Blu-ray Review: 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Trilogy 7-Disc Set

The re-release of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" Trilogy, this time in a 7-disc Blu-ray set, consists of two discs for each of the three "Pirates" movies -- "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006), and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007), as well as a seventh disc packed with special features. The package offers a sneak peek of the forth film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," and a movie ticket perk to see that film.

Helmed by Gore Verbinski and featuring Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush, and Bill Nighy, this Disney trilogy has a total running time of 7 hours, 42 minutes.

Packaging

Keeping up with the distinctly swashbuckler image of the franchise, the packaging is a good buy as a collector's item. The sturdy outer box is made of thick cardboard with lightly textured embossed print and a bound book look. It has a thickness as wide as four DVD cases, allowing it to fit on any regular DVD shelf.

Visuals

All discs are now offered in 1080p (progressive) resolution. The first two films are re-mastered from 1080i (interlaced) to 1080p, while the third film maintains its initial 1080p presentation. Although the difference can only be seen by film and video experts and keen-eyed movie buffs, these technical specifications are crucial when watching the films in high-definition (HD). The Blu-ray transfer for each movie features rich colors with fine highlights, shadows, and special effects. The many panoramic shots of the seas, exotic lands, and high-end structures complement the depth, clarity, and colors of the movies. Overall, there is no evident banding, aliasing, or any type of noise or artifacting to annoy discerning viewers.

Unlike the initial Blu-ray release's framing problems -- including the weirdly chopped off compositions and cropped heads in some scenes in the first movie -- this new Blu-ray fixes such technical problems. However, in terms of quality, the consistency of switching from one Blu-ray disc to another seems to require some minimal fixing on a typical HD TV's settings.

Audio

The Blu-ray's audio mix is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and there are options for French and Spanish tracks. Overall, for the three movies, the franchise's fanciful mood is further enhanced by each one's fitting musical score and sound effects.

Special Features

Aside from having newly-formatted Blu-ray versions of the first two films, the primary selling point of the 7-disc set is its exclusive disc with 19 never-before-seen deleted scenes, featurettes, introductions, and commentaries by director Gore Verbinski. This bonus disc has nearly 60 minutes of those scenes. Subtitles are offered in English, French, and Spanish.

The bonus disc also includes extras like "An Epic at Sea: The Making of Pirates of the Caribbean" (featuring a 9-part, 38-minute documentary), "Fly on the Set" documentary (describing details of five selected sequences in the films), "Moonlight Serenade Progression" (showcasing the movies' behind-the-scene works leading to the final scene of the spectral pirates), and the three on-set diaries with Jerry Bruckheimer's four-minute "Photo Diary," actor Lee Arenberg's nine-minute "Diary of a Pirate," and the nine-minute "Diary of a Ship," aptly coming from the crew of the real Lady Washington used in the film. There are many other bonus features that make this new disc set a worthwhile buy for the "Pirates" fan.