Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)

  • 79% of critics liked it
    (205 reviews)

  • 86% of users liked it
    (31,580,125 ratings)

Following his surprise-hit American remake of The Ring in 2002, director Gore Verbinski took on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the second of recent films to be based upon Disney theme-park rides (the first being The Country Bears). When Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the… More

PG-13, 2 hr. 23 min.
Directed By
Gore Verbinski
Written By
Terry Rossio, Ted Elliott
Genres
Action & Adventure, Science Fiction & Fantasy
In Theaters
Jun 28, 2003 Wide
On DVD
Dec 2, 2003
Buena Vista Pictures

Critic Reviews

  • David Ansen, Newsweek

    Here -- in a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced high-seas adventure that incorporates roaring cannons, oddball comedy, a love story and more than a touch of the supernatural -- Depp unleashes his theatrical bravado. He's hilarious.

  • Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

    Buries its treasures -- mainly Johnny Depp in eye shadow and dreads as Captain Jack Sparrow -- in briny clichés.

  • Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

    Pirates reminds me of a vintage MGM musical, a movie that is more choreographed than directed, and one that serves up good clean fun of the PG-13 variety.

  • David Edelstein, Slate

    At, say, 85 minutes, this would have been a jolly little swashbuckler, but at 143 it turns into an unholy trial.

  • Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

    An awkward pirate epic that's jampacked with energy, ambition and spectacular effects.

Read all 18 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Jason S


    good times

  • Directors C


    Pirates is completely reliant on CGI. In the style of Roland Emmerich and desperately in need of a story and whats worse is you have to sit there for longer than 2 hours watching the same action sequences over and over and over again.

  • Josh L


    Johnny Depp completely deserved his Oscar nomination for best actor from this movie, but Curse of the Black Pearl is also a highly entertaining blockbuster that delivers thrills and chills.

  • zach l


    Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a very fun and entertaining movie. More than average story with amazing performances by Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush. Jack Sparrow has to be one of my favorite characters in a long while. Johnny Depp carries the movie and… More

  • Unknown H


    I will never see the fascinated people have with A) Johnny Depp as a pirate and B) Anyone as a pirate. I think I dislike these movies because of what they created out of the mass audience of young teenage girls who have never seen Cry Baby, What's Eating Gilbert Grape or Benny… More

Read all 20 featured audience ratings

Cast

See full cast

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