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PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END

"Death Is Not the Worst Thing that Can Happen to You"

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What You Need To Know:

AT WORLD’S END, the third movie in Walt Disney’s PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN trilogy, finds Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann allied with Captain Barbossa in a quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow from the underworld of Davy Jones’ locker. They confront the Chinese pirate Sao Feng, who has the map that will lead them to Jack. Meanwhile, the evil Lord Beckett has taken over the East India Trading Company. Having retrieved the heart of Davy Jones in the second movie, Lord Beckett now controls Davy Jones and his ship the Flying Dutchman. Using them, Beckett captures and hangs every man, woman and child who refuses to submit to his absolute control over the high seas. Eventually, each character must choose a side in a final, titanic battle.

Like the second movie, AT WORLD’S END is determined to give audiences their money’s worth. And it does, especially in the gigantic action piece at the end, which ties the loose ends together in a Christian allegory of sacrifice and redemption. Although the movie’s Christian metaphors are clear, the movie also includes references to paganism and piracy, but these negative elements are ultimately handled delicately.

Content:

(CCC, BB, P, PaPa, O, L, VV, N, AA, D, M) Very strong Christian allegory with some strong moral elements resolves the main plot points through metaphorical themes of sacrifice, redemption and setting the captives free, plus talk and acts of honor and love and freedom as pirates and good guys battle tyrannical government rule based on a corrupt royalty that lacks honor and pirates and good guys are seen as a metaphor for the common man who works and survives in this life by “the sweat of his brow” and the strength of his hands, discussion of binding a chaotic demonic force and whether to unbind it again, and some strong pagan allusions wherein Davy Jones was originally assigned to ferry the dead to the afterlife but somehow corrupted his office, people are able to visit the land of the dead and return, and a character turns out to be the Goddess Calypso and is described as a “heathen god” but she clearly represents chaos and is seen briefly doing some sort of witchcraft before she returns to her true form and seems to be a demonic force related to the underworld or Hell as well as the powers of the sea; one or two “h” words and three or so uses of the old English swear word “bloody”; lots of action violence with very little blood includes swordfights, explosions, ship cannons fire into other ships and throw people about, one man has been hit with large wood splinter in his chest after one such explosions but there is no gore, leaping and swinging and falling on ropes and ship masts, implied mass hanging as people’s feet dangle through the gallows hole, man suffering from frostbite breaks off a big toe, ship falls over a gigantic waterfall, ships circle around a huge maelstrom, and people go underwater; no sex scenes but a passionate kiss and a couple pirates are seen with two woman at once; brief upper male nudity and brief minor female cleavage; alcohol use and drunkenness; no smoking; and, references to piracy, aristocrat uses army to control all commerce and people deceive one another and scheme but some of the schemes are plans to defeat evil or help another person, but they are not always clear so the movie builds suspense that way.

More Detail:

Are you afraid of death? That’s the question that the Satanic figure Davy Jones poses to his intended victims throughout AT WORLD’S END, the third movie in Walt Disney’s PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN trilogy. And, the answer the movie gives is that death is not the worst thing that can happen to you. In fact, the movie suggests that being a slave to the Devil, a slave to sin, a man without honor who will betray his friends or serve evil forces, and being condemned to Hell are all worse than physical death.

Like the second movie, AT WORLD’S END is determined to give audiences their money’s worth. And it does, especially in the gigantic action set-piece at the movie’s end, which ties all the loose ends together in a Christian allegory of sacrifice, redemption and setting the captives free.

The movie’s opening finds Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann allied with Captain Barbossa in a quest to free Captain Jack Sparrow from the limbo underworld of Davy Jones’ locker. They confront the cunning Chinese pirate Sao Feng, who has the map that will lead them through icy waters to Jack.

Meanwhile, the evil Lord Beckett has taken over the East India Trading Company. After having retrieved the heart of Davy Jones in the second movie, Lord Beckett now controls Davy Jones and his ship the Flying Dutchman. Using the Flying Dutchman, Beckett hangs every man, woman and child who refuses to submit to his absolute control over the high seas.

After perilously retrieving Jack from Davy Jones’ locker, each character must ultimately choose a side in a final, titanic battle with Lord Beckett’s armada, led by Davy Jones and his ship and crew. Will is torn between saving his father or saving his love, Elizabeth. Jack is torn between honor and saving his own skin. And, Elizabeth no longer knows who she can trust.

AT WORLD’S END comes perilously close to becoming a cinematic experience rather than an actual movie with a story. The biggest problem, however, is that some of the dialogue is lost in the sound mixing and muffled accents. The exhilarating climactic resolution of the third act makes up for all that as the filmmakers bring their visually impressive fantasy spectacle to a proper, satisfying close.

Although the movie’s Christian metaphors are clear, the movie also deals with piracy and some pagan allusions to a “heathen god.” The movie also says that the Flying Dutchman was originally intended to ferry people to the afterlife, but that Davy Jones has corrupted his supernatural office by enslaving men.

On the other hand, the movie’s heathen god is clearly a force for chaos, not worship. And, there is a Day of Judgment quality about the Flying Dutchman that plays into the movie’s symbolic Christian resolution. Finally, while there be pirates here, both the pirates and the good guys, i.e., Elizabeth, Will and Will’s father, are seen as a metaphor for the common man who works and fights for freedom in this life by “the sweat of his brow” and the strength of his hands. Thus, the filmmakers deftly handle the negative items by subjecting them to the movie’s more positive qualities.

The movie’s positive qualities could have been helped, however, by more direct allusions to God, Jesus Cross and/or Christianity. Because of that lack, MOVIEGUIDE® advises strong caution for AT WORLD’S END, even though, in the end, Walt Disney, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski have given moviegoers a very entertaining thrill ride with some characters you can feel good about rooting for as well as have fun with and some uplifting themes that may lead some people to the redemptive power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus can save you from both death and damnation.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.