Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006)

This sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) is darker, with a denser mythology and an even more dynamic villain.

The film picks up in Port Royal with the disrupted wedding of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who are suddenly arrested by Lord Cutler Beckett (Tom Hollander) of the East India Trading Company.

Beckett offers clemency if Will can track down Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and retrieve his magical compass, which points toward whatever the holder wants most.

The film also explores Sparrow’s backstory, introducing a blood-pact debt to Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), the tentacle-faced captain of the ghost ship The Flying Dutchman, whose monstrous crew includes Will Turner’s father, Bootstrap Bill (Stellan Skarsgård).

In exchange for thirteen years as captain of the Black Pearl, Jack had agreed to surrender his soul to a century of servitude aboard Jones’ ship.

To escape this eternal damnation, Jack hunts for the legendary Dead Man’s Chest, which contains Davy Jones’ still-beating, cut-out heart. Whoever controls the heart controls Davy Jones and the seas.

The race for the chest brings Jack, Will, and Elizabeth back together, culminating in a three-way sword fight on a runaway waterwheel and a devastating encounter with the Kraken – a monstrous leviathan controlled by Jones.

The monster inflicts devastating damage on the Black Pearl,  eventually destroying the ship by dragging it –  and Captain Jack – down to Davy Jones’ Locker

The movie ends with the disgraced, alcoholic James Norrington (Jack Davenport) returning to Port Royal and delivering Davy Jones’ heart to Lord Cutler Beckett, giving the villainous East India Trading Company absolute control over the world’s oceans.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth and the other survivors of the Pearl visit the voodoo priestess Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), who asks if they would be willing to travel to the ends of the earth to rescue Jack.

They all agree, and Tia Dalma introduces their new captain: the resurrected Captain Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) from the first film.

Matters were resolved in the third of the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), which was filmed back-to-back with Dead Man’s Chest.

It’s a lot of movie – perhaps too much – especially on a first watch. But it’s also an extravagant fantasy adventure featuring incredible set pieces and unparalleled visual effects.

Captain Jack Sparrow
Johnny Depp
Elizabeth Swann
Keira Knightley
Will Turner
Orlando Bloom
Davy Jones
Bill Nighy
James Norrington
Jack Davenport
Lord Cutler Beckett
Tom Hollander
Tia Dalma
Naomie Harris
Governor Weatherby Swann
Jonathan Pryce
Bootstrap Bill Turner
Stellan Skarsgård
Captain Hector Barbossa
Geoffrey Rush
Pintel
Lee Arenberg
Ragetti
Mackenzie Crook
Gibbs
Kevin McNally
Cotton
David Bailie
Marty
Martin Klebba
Mercer
David Schofield
Captain Bellamy
Alex Norton
Scarlett
Lauren Maher
Leech
San Shella
Maccus
Dermot Keaney
Koleniko
Clive Ashborn
Wyvern
John Boswall
Palafico
Winston Ellis
Jimmy Legs
Christopher Adamson
Clacker
Andy Beckwith
Ogilvey
Jonathan Linsley
Giselle
Vanessa Branch
Sweepy
Hernando Molina
Ho-Kwan
Ho-Kwan Tse
Headless
Reggie Lee
Lejon
LeJon Stewart
Moises
Félix Castro
Kursar
Mike Haberecht
Matelot
Rudy McCollum
Tearlach
Gerard J. Reyes
Duncan
M. Scott Shields
Ladbroc
Christopher Sullivan
Crimp
Craig Thomson
Quartetto
Fred Toft
Parrot (voice)
Christopher S. Capp

Director
Gore Verbinski