The Adventures Of Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates Of The Caribbean Fanedit series)

[TM2YC]

I just wanted a good movie as a whole, and that kind of action doesn't bore me, it annoys me and ruins movies these days. When Jack pole-vaults between cliffs, falls hundreds of feet to the ground, the bone-cage rolling sequence, the aforementioned mill-wheel fight... Negating the laws of nature in a real world setting and pushing probability beyond its breaking point repeatedly

That's like a list of my favorite bits from POTC2 :-D.

it's like in The Hobbit: DoS when Bombur is rolling in the barrel along the river, crushing orcs. Killing 1 or 2 Orcs would have been fine and grin-worthy - killing 14 or whatever the count was - it's just excessive and rolling-eyes-worthy... if that makes sense.

I had big problems with the Goblin-mine silliness in Hobbit1 as I felt like I was still watching LOTR... but the stupid version. With DoS I felt a little more comortable with this "alternate" middle-earth and just went with all the goofiness and throughly enjoyed it. I thought that PJ had strayed a tad too far from Tolkien in AUJ but in DoS he strayed sooo far that it became it's own thing. Having said that, if I was fan-editing DoS I'd still lightly trim the bits you mention.

I guess it comes down to personal taste about what you think can, or cannot, happen in a film universe. e.g. In my AOTC Star Wars edit I trimmed all kinds of ridiculous cr*p that Anakin does because I felt it was wrong for the world that Star Wars IV-VI had established. But Jack Sparrow is a character who gets introduced casually stepping off the mast of a sinking boat as if it never happened... so POTC is a live-action cartoon IMO (Then again in POTC3 I've cut Jack popping his broken/shattered nose back in to place, as that was a bit too cartoony even for Jack... so yeah personnal taste ;-)).

there could be more little trims or jokes that fall flat/bad takes: like Jack Sparrow climbing on board the Black Pearl saying his escape line as the wave hits him... If this scene is used at all, it could cut away after the wave hits him (His "Jack Sparrow" line is quite a bad take).

Oh I thought that was very funny. I like how we see that Jack really wants this to be his catch-phrase, whispered throughout the Carribean, as the brilliant Pirate he thinks he is but that people and events keep stepping all over or ignoring this line. Like when Jack feeds Beckett the line in the 'state-room' scene from POTC3 and is all crushed and hurt when Beckett has never heard it before :-D.

Another is Will's final line and glances towards Elizabeth in the hut at the end - they seemed out of place with the love triangle removed.

I made a number of trims to that scene, maybe not enough or the cuts were too subtle. But I suspect that as viewers we have a preconception about what Will is feeling in that scene, so it's difficult not to read it as anything but anger regardless of any cuts I'd made. I had hoped it now plays as him being depressed (Since the audience now have no reason to think he's angry at that point), the same as everyone else in the room (But more so because his father is now also doomed) and it's only him glancing over at how upset his beloved looks that snaps him out of it and he immediately walks over to console her... of course Tia Dalma/Calypso interupts him.

Pintel and Ragetti (had to look up their names...) are good most of the time - but other times they feel forced in a scene.

I thought they were about perfect in POTC2 but Pintel (The short bald one) gets very annoying in POTC3 so I've cut him alot in that movie. To refrence Star Wars again, they are C3PO and R2D2... POTC2 is the OT where they are naturally funny... POTC3 is the PT, where Threepio is making forced Puns and jokes to camera.

Of course! Now having other projects under my belt and realising how every bit of feedback is wonderful, positive or negative, I decided to review every edit I watch from here on - yours was the first

Exactly, I don't know about other editors but I prefer even a very harsh and negative review... to no review at all .

 

[plurmonger]

Here's my review, as copied and pasted from IFDB: Overall Rating 9.8

"Gosh, this was terrific! I never cared much for any of the "Pirates" movies past the first one due to them being over-long, unpleasant to look at, and damn near incomprehensible. I'm happy to say that TM2YC has redeemed this one for me in a big way. The color correction? Perfect. The restructuring and simplification of the plot? Inspired. And it's funny, while one of my major complaints about the theatrical cut of Dead Man's Chest was the preponderance of lengthy, ridiculous action sequences, here they didn't bother me at all! Even though the editor left all of these scenes relatively untouched, the length of these scenes doesn't grate in the same way (at least for me). I think the reason for this is the improved pacing. Since it now doesn't take forever to get through every single scene, and since the plot is so streamlined, these sequences now feel like logically-placed, epic set-pieces instead of just one more thing that's getting in the way and slowing the narrative down.

I only have a couple of negative things to say, and they are very minor. Firstly, for a movie called "Captain Jack Sparrow and the Heart of Davy Jones" the titular pirate feels awfully sidelined. It's not a criticism of the cuts, as they were all well chosen, but since the movie focuses much more on Will and Elizabeth, it's hard to really see this as Jack's adventure. And lastly (yes this really is it), I will echo the sentiment of other reviewers that, while I like the new ending, it does end rather abruptly, meaning the final moment doesn't land properly.

All in all, though, this is a very professional and enjoyable edit and a much more worthy follow-up to the first film. I highly recommend watching it, and in the best possible quality for your setup."

 

[plurmonger]

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to watching the next one, once the HD render is complete. How is that going? Still stuck?

 

[TM2YC]

Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to watching the next one, once the HD render is complete. How is that going? Still stuck?

Still stuck :-(. I hate to think that it might never be complete, even though the editing is 100% finished... very depressing if that's the case.

Thanks for the review , always great to get feedback, positive or not.

I often think that the title change was a big mistake as you say, given as you also correctly say that Jack isn't in all the movie (I cut a big chunk of his scenes as they were boring as hell). He is at least a primary focus of the plot as a lot of the first three films are about finding Jack, killing Jack, stopping Jack and betraying Jack.

I never thought the ending was abrupt before but I just rewatched it and I think you're right. The music needed to build a little earlier under the dialogue.

Thanks again for the feedback.

 

[Neglify]

"Captain Jack Sparrow and the Curse of the Crashing Computer"

 

[plurmonger]

Still stuck :-(. I hate to think that it might never be complete, even though the editing is 100% finished... very depressing if that's the case.

NOOOOOOOO! That would be really sad, as you must have spent so many hours on it. How big is the project file?

 

[TM2YC]

I'm going to take an old and thankfully mostly finished workprint of 'The Song of the Brethren Court' (That I luckily rendered out of Nero in January) and import it in to Vegas and try and complete it there. There is gonna be some noticeable compression in many scenes due to the double render but at least people might get to see it (Including myself ;-)).

 

[plurmonger]

Got my fingers crossed for you....and, you know, for me cuz I'd like to see it too.

 

[TM2YC]

Got my fingers crossed for you....and, you know, for me cuz I'd like to see it too.

Thanks for the encouragement .

DVD5 is rendered and seems to be playing fine. The image quality is not what I had hoped for up close but it is still very watchable when you're sitting back in your armchair and got it on the big screen.

Here is the finished cover...



(^ Click to see fullsize image)

Also here is a cutlist, outlining the major changes. I just haven't got enough enthusiasm for this project anymore to take the long time it would take to list the hundreds of changes in detail (Plus I made most of the cuts months ago and I can't remember each and every frame and line I've trimmed anymore :-D).

- Added TM2YC Logo
- Cut every bit of plot that wasn't essential (Due to the tangled and convoluted plot, this isn't much)
- Reordered scenes to play in a more logical sequence
- Recoloured film throughout shot-by-shot to remove heavy sickly green hue and aproximate the vibrant saturated (Almost cartoon like) colours of 'Dead Man's Chest'. I aimed to give every sequence a different look to create a bit more visual interest that was lacking in the murky drab green of the original colour timing
- Removed unpleasant 4 minute 'Pirate Holocaust' opening scene. This is a fun family edit we don't need to see piles of bodies and children being executed
- Brought 'Dutchman destroying the fleet' scene forward to form new opening scene. This now flows fluidly from the last scene of THODJ
- Removed "living" Governor Swann scenes (I hinted at his fate in the last edit, anything more is filler)
- Trimmed Singapore opening as much as possible
- Added new 'The Song of the Brethren Court' title
- Removed unpleasant Elizabeth forced strip-search and upskirt perving (Not something I felt belonged in an adventure film)
- Removed all shots of Beckett's magic teleporting henchman from Singapore sequence (Plus he can't be there in my new recut)
- Removed uncomfortable silences and arguments between Will and Elizabeth (Remember they didn't fall out in my last POTC edit)
- Brought second Beckett scene forward to form a natural break between Singapore and the underworld (The locker now plays out uninterupted) and reordered it
- Ice scene heavily recoloured to appear a little more natural
- Rescored new transition from Ice scene to first Underworld scene
- The Locker sequence heavily recoloured with much less saturation and a feint ethereal glow (This persists until the boat flip later on)
- Brought first half of beach scene forward so our heroes reach the Locker before we the audience are re-united with Jack
- Removed all footage of Jack in the Locker before we meet him on the beach
- Trimmed shot of Elizabeth having mixed feelings about Jack's return
- Trimmed a lot of Pintel goofing and constantly saying "Sorry" he was funny in POTC2, here he was annoying
- Recut Will and Elizabeth's below deck argument to make it just about being honest with each other
- Removed all appearances of CGI double-Jacks or mini-Jacks. They were just a pain
- Jack is no longer immortal e.g. he cannot have his nose broken and not feel it
- Added back deleted scene revealing Jack's history with Beckett and the slave trade (So now we see Jack is a man of principle deep down)
- Trimmed and reordered intercutting of cabin and deck scenes
- Trimmed start of scene of Elizabeth being dressed, it was just filler
- Removed Elizabeth getting Norrington killed by distracting him
- Added in deleted 'Devils Throat' scene. I thought it was essential to properly explain exactly why Beckett cannot attack the Cove. Plus it's nicely atmospheric
- Trimmed the Brethren Court meeting as much as possible and it now plays out in one go
- Removed Jones visiting Calypso scene. It was a nice scene but made no sense. If Jones could get into Shipwreck Cove this easily, why was he waiting outside?
- Removed Keith Richard's cameo. It served no purpose other than to further drag out the interminable meeting scene
- Trimmed badly shot angles of giant Calypso that diminished her supposed size
- Recut 'Hoist the Colours' speech to be more heartfelt and realistic. Elizabeth is now nervous and not suddenly heroic, all she does is inspire a spark of confidence in her friends
- Cut Barbossa being inexplicably depressed again right after the motivational speech
- Heavily cut Jack's jail break to crop out annoying CGI Jacks. It ain't perfect but it's better than the alternative
- Trimmed Jack taking the chest down to a minimum to not dispate the energy of the battle too much
- Removed Jones murdering Beckett's man because again it made no sense. Why hadn't he done it before? He is now just killed by the cannon impact (Again not a perfect removal but it had to go)
- Trimmed several minutes of the battle that made it drag on too long and didn't advance the story
- Removed gastly CGI shot of Beckett walking through flames in slow-motion for no reason whatsoever
- Removed Elizabeth saying an emotional goodbye to Pintel and Regetti (I know we the audience have grown to love them but I doubt she has)
- Removed Barbossa feeding Little-Jack. We are a minute from the end, no time to waste on Monkey snacks
- Added fanedit credits

Original Length: 169 Minutes
Time Added: 1 Minute
Time Removed: 33 Minutes
Fanedit Length: 137 Minutes

I'll try putting together a decent *.mp4 next and who knows, I might get it all submitted this weekend? (Fingers very much crossed)

 

[plurmonger]

That's great news!! :llama:

 

[TM2YC]

Submitted for this weekend and here is a colour comparison video I did (Music is 'Erich Wolfgang Korngold's - The Sea Hawk' just for some piratesque fun)...

(FYI The little screenshot that you are seeing ^ has the colours massively distorted, play video to see it properly... bloody YouTube screengrab :x)

 

[plurmonger]

[MENTION=24292]TM2YC[/MENTION], thanks again for fixing these movies! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this review up; the first time I watched it I was kinda tipsy, so I wanted to watch it again before I put a rating down. Here is my review, as posted on ifdb:

After watching the previous edit in TM2YC's "Captain Jack Sparrow..." series, the superb "...Heart of Davy Jones," I was very excited to revisit "At World's End" once he'd had a crack at it. I am happy to report that, for the most part, he has once again given us a worthy successor to the delightful first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie. All of my problems with "Dead Man's Chest" (terrible color timing, overstuffed narrative, action set pieces that go on waaaaay to long) not only reappeared for "At World's End," they were even worse. The strongest memories I have of watching the theatrical cut of this movie, in fact, are of not knowing what the hell is going on and wondering why everything needed to be green. In TM2YC's version, the narrative moves logically from one plot point to the next, without constantly cutting back and forth between scattered characters, making it a lot easier to keep track of everyone's disparate motivations. The colors are vibrant and the shadows deep, highlighting the fantastic design work on display. Loads of lazy comedy is cut, leaving only the good stuff. The interminable battles are trimmed way down. Simply stated, it's focused, fun, and a far cry from its source material.

I watched the HD MP4, and it looked and sounded generally terrific. TM2YC experienced some software issues getting this edit to us, and as a result the picture doesn't quite measure up to the previous installment's pristine presentation. However, aside from some crushed blacks in the Shipwreck Cove scene, I barely noticed the slight drop in quality, certainly not enough to dock any points. I experienced no issues whatsoever with the audio. The editing was near flawless; I only noticed one errant frame during a single transition, and I didn't notice any audio edits at all. The only problem I had with the edit itself was, once again, with the title. Captain Jack Sparrow still feels like a side character to Will and Elizabeth's central story and thus doesn't really earn the Indiana Jones-ing of his name in the title. Also, and more problematically, the titular "song of the brethren court" doesn't really earn its place either. Character's refer to the song being sung more than once in the film, and Elizabeth sings it to herself in Singapore. However, I got the sense that the song to which everyone is referring, the one that gets the plot moving and the pirate lords assembled, is the one sung at the gallows in the now-excised opening. I understand the desire to remove this scene, upsetting as it was, but without the pirate-anthem-as-rallying-cry sequence, the "song" doesn't loom as large.

I enjoyed this edit quite a bit. It's a huge improvement over the source material and a fitting close to the original "Pirates" trilogy. I didn't have quite as much fun with it as I did "...The Heart of Davy Jones," but my remaining problems with the film are at the script level and are no fault of the editor.

So there ya go! Another job well done. So tell me, are you still planning on tackling "On Stranger Tides?" As I remember it, Jack actually was the central character in that one.

 

[TM2YC]

TM2YC, thanks again for fixing these movies! I'm sorry it took me so long to get this review up; the first time I watched it I was kinda tipsy, so I wanted to watch it again before I put a rating down.

^ thanks for writing the first review of this one. I was a bit bummed out about the technical problems that I'd had at the last minute, so this had made me feel a whole lot better about this project (Makes me want to go off and tackle 'On Stranger Tides').

the narrative moves logically from one plot point to the next, without constantly cutting back and forth between scattered characters, making it a lot easier to keep track of everyone's disparate motivations. The colors are vibrant and the shadows deep, highlighting the fantastic design work on display. Loads of lazy comedy is cut, leaving only the good stuff. The interminable battles are trimmed way down. Simply stated, it's focused, fun, and a far cry from its source material.

Wow, it sounds like I did what I wanted it to then .

I watched the HD MP4, and it looked and sounded generally terrific. TM2YC experienced some software issues getting this edit to us, and as a result the picture doesn't quite measure up to the previous installment's pristine presentation. However, aside from some crushed blacks in the Shipwreck Cove scene, I barely noticed the slight drop in quality, certainly not enough to dock any points.

Again that makes me feel a lot better about this edit. At least the quality of the encode wasn't low enought to spoil it for you.

The only problem I had with the edit itself was, once again, with the title. Captain Jack Sparrow still feels like a side character to Will and Elizabeth's central story and thus doesn't really earn the Indiana Jones-ing of his name in the title. Also, and more problematically, the titular "song of the brethren court" doesn't really earn its place either. Character's refer to the song being sung more than once in the film, and Elizabeth sings it to herself in Singapore. However, I got the sense that the song to which everyone is referring, the one that gets the plot moving and the pirate lords assembled, is the one sung at the gallows in the now-excised opening. I understand the desire to remove this scene, upsetting as it was, but without the pirate-anthem-as-rallying-cry sequence, the "song" doesn't loom as large.

Yes, the Indiana Jones style title probably doesn't make sense for these two films but when I've edited POTC 1,4 and 5 it will hopefully work better. By the way, the song that Elizabeth sings is the same song they sing at the gallows. I thought having the title card roll over her singing it would have tied that up nicely but maybe it wasn't clear enough.

btw I did edit a sanitised version of the gallows scene just for the DVD extras (With no child murder or holocaust refrences) but due to the same technical problems it was lost. Shame as it worked almost seemlessly.

I enjoyed this edit quite a bit. It's a huge improvement over the source material and a fitting close to the original "Pirates" trilogy. I didn't have quite as much fun with it as I did "...The Heart of Davy Jones," but my remaining problems with the film are at the script level and are no fault of the editor.

No ammount of editing is gonna make AWE a perfect movie or make it match up to POTC1 (AWE was a train-wreck of a film) but it sounds like I succeded in making it somewhat enjoyable at least.

So tell me, are you still planning on tackling "On Stranger Tides?" As I remember it, Jack actually was the central character in that one.

See above ^ and above ^ ;-).

 

[TM2YC]

Thanks for the review Masirimso17

Dead Man's Chest is a movie that I feel is underrated. It's not as good as the first one, but its a lot better than the pieces of turd that are 3 and 4.

After hearing about these edits, as a POTC fan I quickly downloaded it. Can't say I quickly watched it but after a while I watched it, and I can say that this is a pretty good alternative.

First off, unlike some other reviewers, I didn't like the new color correction, because I felt like it was too... Green. The sky and sea was too green that it distracted me. That being said, it's not terrible. It is bearable. The quality was standart DVD quality, I liked it. It wasn't Blu-Ray quality, but not VHS quality either. It was great. As for the editing, I thought it was perfect. At the end the jump from SPARROW to the hut was a bit abrupt and the way it goes to the credits is too, but other than that. There wasn't an instance of "-wait!" so it doesn't matter.

About the narrative, not much is changed, but what changes is great. I think removing the 12 minute scene wasn't a good idea. The reasoning is fine, however when we go to the second act we have many questions like "Wait, how did Will's father end up in the Dutchman?" And it's never explained, except in the deketed sequence. There are very few more stuff that I don't like but pverall the narrative was redone very well.

This doesn't replace the original for me, but it's a very good alternative. I will decide if this or the original will be in my shelf depending on how it stands well with TM2YC's sequel, TSOTBC which im sure will be a lot better than the original AWE.

Sorry the colour-grading didn't work for you. The image of the edit certainly isn't more green, as that was the one colour I specifically took out from the image. But probably by me removing the green-tint that originally hung over every scene, I got some parts (Skin tones, clothes etc) looking correct, which then only served to highlighted the mis-colouring of other areas (Sky, Sea etc). This is something I'll have to watch in future. Thanks .

You sounded disapointed that the DVD was only DVD quality? There is a 1280x720 mp4 available too if that improves things for you.

Many have said the ending felt abrupt. I originally thought it was note perfect but the weight of public opinion has persuaded me it must be otherwise .

I wanted Bill being on the Dutchman to be a surprise for us the audience, at the exact same moment that it's a surprise for Will. I reasoned that the question "Where is Will's father?" was not a question the adience would be asking before that point (Having never met or heard of him). It's a question that the deleted 12-minutes raises and answers for itself. The mechanics of how Bill originally got onto the Dutchman after that point in the narrative, didn't seem important to me but it was clearly important for you. Again food for thought for future editing choices.

I guarantee that my edit of the third film is "better" than the original, simply by being shorter :-D (But I can't guarantee it will actually be good ;-)). Hope you enjoy if/when you take a look.

Thanks again for the review

 

[Masirimso17]

Yeah, I checked the original DVD and the green was everywhere. Guess the correction didn't work for me because it highlighted the sky and sea. Welll, in that case, great job on the other side of the correction. It just didn't work for me.

Hey, I never said I was disappointed by the DVD. I like DVD quality, I just said it wasn't like Blu-Ray quality, but DVD quality is great too ;-).

About Bootstrap and the 12 minute deleted scene, the way you handled the story was great, but since I love the Pirates trilogy (even though 3 was disappointing, and yes, I said trilogy) and I know the characters very well, the little questions that weren't answered confused me in my first time viewer eyes. And yes, while the "drawing of a key" was stupid, it's a minor flaw to me.

I'm really excited for the next edit and I'll be reviewing it soon.

 

[herowoac]

So, so far the second and third movie have been edited right? Is the first movie to be considered good enough to not need an edit? Or is that one going to edited as well? That is, is the trilogy already complete? Or should I wait until the first movie has been edited as well before buying the box and watching your edits?

 

[TM2YC]

So, so far the second and third movie have been edited right? Is the first movie to be considered good enough to not need an edit? Or is that one going to edited as well? That is, is the trilogy already complete? Or should I wait until the first movie has been edited as well before buying the box and watching your edits?

The 1st and 4th need the least editing IMO but I will get to them at some point. You have to watch my edit of the 2nd to fully "get" some of the changes in my edit of the 3rd (The love triangle doesn't feature in either for example) but the 1st and 4th film's plot details will be uneffected. So watching the two originals, together with my two edits will work just fine for now .

 

[Masirimso17]

I have some ideas for On Stranger Tides: I think you should recut Jack's motivation because in the movie he seems to have lost interest in the fountain (a big problem I have with the movie). For example cut the line Jack says in Blackbeard's cabin "I have absolutely no interest in the fountain." And then in the dance scene: "Oh, I got my interest greatly lessened" or something. That shouldn't be the case. Jack is our protagonist now, he's not a side character like Han Solo anymore. So Jack should act like a protagonist and look for the fountain.

Another thing you should do is trim the part where Jack jumps. After Blackbeard says jump, Jack should go to the zombie quartermaster and ask if he will survive, then after zombie quartermaster says yes, Jack should slowly walk and then jump. No need for the pointless "She should jump, he should jump" back and forth bickering JUST for the jump.

 

[TM2YC]

I have some ideas for On Stranger Tides: I think you should recut Jack's motivation because in the movie he seems to have lost interest in the fountain (a big problem I have with the movie). For example cut the line Jack says in Blackbeard's cabin "I have absolutely no interest in the fountain." And then in the dance scene: "Oh, I got my interest greatly lessened" or something. That shouldn't be the case. Jack is our protagonist now, he's not a side character like Han Solo anymore. So Jack should act like a protagonist and look for the fountain.

Another thing you should do is trim the part where Jack jumps. After Blackbeard says jump, Jack should go to the zombie quartermaster and ask if he will survive, then after zombie quartermaster says yes, Jack should slowly walk and then jump. No need for the pointless "She should jump, he should jump" back and forth bickering JUST for the jump.

I haven't given POTC4 much thought yet (So those moments you mention don't spring to mind right now) but when it comes to it I'll look at those scenes as you suggest. However, Jack is supposed to be a bit rubbish IMO, I think POTC lost sight of that a little and made him too heroic. So any silly bickering or cowardly behaviour is likely to stay in my edit.

 

[TM2YC]

Thanks for the review D.Vice...

I was nearly at the end when I suddenly remembered "oh yeah, the love triangle is gone." If that's not a statement on a) how well the Editor has structured this and b) how unnecessary that was in the original script, then nothing is.

That's good to hear . Love triangles are fine but not ones that are intruduced half-way through a trilogy in a misguided attempt to up the narrative stakes. Wanting to see the two lovers reunited was stakes enough, casting doubt on their relationship just weakened that aspect IMO.

The edit works excellently, with a stirring Indiana Jones-esque feel (especially with the title card overlaying a man painting a map)

Erm, oh, yeah, right, that was totally intentional, glad you spotted my clever homage (Maybe it was a subconscious choice?).

By removing certain elements... Jack's "Black Spot" subplot at the start... the story gets going much more quickly, and the characters develop much more strongly here.

Yes I think that opening 12 or so minutes really dragged for me. Plus I liked us suddenly discovering Jack on that cannibal island. I think it implies Jack has been having all these crazy adventures since the last film that we will never know about.

Coincidentally I was re-watching some POTC only the other day thinking about editing possibilites. Your review reminds me that I have unfinished business with this franchise with POTC5 currently filming.