Blu-ray Movie Reviews

I don't think there's a damned thing I can tell you that you don't already know about these two movies. The first is everything a summer movie should be: big, loud, both fun and funnny, and an all around good time at the movies. And yes, the superb filmmaking and acting elevate this material beyond expectations for a moivie based on a beloved theme ride at Disneyland! And yes, the second installment is bigger in every way and not necessarily better (or maybe even as good), but it too works in keeping a smile on the audience's face. And if you think the plots get a bit lost and that these movies are short on character development, well, guess what? You're in the wrong movie! Go see something that's not based on a Disneyland ride!

Yes,the reports are true: there is a new sheriff in town as far as HD demo material goes and a worthy rival to The Matrix. Both Pirates movies are encoded at 1080p using AVC. The image quality in both movies is just stunning, but Black Pearl is a hair sharper than the sequel for reasons I can't explain.

Nevertheless, in both films just about every second of screen time is reference material- immediately and unmistakably gorgeous, three-dimensional HD from beginning to end. You don't have to look far or hard in either movie for scenes that look spectacular enough for demo show off. The colors and detail are eye-popping with striking clarity in long shots, close-ups and everything in between. Also exceptionally impressive is that the extraordinary level of detail is maintained even in the plethora of dark scenes throughout the Black Pearl especially, something not all great HD transfers have attained.

Along with The Matrix Trilogy these movies feature the best video quality we've seen yet from next-gen HD on a disc.

As oustanding as the video is here, the 24-bit/48kHz uncompressed PCM audio does more than keep up. These are explosive and incredibly dimensional soundtracks. The dynamics and the punch in the gunshots, cannon fire and general mayhem are sensational at all times. Dialog is clear, and the PCM tracks are fuller, warmer and more natural than the DD tracks, and they sound about twice as dynamic. Great, fun stuff and legendary demo material.

A note on playback. These discs are outfitted with BD-Java features that give varying degrees of fits to just about every Blu-ray player out there, except the PS3. Even the lightning-fast PS3 takes some extra time to load these discs. Some standalone players we've tested take 2-3 minutes. And the games and features are frankly not worth the trouble they often cause in loading them even when they actually work

Disney is proving to be such a force in providing top rate transfers on BD time and again that you'd think Blu-ray was actually Disney's baby. The Pirates films are the biggest releases yet for Blu-ray, and both films walk the walk. These are must-haves for anyone with an HD rig looking for the best demo material yet available on BD. On top of that, each film is a two-disc set absolutely loaded with extras. An all around kick ass pair of BDs.

Picture: Curse of the Black Pearl 10 out of 10, Dead Man's Chest 9.5 out of 10

Sound: Curse of the Black Pearl 9.5 out of 10, Dead Man's Chest 9.5 out of 10

Video reviewed on Marantz VP-11S1 1080p DLP projector, 80" wide Stewart Filmscreen Studiotek 130 screen. Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player and Sony PlayStation3 Blu-ray Disc player via HDMI to Anthem AVM 50. Audio sent as PCM over HDMI to Anthem AVM 50. Ayre MX-R monoblocks and Theta Dreadnaught power amps, and Vandersteen loudspeakers. All video cables by Bettercables, all audio cables by AudioQuest