Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Adventure, Fantasy, Action • 2h 23m
Overview
After Port Royal is attacked and pillaged by a mysterious pirate crew, capturing the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann in the process, William Turner asks free-willing pirate Jack Sparrow to help him locate the crew's ship—The Black Pearl—so that he can rescue the woman he loves.
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, Lee Arenberg, Mackenzie Crook, Damian O'Hare, Giles New, Angus Barnett, David Bailie, Michael Berry Jr., Isaac C. Singleton, Jr., Kevin McNally, Treva Etienne, Zoe Saldaña, Guy Siner, Ralph P. Martin, Paula J. Newman, Paul Keith, Dylan Smith, Lucinda Dryzek, Michael Sean Tighe, Greg Ellis, Dustin Seavey, Christian Martin, Trevor Goddard, Vince Lozano, Ben Wilson, Antonio Valentino, Lauren Maher, Brye Cooper, Mike Babcock, Owen Finnegan, Ian McIntyre, Vanessa Branch, Sam Roberts, Ben Roberts, Martin Klebba, Félix Castro, Mike Haberecht, Rudolph McCollum, Gerard J. Reyes, M. Scott Shields, Christopher Sullivan, Craig Thomson, Fred Toft, D.P. FitzGerald, Jerry Gauny, Maxie J. Santillan Jr., Michael Earl Lane, Tobias McKinney, David Patykewich, Tommy Schooler, Michael A. Thompson, Michael W. Williams, José Zelaya, Finneus Egan, Don LaDaga, LeJon Stewart, Israel Aduramo, Luke de Woolfson, Matthew Bowyer, Christopher S. Capp, Gregory Ryan Alosio, Jordi Caballero, Tamara Castle, Paul Gagné, Joe Grisaffi, James McAuley
Director: Gore Verbinski
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray encoding is much better caps
Paramount 4K Blu-ray is disappointing capsule review
4K Blu-ray vs Cinema DTS vs D-Theater DVHS?
The D-Theater DVHS/DVD has a different color grading compared to the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Director: Gore Verbinski
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray encoding is much better caps
Paramount 4K Blu-ray is disappointing capsule review
4K Blu-ray vs Cinema DTS vs D-Theater DVHS?
The D-Theater DVHS/DVD has a different color grading compared to the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: Gore Verbinski
Director: James Cameron
Disney 4K Blu-ray's artificial smoothening of facial textures making actors look unnatural, grain reduction and other changes to make the film look less like a product of its time
Old WEB-DL or HDTV rip for non AI version
Director: James Cameron
Disney 4K Blu-ray's artificial smoothening of facial textures making actors look unnatural, grain reduction and other changes to make the film look less like a product of its time
Old WEB-DL or HDTV rip for non AI version
Director: Michael Bay
Director: Michael Bay
Director: Michael Bay
Director: Michael Bay
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Disney 4K Blu-ray for the 4K Theatrical Cut or 2002 Vista Series DVD for the Director's Cut, alleycat's DC restoration better
Theatrical Cut: Disney 4K Blu-ray caps
Director's Cut: 2002 Vista Series DVD, alleycat's DC restoration better
Closest to original: 1994 Hollywood Pictures LaserDisc, other LDs are probably the same
Blu-rays only have 5.1 upmixes but probably fine
Director: George P. Cosmatos
Disney 4K Blu-ray for the 4K Theatrical Cut or 2002 Vista Series DVD for the Director's Cut, alleycat's DC restoration better
Theatrical Cut: Disney 4K Blu-ray caps
Director's Cut: 2002 Vista Series DVD, alleycat's DC restoration better
Closest to original: 1994 Hollywood Pictures LaserDisc, other LDs are probably the same
Blu-rays only have 5.1 upmixes but probably fine
3D: Disney International 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
3D: Disney International 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
3D: Disney International 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
3D: Disney International 3D Blu-ray or Apple Vision Pro
Director: Tim Burton
Director: Tim Burton
Director: David Fincher
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray for a purist version
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray for a purist version or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray from the original 1999 telecine transfer
Disney 4K Blu-ray, while a good release by itself, is very revisionist albeit made by Fincher. It has a huge amount of tinkering, a different grade, and at times uncanny with the sharpening. Caps of just how revisionist the new master is.
Cinema DTS - all Blu-ray tracks have significant limiting.
Disney 4K Blu-ray has some alterations, otherwise similar to the Fox Blu-ray
A blog article going over the home video history of Fight Club: https://notonbluray.com/blog/fight-club-compared-blu-ray-vs-itunes-vs-d-vhs-vs-dvd-vs-laserdisc/
Director: David Fincher
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray for a purist version
Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray for a purist version or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray from the original 1999 telecine transfer
Disney 4K Blu-ray, while a good release by itself, is very revisionist albeit made by Fincher. It has a huge amount of tinkering, a different grade, and at times uncanny with the sharpening. Caps of just how revisionist the new master is.
Cinema DTS - all Blu-ray tracks have significant limiting.
Disney 4K Blu-ray has some alterations, otherwise similar to the Fox Blu-ray
A blog article going over the home video history of Fight Club: https://notonbluray.com/blog/fight-club-compared-blu-ray-vs-itunes-vs-d-vhs-vs-dvd-vs-laserdisc/
Director: Robert Stevenson
Director: Robert Stevenson
Director: Ridley Scott
Director: Ridley Scott
Directors: David G. Derrick Jr. & Jason Hand & Dana Ledoux Miller
Disney+ also has this movie in 3D Streaming for the Apple Vision Pro
Directors: David G. Derrick Jr. & Jason Hand & Dana Ledoux Miller
Disney+ also has this movie in 3D Streaming for the Apple Vision Pro
Edit History
2/21/2026
Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
From
Old Disney/Disney Blu-ray is better than new 4K Blu-ray due to excessive DNR
To
Old Disney Blu-ray is better than new 4K Blu-ray due to excessive DNR
From
Old Disney/Disney Blu-ray is better than new 4K Blu-ray due to excessive DNR
To
Old Disney Blu-ray is better than new 4K Blu-ray due to excessive DNR
12/30/2024
