This summer's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales was vastly underrated. Hear me out! I'm not saying that it should lead any list of the Summer's Best movies. But the dismal effort that was On Stranger Tides tainted a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie that actually offered impressive set pieces, a decent central mystery, an admirable performance by Geoffrey Rush, and some morbid creatures that added spice to the once-flat franchise. One such monster that graced the screen was the Ghost Shark, and in this exclusive clip from Walt Disney, we have a look at how the effects team on Dead Men Tell No Tales brought these sharks to life... er, death. You know what I mean.
Do the Ghost Sharks make sense? I mean, in the grand scheme of Pirates of the Caribbean lore. We know that the various pirate crews were cursed, so they spend their eternity in an undead state. But the rules of the game -- and the myth of the franchise -- has been altered by each new chapter, and so I kind of dig that new directors are just bringing whatever they want to the table, so long as it looks cool.
And make no mistake, these Ghost Sharks look amazing on the big screen, attacking a small craft that Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) were piloting, trying to reach a nearby island. The sharks hopped over the boat. They bit chunks out of the boat. They were an incredible effect, and a surprisingly practical one, according to the video above. To a certain extent, mind you.
You can see the sharks in action in this official IMAX clip, designed to show off how much of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales you would MISS by seeing it in the traditional screen format:
This might surprise you: the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie might have underperformed domestically (banking $172M in the States), but it found its audience overseas (according to BoxOfficeMojo), pushing its international cume to $791M. That SEEMS disappointing, but that's mainly because two movies in the franchise crossed the $1 billion mark in 2006 and 2011, so hopes are always high for the Pirates producers when a new chapter comes out.
Will there be another Pirates of the Caribbean? Time will tell. They certainly ended this one on a tease that could be carried through in subsequent stories. If you haven't yet seen that final scene, you can catch it now that Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is heading to Digital, HD, and 4K Ultra HD on September 19. Then it will be released on DVD, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack and On Demand October 3.
