By Kit-Kat

Who knew that a movie based on a Disney attraction would do well at the box office, much less spawn three consecutive hit movies and secure itself as an icon?! At this stage in the game you either love the Pirate series or you could care less. I for one was sold on the first movie, the second proved more than I expected and so you know I was chomping at the bit for the third one.

This one I did have the luxury of seeing in the theatre and I was impressed. I looked forward to the DVD release so I could learn more about the movie and I was not disappointed. Over all this is by far one of the best movies of the year. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Two Disc Special Edition was an excellent treat to review. I expected some goodies, I wanted some explanation on what I thought was just bizarre (Jack's multiple persona discussions through the movie) and I wanted to see more on how the effects were accomplished. All of this was answered and then some. Definitely a great buy and I personally wouldn't bother with the single disc release, after all - in this case you can never get enough Captain Jack Sparrow!

The movie itself has a lot going on, and for some the multitude of plots can be a bit much. The movie length clocking in at 168 minutes is certainly longer and does have a few bits of drag time but, you have a fantastic movie once again from the Bruckheimer and Verbinski duo. I did get a kick out of the Keith Richards bit and thought it was rather cool they added him as Johnny's father. Chow Yun-Fat was exceptional as a Pirate Captain and if I had any doubts about him pulling that off, they were erased in the first scenes. Keira and Orlando didn't quite have that spark that I liked in the first one and while Orlando was looking quite fine enough to make me forget; Keira's higher profile role was eih... Ya know I still am a bit out on the whole Pirate King thing and will have to mull this over for awhile. Geoffrey just is spectacular and I missed him in the second movie since he and Johnny have such a great on screen chemistry. They all did a great job though I will say I was a bit disappointed Jack Davenport (Admiral James Norrington) had such a small part. I can never say enough about Bill Nighy as Davy Jones, he is a big highlight from the last movie and definitely amazing in the third. Not only for his acting but the unbelievable effects put together for his character certainly makes you believe such a man / creature can roam the oceans.

But enough of the movie natter right, the real reason for this review is the DVD and if it lives up to the Special Edition stamp with features!

Disc one - gives you the movie, your standard scene selections, previews etc... and a Bloopers of the Caribbean featurette - so right off the bat you get the fun blooper reel to enjoy (as is a must with some people I know). The only thing I noticed was a missing commentary - not sure what happened to that, but I don't doubt some people are going to be missing it (I'm not much of a commentary gal myself).

Disc two - is loaded with features and my only annoyance was having to flip through the menus, I much prefer to have it all up front and not have to dig through the disc to see what is all in store. First up we have Keith & the Captain: On Set with Johnny and the Rock Legend. I knew the Keith Richards thing had significance but I had no idea it was such an experience for everyone. Viewing this feature definitely put it into perspective and the behind the scenes footage is just priceless. A must see for any Richards fan! Anatomy of a Scene: the Maelstrom was really a great technical featurette providing an in depth look into the impressive action piece. You have a behind the scenes look with commentary from cast and crew, and it shows you from the beginning to end just how much work went into this scene.

The Tale of Many Jacks: now this is what I was looking for. If a movie has a lot of eye candy (as does Pirates) I'm a bit lost when you get deep on me, so I need that extra explanation. I couldn't understand just why they went to that level with the many Jacks. This feature certainly explains it all. I can understand their reasoning for it, and now that I've seen this feature I can watch the scenes and it makes much more sense to me. For deleted scenes you were given a smattering and I can honestly say, I see why they were cut and they wouldn't have added to the movie at all. But, the Two Captains, One Ship was still rather funny. The World of Chow Yun-Fat was a look into the life of the man- his filming history, commentary, and just how he went about his role for the film. This one could've been more, I wanted to see more so I was a bit disappointed at the short length of this featurette. The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer really opens your eyes to just what goes into creating the scores for these movies. The incorporating various instruments from around the world was genius and my hat is off to Zimmer.

Masters of Design is broken down into five documentaries that gives you a behind the scenes view into the props and designs for the film. Jim Byrkit: Sao Feng's Map (loved this one!) delves into the creation and ideas for the unique map. The sheer amount of creativity on the design and set up for it definitely makes this my favorite. Crash McCreary: The Cursed Crew looks into the effects for those memorable men, Rick Henrichs: Singapore gives you insight into the creation of the city in which we meet Sao Feng. Penny Rose: Captain Teague's Costume and Kris Peck: The Pirate Code Book. The code book was also an outstanding feature; the fact that they did so much work and ended up having to cut out the middle pages just to lighten it up enough for the cast to lift was ironic.

Hoist the Colours feature goes into the reasoning for the opening sequence with the boy and the song which went from a little idea to a full blown piece of music. Inside the Brethren Court was a neat feature giving you an inside look at the various pirate lords. You can check out their 9 pieces of eight and learn about the character background and more which I thought was really cool. And if you are savvy you can find some Easter eggs! No... I am not going to tell you where, what is the fun in that!

So in closing it should be pretty clear I recommend this DVD to add to your growing pirate collection. You have a great movie, excellent and in depth features as well as a few Easter eggs to go hunting with.