Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

"Prepare to be blown out of the water."

2003 2h 23m EN

🙌

7.8

BANGER

🍅

79%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

8.1

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 22,886🍅79%Rotten Tomatoes●63Metacritic★8.1IMDB · 1,323,403

AdventureFantasyAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When wily pirate Captain Barbossa seizes Jack Sparrow’s beloved ship, the Black Pearl, and kidnaps the governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swann, blacksmith Will Turner reluctantly teams up with the unpredictable pirate Jack to rescue her—only to uncover a terrifying curse that turns Barbossa’s crew into the undead.

“Prepare to be blown out of the water.”

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Cast

Johnny Depp
Jack Sparrow
Geoffrey Rush
Barbossa
Orlando Bloom
Will Turner
Keira Knightley
Elizabeth Swann
Jack Davenport
Norrington
Jonathan Pryce
Governor Weatherby Swann
Lee Arenberg
Pintel
Mackenzie Crook
Ragetti

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gore Verbinski
Writers: Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$140M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.7× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Pirates of the Caribbean Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

401+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gore Verbinski, shot by Dariusz Wolski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Craig Wood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gore Verbinski directs. Dariusz Wolski behind the camera. Klaus Badelt scores. Craig Wood cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$140M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Made its money back 4.7× over at the box office.
3Released 23 years ago.
4Part of the "Pirates of the Caribbean Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5401+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Gore Verbinski, shot by Dariusz Wolski. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Klaus Badelt. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Craig Wood shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush and Orlando Bloom carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "Prepare to be blown out of the water.".
11IMDB entry: tt0325980 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
1322,886 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 19 themes, including "ship", "blacksmith", "gold", "exotic island".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
Original score: Klaus Badelt
Editing: Craig Wood
Production design: Brian Morris
Costume design: Penny Rose
Makeup / hair: Ve Neill
VFX supervisor: Alex Frisch
Sound: David E. Campbell
Stunt coordinator: George Marshall Ruge
Runtime: 143 min · 2h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $140,000,000
Box office: $655,011,224
Return: 468% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 79% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 63/100
IMDB rating: 8.1/10 · 1,323,403 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

Nominated for 5 Oscars. 38 wins & 104 nominations total

Silver nugget for the best foreign film
Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Pirates of the Caribbean Collection

A series of fantasy swashbuckler films based on Walt Disney's theme park ride of the same name. The films follow the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow and take place in a world ruled by the British Empire, the East India Trading Company and the Spanish Empire, with pirates representing freedom from the ruling powers.

Also by

Gore Verbinski

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-09-25
★ 9/10
Ah, but you have heard of me. The crew of the Black Pearl are cursed by something most unimaginable, the only way to lift the curse is to return a lost Aztec coin to its treasure chest home. In the way of them achieving their goal is the British Governor's daughter, the son of Bootstrap Turner, oh and a former comrade by the name of Captain Jack Sparrow who the crew had left to die on an island some time ago. It's now common knowledge that Pirates Of The Caribbean is a film based upon a theme park ride of the same name, thoughg that ride is not actually a roller-coaster, it's fair to say that this film most assuredly is. A swashbuckling ripper of an adventure yarn cramming in every pirate film staple it can and pouring on layers of charm at every turn. Into the broth goes romance, comedy and striking adventure, and director Gore Verbinski even manages to give the children watching little slices of horror, not enough to keep them up at night, but enough to bring on an uneasy grin. It's unashamedly commercial, produced by that purveyor of OTT entertainment values, Jerry Bruckheimer, it was to be expected, but few blockbusting movies of the new age can lay claim to being such an out and out reason for having fun. This is the reason why Pirates had few peers at the time of its release, for it knows its reason for being, it's not taking itself seriously. The audience is not being hoodwinked in any way, they are having fun because so is the film and so is, crucially, the impressive cast. Johnny Depp as Sparrow is having the time of his life, basing the character around the dubious mannerisms of Rolling Stone icon, Keith Richards, it works to its highest potential and Depp is simply wonderful in the role. Keira Knightley (perfectly cast), Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce and Mackenzie Crook all do what was asked, which is essentially say your lines right and have a blast with it, it really is that sort of picture. The subsequent sequels would forget what made this first offering so enjoyable, foregoing the outrageous sense of fun for a dark sheen and character development. That is a shame, but at the very least we still have this wonderful picture to go back to time and time again, to lift you up when one is down or to keep one happy when one is already in that happy place. The Curse Of The Black Pearl is a joy from start to finish. 9/10
Andre Gonzales2023-07-26
★ 10/10
My favorite out of the series. In my opinion none of them has been as good as the first. Him just trying to get his ship back the Black Pearl.
CinemaSerf2023-08-29
★ 7/10
Having been deposed by his crew, "Capt. Jack Sparrow" (Johnny Depp) arrives in Port Royal with little but the clothes he stands up in. He turns up just as the governor's daughter "Elizabeth" (Keira Knightley) is having to fend off the rather unwanted matrimonial intentions of "Norrington" (Jack Davenport). She has designs on the blacksmith's apprentice - "Turner" (a handsome but insipid, sorry, Orlando Bloom) whom she rescued from a pirate raid many years earlier. "Sparrow" would prove an excellent catch for "Norrington" but thanks to an hot poker, a donkey and some legerdemain at sea, he and "Turner" are soon abroad on the trail of his old crew and of the legendary pirates who sail the seas in the "Black Pearl" seeking an odd sort of salvation! What now ensues are some pacily directed escapades with loads of attitude, swash and buckle. Some pithy dialogue and a rousing (if slightly repetitive) score from Klaus Badelt take us criss-crossing the Caribbean constantly jumping from frying pan to fire. The star for me here is certainly Geoffrey Rush. A man who rarely disappoints, and on this occasion brings a comically potent degree of menace as his "Barbossa" character ensures that the plot thickens and the story gathers momentum. It's a bit on the long side - there are a few sagging moments now and again, but a solid supporting cast led by Kevin McNally provide some borderline slapstick humour, occasionally tempered by the dignified persona of an underused Jonathan Pryce's "Gov. Swann" and an whole suite of powdered wigs. The visual effects are top drawer and the story well worth a watch on a big screen to do justice to the imagery and the best traditions of seafaring yarns.