The Correct Order To Watch The Pirates Of The Caribbean Movies
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" shivered the timbers of many a film buff upon its arrival in 2003. By that point in Hollywood history, the pirate-led swashbuckler had laid dead and buried since the legendary 1995 flop that was "Cutthroat Island." But while dead men may tell no tales, dead genres can sometimes make a miraculous recovery, and that's precisely what happened when "The Curse of the Black Pearl" turned Disney's titular theme park ride into a witty and rousing action-adventure on its way to birthing a franchise that's currently five films deep.
With Disney actively planning to make a sixth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film and potentially a Margot Robbie-led spinoff at some point after that, those who are thinking about taking their first step into the world of undead buccaneers, fabled treasures, and all manner of mystical sea creatures (or those who have only ever seen "The Curse of the Black Pearl" up until now) may have some questions. Are all the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels equally deserving of your time? Do you have to watch them strictly in the order that they were released, or is there a way of rearranging them that will improve your viewing experience?
If these be the sorts of questions on your mind, then drink up, me 'earties, yo ho! We're inclined to acquiesce to your request.
The proper way to plunder the seven seas
The answer is quite simple: You can and should watch the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films in the order of their release ... but you don't necessarily have to watch every one of them.
Whichever way you decide to go about plundering the seven (cinematic) seas, your journey should assuredly start with 2003's "The Curse of the Black Pearl." It's the entry that introduces most of the key players from the next four films and it more than suffices as a standalone story, should you decide this franchise just isn't for you upon watching it. After that, it's time to move on to 2006's "Dead Man's Chest" and 2007's "At World's End," which are themselves halves of a two-part narrative and form a complete trilogy with "The Curse of the Black Pearl."
Here's where you can choose between two paths. 2011's "On Stranger Tides" is a sequel to "At World's End" and picks up a story thread left dangling at the end of that film (Jack Sparrow's search for the Fountain of Youth). But at the same time, almost none of the new characters in "Stranger Tides" are brought back or referenced in the next film, 2017's "Dead Men Tell No Tales," and the actual plot has limited bearing on what goes down in the sequel that follows. It's also reasonable to assume that future "Pirates of the Caribbean" films won't be revisiting the events from "Stranger Tides" either, seeing as it's not one of the more cherished installments among fans of the property.
Mind you, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" itself isn't what you might call a fan-favorite, so why not just stop after the first three films? Well, just hear this crusty landlubber out.
Will and Elizabeth are the protagonists, not Jack
When "The Curse of the Black Pearl" opened, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow was the character everyone wanted to talk about. it was as though someone had crossed Bugs Bunny with Keith Richards to create a sword-swinging, rum-swilling, charmingly eccentric rock star of a scalawag. What many people didn't fully appreciate at the time, however, is that the only reason Jack is able to thrive as a tempest in a teapot is that his youthful comrades, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), are the actual protagonists who change and develop as characters. It's their star-crossed romance (one where factors such as class and heritage vie to keep the two lovebirds apart) that gives the franchise actual stakes.
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies eventually (and temporarily) shifted the focus squarely onto Jack in "Stranger Tides," but it just didn't work. Perhaps if Gore Verbinski had stuck around to infuse the film's bombast and spectacle with more depth the way he did as the director of the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy, "Stranger Tides" could have thrived as a sequel about Jack having to confront his legacy and mortality the way his fellow swashbuckling rapscallion, Puss in Boots, does in "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish." That not being the case, "Stranger Tides" is the most disposable chapter in the franchise's overarching narrative so far.
By that same token, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" isn't strictly mandatory viewing either, as the movie is primarily focused on passing the torch from one generation of heroes (and antiheroes) to the next. Assuming the sixth film isn't a reboot, though (and there's a real chance it might be), those wanting the full "Pirates" experience so far might as well give it a look.
Looking to the horizon
There's a lot up in the air right now about "Pirates of the Caribbean 6," including whether it will pay off the intriguing post-credits scene from "Dead Men Tell No Tales" or directly continue the story from the first five films at all. Then there's the matter of alleged domestic abuser Johnny Depp, which seems like the sort of thing Disney wouldn't want hanging over this franchise's head as it tries to chart a new course after the diminishing returns from the last installment. Both Depp's performance and the Jack Sparrow character had been firmly run into the ground by the time we got to "Dead Men Tell No Tales" anyway, in case the actor's general history of violent and erratic behavior isn't reason enough not to want to see him play Jack Sparrow again.
All we really know is "Pirates of the Caribbean 6" is based on a "weird" pitch by "The Last of Us" co-showrunner Craig Mazin and longtime series writer Ted Elliott — that and if the sixth film is a hit, the aforementioned Margot Robbie spinoff might yet re-emerge from its current location in the depths of Davy Jones' Locker. So, until the fate of the property is decided, at least you now have an idea of how to better navigate the occasionally treacherous waters that are the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films we already have.
All the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films are streaming on Disney+.