Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Directed by Gore Verbinski
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Screenplay by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio Story by Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert Based on Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
Starring : Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Kevin R. McNally, Zoe Saldana, Jonathan Pryce
Music by Klaus Badelt
Cinematography : Dariusz Wolski
Editing by Stephen E. Rivkin, Arthur Schmidt, Craig Wood
Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, First Mate Productions Inc.
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Distribution
Release date(s) : July 9, 2003
Running time : 135 minutes
Country : United States
Language : English
Budget : $140 million
Box office : $654,264,015

Synopsis
As Governor Weatherby Swann, his 12-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and Lieutenant James Norrington sail to Port Royal, Jamaica, their vessel encounters a shipwreck with an unconscious survivor, the young Will Turner. Elizabeth hides a gold medallion that Will is wearing, fearing it will identify him as a pirate. She glimpses a ghostly pirate ship, later identified as the Black Pearl.

Eight years later, Norrington is promoted to Commodore. He proposes to Elizabeth. Before she can answer, her over-tightened corset causes her to faint and fall into the bay. When the medallion she is wearing touches the seafloor, it emits a small shockwave throughout the entire ocean, and the wind changes to blowing towards Port Royal.

Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow arrives in Port Royal to steal a ship. He rescues Elizabeth, but Norrington recognizes Jack as a pirate and orders his arrest. Jack ducks into a blacksmith's shop, encountering Will Turner, now an apprentice. After a sword duel between the two, Jack is knocked unconscious and jailed, to be hanged the next day. That night Port Royal is besieged by the Pearl, answering the medallion's pulse. Elizabeth is captured and invokes parley. She negotiates for the pirates to stop attacking Port Royal in exchange for the medallion and claims to Captain Barbossa that her surname is Turner. Barbossa agrees but keeps Elizabeth prisoner, believing she is the key to breaking a curse they are under.

Will, who loves Elizabeth, suggests making a deal with Jack Sparrow to lead them to the Black Pearl, but Norrington refuses. Will persuades Jack to help him rescue her in exchange for Jack's freedom. Jack agrees after learning Will's surname is Turner, believing he can use Will to reclaim the Pearl. Will and Jack commandeer the HMS Interceptor and recruit a crew in Tortuga with help from Jack's old friend, Joshamee Gibbs. They set sail for Isla de Muerta, as Jack knows the pirates will go there to break the curse.

Will learns Jack was once captain of the Pearl, questing for Aztec gold, when Barbossa, Jack's first mate at the time, mutinied and marooned him on an island. Following the Pirate Code, Barbossa gave Jack a pistol with a single shot, intended for suicide. Jack escaped three days later and kept the pistol for ten years; saving the bullet to kill Barbossa. The pirates spent the treasure but learned it was cursed, turning them into immortal skeletal beings whose true forms are revealed in moonlight. The curse can be lifted if the coins and each pirate's blood is returned to the chest. William "Bootstrap Bill" Turner, Jack's only supporter, sent a coin to his son, Will, believing the crew should remain cursed. Barbossa had Bootstrap tied to a cannon and thrown overboard, only later to learn his blood was needed to break the curse.


At Isla de Muerta, Barbossa, believing Elizabeth is Bootstrap's child, anoints the last coin with her blood and drops it into the chest, but the curse remains unbroken. After reaching the island, Will suspects Jack may betray him and knocks him out. He rescues Elizabeth and they escape to the Interceptor, leaving Jack behind. Jack barters with Barbossa, offering Bootstrap Bill's child in exchange for the Pearl, but Barbossa rejects his offer and pursues the Interceptor. Barbossa's crew sinks the Interceptor and imprisons the crew. Will reveals he is Bootstrap Bill's son and demands that Elizabeth and the crew be freed, or he will shoot himself and fall overboard, foiling Barbossa's plan to break the curse. Barbossa agrees but applies another loophole, marooning Elizabeth and Jack on the same island Jack had been marooned on ten years earlier. Will is taken to Isla de Muerta, to be killed to break the curse. Elizabeth discovers how Jack escaped: the island was used as a cache by rum runners and Jack bartered passage.

Elizabeth burns the cache of rum to create a fire that Norrington's ship spots. She convinces Norrington to rescue Will by accepting his marriage proposal. Returning to Isla de Muerta, Norrington sets an ambush while Jack persuades Barbossa to form an alliance. He tells him to delay breaking the curse until they have taken Norrington's ship, the Dauntless. Jack's plan goes awry when Barbossa orders his crew to infiltrate the Dauntless from underwater. Meanwhile, Elizabeth sneaks on board the Pearl and frees Jack's crew. They leave with the Pearl while Elizabeth heads to the island alone and saves Will while Jack battles Barbossa, who reveals that he stole one of the medallions for himself in case such an encounter did arise.

Norrington spots his ship under attack and orders his men to return. They reach the ship and attack the cursed pirates. When Barbossa attempts to kill Elizabeth, Jack shoots Barbossa as Will drops the last two medallions, stained with his and Jack's blood, into the chest. No longer immortal, Barbossa collapses and dies. The now-mortal pirates aboard the Dauntless surrender.

At Port Royal, Will attempts to rescue Jack from hanging. Both are captured. Jack jumps into the ocean and swims to the newly-repaired Black Pearl. Will is pardoned and allowed to marry Elizabeth. The crew pulls Jack aboard from the water, appointing him captain. The film ends with Jack looking at his compass while singing "A Pirate's Life for Me".

Source : en.wikipedia.org

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Directed by Peter Jackson
Produced by Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh
Screenplay by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Based on The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
Starring : Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic Monaghan, Billy Boyd, John Rhys-Davies, Orlando Bloom, Liv Tyler Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Andrew Lesnie
Editing by Jamie Selkirk
Studio WingNut Films, The Saul Zaentz Company
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) 1 December 2003 (Wellington premiere), 17 December 2003 (United States), 18 December 2003 (New Zealand)
Running time 201 minutes
Country New Zealand, United States
Language English
Budget $94 million
Box office $1,119,929,521

Sinopsis
Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Théoden, Gamling, and Éomer meet up with Merry, Pippin and Treebeard at Isengard. The group returns to Edoras, where Pippin looks into Saruman's recovered palantír, in which Sauron appears and invades his mind; Pippin tells him nothing regarding Frodo and the Ring. From this event, Gandalf deduces that Sauron is planning to attack Minas Tirith. Gandalf rides with Pippin to find Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, to whom Pippin swears his service. Gandalf urges Denethor to call Rohan for aid, but Denethor declines, fearing Aragorn and Gandalf plan to depose him. The Morgul army, led by the Nazgûl, drives the Gondorians out of Osgiliath. Denethor sends his son Faramir on a suicide mission to reclaim the city. Pippin lights a beacon, signaling Théoden and Aragorn to assemble the Rohirrim for battle.

Elrond informs Aragorn that Arwen did not go to the Undying Lands, and is now dying. Believing their forces to be outnumbered by Sauron's, Elrond gives Aragorn the sword Andúril to acquire the service of the Army of the Dead, who owe allegiance to the heir of Isildur. Éowyn confesses her love for Aragorn and asks him not to go, but Aragorn reaffirms his love for Arwen and heads into battle. Accompanied by Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn ventures into the Paths of the Dead and gains the loyalty of the King of the Dead and his men by brandishing Andúril, proving himself the Heir of Isildur. At Dunharrow, Théoden rides off to war, unaware that Éowyn and Merry have secretly joined his forces.

Sauron's armies lay siege to Minas Tirith, led by the Witch-king. Believing a grievously wounded Faramir to be dead, Denethor tries to burn his son and himself alive, but Gandalf intervenes; he saves Faramir, but Denethor commits suicide. Just as the Gondorians are about to be overrun, the Rohirrim army arrives and counter-attacks in a massive cavalry charge led by Théoden. This shifts the tide of the battle, and the Orcs begin to retreat. However, the Haradrim arrive and join the Orc army, turning the tide. The Witch-king kills Théoden, only to be killed himself by Éowyn with help from Merry. On the verge of defeat, the Rohirrim are saved when Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli arrive with the Army of the Dead and overwhelm Sauron's forces, ending the battle. Aragorn frees the Army of the Dead and their souls go to the afterlife.



Meanwhile, Frodo, Sam and Gollum travel to Minas Morgul. Sam overhears Gollum's plans to murder them and take the Ring for himself. Gollum persuades Frodo that Sam wants the Ring for himself, and Frodo angrily tells Sam to go home. A heartbroken Sam leaves, but discovers Gollum's treachery and follows after them. Gollum betrays Frodo, leaving him in the lair of the giant spider Shelob, who paralyzes Frodo before being wounded and driven away by Sam. An Orc patrol captures Frodo and takes him to Sauron's fortress. Sam rescues Frodo from the tower, and they continue the journey to Mount Doom.

Meanwhile, Aragorn leads his remaining men to the Black Gate of Mordor, distracting Sauron and his forces and allowing Sam and Frodo to enter Mount Doom. Sam carries the weakened Frodo up the volcano, but Gollum attacks them. At the Crack of Doom, Frodo succumbs to the Ring's power, refusing to destroy it. Gollum attacks Frodo and bites his finger off, seizing the Ring for himself. An enraged Frodo attacks Gollum, and they both fall over the edge. At the last second, Frodo grabs onto the ledge, leaving Gollum to fall into the lava, taking the Ring with him. As the Ring melts in the volcano, Sauron is destroyed and the land of Mordor collapses, taking down most of his forces.

Frodo and Sam are saved from the rising lava by Eagles, led by Gandalf. In the aftermath, Aragorn is crowned King, heralding a new age of peace, and is reunited with Arwen and the four hobbits are bowed by all of Gondor for their courageous efforts. The four Hobbits return home to the Shire, where Sam marries his childhood sweetheart, Rosie Cotton. A few years later, Frodo leaves Middle-earth for the Undying Lands with Gandalf, Bilbo, Elrond, Celeborn, and Galadriel, leaving his account of their quest to Sam.