Well, I just got back from watching the 3rd installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. I have to say it left me feeling a little empty inside.

The whole movie I just felt strangely disconnected. It didn't have the "pull" that the first two movies had. And in my opinion it certainly didn't have the humor that the first two had.

I thought the 2 hour and 48 minute movie could have done without several of the scenes - some of them just seemed like pointless drivel and time filler to me.

Okay, now if you've read this far, I'm going to assume that you don't mind reading spoilers or that you've already seen it. But just in case...

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Was anyone as disappointed with the Elisabeth/Will ending as I was? She gets to see him... make love to him... once every ten freakin years?!? Come on! Me of all people likes a little waffy angst... as much as the next person... but I like a happy ending!!! Where was my happy ending? <sniffle>

I would probably feel a little better about the whole situation if I knew for a certainty that there was going to be a fourth movie... but there are no guarantees, are there? I haven't heard that a 4th one is in the works. If there's not, there definitely needs to be. The producers need to come back and fix the mess they've made out of things. Ugh!

Anyway, is there anyone out there who disagrees with me? Who loved the movie and thought it was the best of the three? Who thought the ending was spectacular? If there is, please, come share your views with me... because I feel like I'm missing something here... I feel like too much of it didn't make sense and was left unanswered - and then killing poor Will off before his honeymoon and then giving him ONE DAY before he disappears into the netherworld for 10 years... that just sucks! Sorry. It holds no romance for me. <sigh>

Anyway... this topic may not get any comments at all. Maybe no one even cares... But I'm curious if anyone else was left feeling as empty as I was after the movie. I was expecting happily ever after and got eternally tortured instead.

-- DJ

P.S. - In my state of shocked disbelief, I failed to stay for the end of the credits to see if there was a clip at the end (which I realized was a mistake later... maybe there would have been a clue...) Did anyone stay for that ending clip? Or was there even one?

****EDITED*****

Okay. I was a total nerd and hunted down the ending scene. Apparently someone had it posted on youtube but Disney made them take it off <ugh> but there were plenty of written reviews about what happened.

This explanation makes me feel a little better, but it doesn't change the fact that I didn't like the 3rd movie nearly as much as the first two. <sigh>

Here's the review of the after credits scene in case anyone reads this thread and wants to know.

DJ, I felt the same way you did! I was so mad when Will was stabbed. Poor Elizabeth had to lose her husband on their wedding day! (Pretty funny wedding though )

This movie was a lot darker and not nearly as funny as the first two. At some points I didn't think it was appropriate for kids to see, and you know kids will want to see this movie after seeing the first two.

But I was also left with a sort of hollow feeling. It wasn't wrapped up as well as I would have liked. And I really like the Will/Elizabeth combo. It feels like a really cheap ending for all they went through. Although, I thought it was really sweet when he gave her his heart and told her that it had always belonged to her. But after seeing your edit, I feel a little better about the ending. I didn't know there was supposed to be another scene. It's kind of unfair if you don't know it's coming. I would have been more than happy to wait to see it.

Anway, you aren't alone in your thoughts. In a small way, the ending kind of cheapens the first two movies for me because now I see them and I know that it doesn't end all waffy like it should. But thats just a very small way. I still love those movies!

~Kristen

(btw, Orlando Bloom made a pretty hot lookin pirate at the end, didn't he??? )

I didn't see the movie, but I belong to a POTC disscussion group and here's what the writers had put up on their website: apparently, the Captain of the Flying Dutchman is only doomed to spend eternity sailing the seas if his true love is not waiting for him at the shore after ten years. There's a scene after the credits (following the POTC tradition of the last two movies) that features Elizabeth waiting at the wharf with a little boy who looks like Will. They are watching for the light of the Flying Dutchman. Will comes out and see them and he and Elizabeth smile at each other.

So, since Will's true love is waiting for him at the end of ten years, the curse is lifted and Will is free. How idiotic is it to have the Happy Ending screened AFTER the credits, esecially since the credits are so long in this movie?!

I saw the movie last night and I totally missed the additional scene after the credits! Bummer!!

Yes, the movie was a lot darker than the first two. However, I did find plenty of humor in it (monkey!!). I was so throughout with all the (broken) deals between the different groups. I wonder how the writers could keep all that straight!

Jack was hilarious as always, especially the scenes with the multiple Jacks.

The reviews I've seen - both from critics and those who've seen the movie - have been pretty mixed so far, so I'm going to approach this one when I get to see it with an open mind and make up my own mind when I do.

But it's certainly never a good thing - and usually a sign of very poor writing - when the writers have to go online explaining important plot points in interviews after the fact! Imo, if it's not in the movie, they've messed it up.

The postscript does seem to give us a happy ending, though, I guess.

I, too, am looking forward to adding the third to my DVD collection though and watching all three back to back, at some point.


LabRat

I probably shouldn't post this reply, since I haven't seen any of the Pirates movies, but...

Ah, DJ, I had such incredibly high hopes for a happy ending for Lois and Superman when I went to see Superman II... but I stumbled out of there a crying wreck! Because not only were Lois and Superman separated, but he was the one who deliberately made sure that their separation happened!!!

Which is why I'm so ungrateful to fanfics that leave Lois and Clark looking forward to a blissful future together after they have shared their first passionate kiss... who the heck knows if they are going to have any sort of future together, if you don't show us that they do???

Ann

NEVER SEEN A PIRATES MOVIE?!

Go. Get out of here. Get a DVD. WATCH! You, my poor dear friend, are missing out on one of life's great experiences.

Don't talk to me about Superman II. I'm sorry I ever bought the DVD. They ought have let Richard Donner stay on - he is a man with too much sense to have let that debacle happen. I want to see the Donner cut, but I haven't found it yet. Have you?

Ahh, grasshopper. Sometimes, one must just KNOW things, regardless. *wise*

Hee hee. Awwwww, gee thanks everyone! I'm so glad there are those out there who feel my pain.

Thanks for that additional info Hasini. I hope when the DVD comes out that they will put some in depth discussion on it about the ending... and will include that missing scene between Tia Dalma and Davy Jones about her not being there when he came back 10 years later. That was idiotic of the editors to cut that scene. What an important scene to rip from the movie. I would have felt so much better about the whole thing if they had left that in there.

<shrug>

Oh, and Kristen...

Heck yeah! He looked adorably yummy. Mmmm! And that ending scene where he comes to Elisabeth to get his other boot... <melts> The way he caresses her leg and thigh... holy heck that was hot! But of course not knowing the additional scene/ending just served to break my heart further. I wish someone could find a way to repost that ending scene somewhere (stupid Disney and stupid me for not staying through the credits - Ugh)

Thanks guys!

-- DJ

I figured it would already be up on YouTube - and it was.

end credits scene

See if you can get it to work, DJ. It will only sit there with 'loading' on it for me - but 7 other people have viewed it, so it may just be my pc.

EDIT - damn you, YouTube! Seems they got in there smartish and yanked it. Two seconds after posting this, I tried to play it again and got a 'no longer available/copyright violation' message.

Guess you could keep an eye out and see if someone else posts it and get in quick before YT notices. <g>


LabRat

Personally, I loved the movie. In fact, I'm ready to go see it again right now. The first one was the best, but I thought this one was much better than the second. I laughed more watching this movie than I can remember laughing in a long time. It was hilarious. And yeah, Orlando Bloom was so hot in this movie I thought I was going to melt into a little puddle on the theater floor!


This being said, there were a few things I did not care for in the movie. One being that it was, at times, a little too dark and violent for young viewers. Another problem I had with it was that it was sometimes hard to follow. This was true, to some extent, with the first movie, and was very true in the second movie. However, I was able to work out most of the plot kinks on the first two after a few viewings, so I'm hoping that this will be the case with At World's End .

I was one of the few who actually stayed through the credits to watch the end of the movie. I was surprised that only 4 other people in the theater did the same (two of them were with me). I was a little dissapointed with the end, but after reading this...

I feel much better. I don't know if this is true or not, but I choose to believe it. It makes me very happy.

Before I end, I must say once more that Orlando Bloom was jawdropping HOT!

Now I shall go put in The Two Towers so I can watch Orlando kick some Orc butt!

Edit: Yay! I'm going back to see it again tonight! I saw the first one 5 times in the theater. I wonder if I will see this one as many times.

I see Disney quashed YouTube having the ending, and I was a wreck when I got home and discovered it had been taken off, lol. But the lovely, lovely folks at a POTC messageboard sneakily saved the video to photobucket. Let me double check and make sure the link still works. The quality is lousy, but at least you can see the clip.

http://s65.photobucket.com/albums/h204/BillionDollarPrn/More/?action=view&current=MVI_1597.flv

The end clip ^^^


Hope that helps...

Laura.

Oooooh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you thank you Laura S!!!!!

You totally ROCK!!!

DJ <who is feeling much happier now...>

No problem! You should have seen how frantic I was, demanding someone find me a link and FAST. Good thing they were so obliging.

I just got back from seeing it again. It was just as good the second time around.

Lady_Mirth,
Can I get a link to where this statement is made?

Terry Rossio (who cowrote the film with Ted Elliott) said the following here :
And here Ted said:
There's also a good discussion/summary of all of this here .

I have very mixed feelings about the movie in general, and about this ending in particular. I'm trying to put my thoughts in order before I make any final judgments, but coming out of the theater the other night I was very, very unhappy with the movie. It's grown a little on me since then, but that could be my desire to like it making me conveniently forget all the plotlines that went nowhere, the excessive weirdness and violence throughout, and the numerous times I simply (and literally) threw up my hands in frustration <g>. [It didn't help that I saw it in the dirtiest theater I've ever seen, who saw fit to splice in their own intermission an hour or so in...]

Kaylle

I, for one, loved the movie. Well, except for the very very end, but you guys have made me happy about that. YAY!

The multiple Jacks? Absolutely hilarious. Though licking his own brain was disturbing. And any time I can see a butt-kicking sword-wielding chick, I'm there. Elizabeth has fully joined the ranks of Eowyn and some other swordfighters. And I have to say, I think that is the *oddest* wedding scene I've ever seen! And of course, the sounds after the waterfall, when the screen went pitch-black for a few seconds. I about died laughing when I realized it was the sounds you hear going through the ride.

Parts I was disappointed in: The whole dead-Will thing, but you guys fixed that for me. Very little Keith Richards swagger. (Seriously, all that nagging to get him in the movie, and there wasn't much swagger!) And what the heck happened after Davy Jones fell. Did Calypso save him and forgive him? Is she happy now? The whole maelstrom was cool, but they underused her god-like abilities.

And yes, Orlando Bloom makes a very sexy pirate. There were a few scenes of him just staring out at the water that almost made me swoon.

I LOVED the wedding scene! It was so funny and yet strangly romantic at the same time.

I didn't think about the green flash the first time around. I had forgotten that it meant a soul was returning from the afterlife. The second time though, it really solidified in my mind that Will gets to come back to her for good. I just wish they would have explained that better. It is the difference between a somewhat depressing ending and a very happy ending.

I've only read a little bit of this thread so far, but this post just reached out and grabbed me. I once had to help make a short film as an assignment. The Editor, who doubled as a camera man and never showed up at meetings, cut out *The One Line* that carried the entire film. Without it, the movie made very little sense.

I'm slow to find fault with the writers, as a result.

Mary's right, actually. Apparently, Pirates lost a lot of plot on the cutting room floor because the movie was so long already. One or two of those scenes were ones that explained the whole deal about the Flying Dutchman curse and how it should affect Will.

So, I don't think one should really blame the writers. Or even the director really. I believe it's the studio that has the final say. And as we FoLCs have all too good reason to know, most of our favourite shows/ movies would have fared a lot better if the studios had kept their noses out.

You're absolutely right, of course, Mary. In fact, writers are very low down on the totem pole in movies and television and this kind of decision is usually taken by a whole range of people above them.

When I wrote my post, I used writers because the writers in this case are the same people as the directors/producers etc, who are the ones making these decisions - so it was all the same thing. Aren't they? I had that impression but perhaps they aren't. If not, then, yes, it would be the producers, directors, editors et al more than anyone else who failed to put on screen what was necessary to tell the story rather than the writers, who don't really have much input unless they're also doing the top jobs.

Thus, my previous comment was directed at the person quoted in other posts in this thread as being the one currently online explaining the plot after the fact. I'd assumed he was the writer, as well as...whatever other position he holds on the movie...and so referred to him as such. If he's not one of the writers, then whoever he is, he made a mistake imo.

Regardless, my point is that if the people (call them what you will) involved in making the movie and putting it together have to go online after the fact to explain important plot points that enable it to make sense they've failed to properly do their job. It should all be there on the screen. Movie-goers shouldn't have to go trawling through the web at a later date to find out what actually happened.

I have to say that this argument from producers etc, has never impressed me. I'm willing to bet that any one of us could watch that movie and find several minutes of utterly superfluous footage which could have been excised to account for the overtime and which would never have been missed. Thus allowing them to keep the vital footage they actually cut out. Sometimes, I'm amazed at what they keep in and what they excise.

LabRat

I went to see it for the third time last night. I've gotta say, I think it gets better everytime I see it. It also makes a little more sence and I pick up more detail each time.

This was the first time I realized that Will was stabbed in the heart by his own sword -the one he made for Norrington in the first movie. Somehow I missed that the first two times.

I admit that I was a little dissapointed the first time I left the theater, but now that I have read so much online that seems to confirm that Will gets to stay with Elizabeth after his 10 years are over, I love it. IMO, this is the best movie that has come out in the theater since the LOTR movies and POTC: Curse of the Black Pearl.

The hubby took me to see it for my birthday and I must say I liked it enough that when Will got stabbed, I gasped out loud. When I'm into a movie enough to react like that, it means I liked it. I wish I'd known there was more at the end of the credits. Would have liked to have that loose end tied up.

And Barbosa gets the Pearl, beautiful!!! I loved his character from the beginning, being one of the few that liked Geoffrey Rush over Johnny or Orlando. Course, I liked him in Quills too, crazy actor that he is, scary and charming all at once.

I don't think they'll do a fourth, but that might be a good starting point for a TV series...but the cartoon's already on Disney Channel, right? Different actors of course. Would love to see Dean all piratey and swashbuckle-y....

LabRat wrote:

I'm often amazed, too. I thought the final fight on the edge of the maelstrom was overly long and extremely choppy (and therefore hard to follow). But the people who actually make the decisions on what to keep and what to cut usually have very little to do with the actual filming, not to mention the writing. It's why we have so many "director's cut" versions of movies coming out on DVD. Look for the production company credits and the "executive producer" credit to find the person to blame for anything you didn't like about any movie or TV or radio show. If the basic story line is sound, then it's probably not the writers' fault if the movie is a bust.

I saw the movie Saturday evening. I liked it a lot (not as much as LOTR or "The Quiet Man"), and partly because of the comments in this thread I knew what to look for. I heard the 10-year explanation in the dialogue (but not all in one place, mind you), so I understood what was going on. And I can understand why someone who wasn't forewarned might easily miss it.

But y'all are right. There's several Greyhound-sized plot holes in this puppy.

I would ask, who would captain the Dutchman if Will goes back to land to live with Elizabeth? And what did she do for those ten years? There's definitely another movie in there, but I have no idea whether or not it will be made. Depends on the money, if the studio thinks it can make money on another installment.

For example, the last Star Trek film was supposed to be the last Star Trek film, but another one has been announced for release in 2008. I don't know any details, but it goes to show that if someone thinks there's money to be made, it will probably happen.

Terry, The Quiet Man is tied with His Girl Friday as my absolute favorite.

Not that that has anything to do with this thread. Returning you all to the Pirates talk...