For a film with such high production values it is a shame that Gibson went the route of fantasy armour.  A couple of minutes with some history books would have cost pennies and solved most of my complaints.  His whole Messiah complex is far too much.  Perhaps more time with the history books and less with the kinky fantasies would have salvaged this movie.

I enjoy the game very much.  Oddly the mini games, dancing, sacking towns, sneaking, and dueling are a lot of fun.  I wish the wind and water affected the sea battles more stongly, however, I can imagine that is a programing nightmare, alas.  Games like Port Royal, Cutthroats, and even Tropico II are really unbalanced compared to Pirates.  My one complaint is that the images are cartoonish, and sanatized, even Disney got the PotC ride to be dirty, and spooky, and Depps breath stinks you can just tell.  I think of the ambiance of Thief and wish for less sparkle in the graphics.

I remember seeing the first (fourth) movie in the theatre and knowing that I was seeing something like nothing before, alas. Everything since has been a disappointment.  Unfortunately, Lucas doesn't seem to love his characters.  Here I am thinking of Steinbeck in literature, or Hitchcock in film they loved their characters.  In turn, we don't care about Lucas's characters either.  Nor, for that matter is Lucas much of a storyteller -- this whole documentary riff is a poor excuse.  The story is plodding and all too predictable.  Recently, I saw the Hidden Fortress which informs much of the first (fourth) film.  Unfortunately, Lucas failed to recognize the brilliance of the spear fight -- profoundly evident in the lame duel between Obi-wan and Vader.  So, we know that these films are not about character development, nor innovative storyline, nor martial arts -- what are they?  Self-consciously they are films about special effects in films. Alas, I am disappointed, altogether in the end.  However, I refuse to give up hope.  I look forward to Tarantino's re-make of these films.  The brilliance of Kill Bill made me reminiscent of the feeling in seeing the first (fourth) Star Wars.