp, the writers do a wonderful job of sharing some of the behind the scene secrets and is worth listening to for some special inside jokes. In addition of sneak previews you also have the fun bloopers from the film as well. The best part of the bloopers is watching how Johnny Depp stays in character after flubbing a line.
Disc 2 is where all the trinkets and treasures are to be found for “Dead Man’s Chest”. First up are two documentaries on the making of the sequel. They are both worth the time but ye be warned, one clocks in at 25 minutes and the other is over an hour. Still, they both are full of inside information and footage that shows just how amazing the overall process is in making a Hollywood blockbuster.
Next up is an interactive feature that provides you the back story on the beloved Captain Jack. Not sure if this was the best way to present it all but still worth it if you have a little patience.
After that you can go to “Mastering the Blade” and see how Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Jack Davenport learned how to sword fight. This great little 3-part doc shows us how they lit Orlando’s sword, that Keira is impressive with the blade and Davenport talks about the overall fun being in a pirate movie. Also play around with the navigation, there’s a hidden Easter Egg doc on the dog Chopper. It’s tongue and cheek but fun.
There are also two other Easter Eggs that can be found hidden in the menus. One is on a “coconut picker” that protects the crew from falling coconuts and another is on the catering and what it took to feed this big of a production. Mostly it’s just fun to find these hidden documentaries but they are still informative and not something that you would think about in the making movie process.
The rest of the disc offers still more docs on the CGI and special effects of both Davy Jones and the underwater sea creature known as the Kraken. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer offers his own perspective on the filming and the actors with his photo diary. Last but not least, there is footage of the movie premiere at Disneyland and the new improved update to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride as well.
Without question Disney has a great franchise on their hands and one can only hope that the third sequel will be half as good as “Dead Man’s Chest”. With an announced surprise appearance by the Rolling Stone’s own Keith Richards it’s got great fun written all over it. So pour a glass of your favorite rum and sit back and enjoy the high-seas thrills of “Dead Man’s Chest”.
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Written by Guest on 2006-12-06 21:47:14
 Get the movie, enjoy it, watch it again, & again. Jack is outstanding, the crew and story are very good. This movie is just plain good fun! |
Written by Guest on 2006-12-10 15:23:15
 Johnny Depp is hot in this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get it and treasure it. |
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