Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - Tired franchise looks for Fountain of Youth

9/18/2023

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - Tired franchise looks for Fountain of Youth

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With new stars stepping up alongside franchise cornerstone Johnny Depp, a traditionally adventure-promising poster for Rob Marshall's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Captain Jack Sparrow appears in London, where he helps his first mate Gibbs escape and start on a new adventure, - this time to find the Fountain of Youth!

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (The Lone Ranger (2013), both)), loosely based on the novel On Stranger Tides (1987) by Tim Powers (Powers of Two (2004)), and directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago (2002)). It is the 4th film in the Pirates franchise (2003; 2006; 2007).

Johnny Depp's (Transcendance (2014)) Sparrow act is getting a bit old, and although there is still some fun left in the character, in the film's best lines, On Stranger Tides doesn't add anything considerable new, which makes it feel as if it runs down-hill in neutral gear, figuratively speaking.

Penélope Cruz (Sahara (2005)) is sexy but confused in a story without any semblance of reality to it, while Geoffrey Rush (The Best Offer (2013)) again succeeds in blowing worthwhile life into his character, Captain Barbossa. When the musical theme plays, one might almost forgive that there is no really good story at play here, and sure in glimpses the handsome animation (costly VFX take over large parts of the film) and great hair- and makeup jobs can be appreciated, - but none of these elements can save this heavily loaded and simultaneously light-as-a-fly sequel. Another problem is that the post-climactic scenes feel endless.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a failed attempt at resurrecting the series after the dreadful third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007).

Pirates franchise: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) - Disney's tentpole franchise implodes

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) - Wild ruckus in Verbinski's entertaining first Pirates sequel

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - Verbinski's sprawling Disney swashbuckler is a prime summer spectacle

Rob Marshall: Nine (2009) - Stars and robes save Marshall's Italian fantasy

Watch a trailer for the movie here

Cost: 378.5 mil. $

Box office: 1,046.7 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.76 times its cost)

[Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides premiered 7 May (Disneyland Anaheim, California) and runs 137 minutes. Depp was paid 55.5 mil. $ for his performance in the film. Shooting took place from June - November 2010 in Puerto Rico, Hawaii and in London, England. Despite aims at lowering the film's cost from the previous two back-to-back shot films' budgets, 3D-camera shot On Stranger Tides' budget ballooned to the point where it became the costliest film ever made at the time. The cost fell from 410.6 mil. $ due to a 32.1 mil. $ tax rebate in England. The film opened #1 to a 90.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4-#5), grossing 241 mil. $ (23 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 108.8 mil. $ (10.4 %) and China with 70 mil. $ (6.7 %). It was the 3rd highest-grossing film of the year, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. It additionally made in excess of 102 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. The franchise returned with Depp and Rush in the 5th film, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), the last Pirates film to date. Marshall returned with Into the Woods (2014). Depp returned in The Rum Diary (2011); Rush in Green Lantern (2011); Cruz in To Rome with Love (2012); and Ian McShane (Hellboy (2019)) in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012). Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is rotten at 33 % with a 5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

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9/18/2023

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) - Tired franchise looks for Fountain of Youth

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