Swashbuckling fans will reach their wait's end on December 4th as Disney releases PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END on DVD and Disney Blu-Ray collections.  The wait will have been quite worthwhile for viewers who covet a treasure of filmmaking secrets and behind-the-scenes video, taking you on-set during the creation of this trilogy-capping chapter in the voyages of Captain Jack Sparrow.

FilmEdge.net and Caribbean Trading Company now reviews PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END on both disc formats for comparison and to complete our total coverage of this megahit film.  For our complete review of the feature film itself, visit FilmEdge's article from this past May when PIRATES 3 first sailed into theaters.  Now explore the newly revealed mysteries awaiting ye on DVD and high-definition Blu-Ray discs!

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:AT WORLD'S END 2-Disc Limited Edition on

DISC ONE offers the complete 168-minute feature film in its widescreen theatrical 2.35:1 anamorphic aspect ratio enhanced for 16x9 televisions, and its enveloping 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound audio track, with Spanish language track and subtitles available. 

Being a darker-themed story in general, the film's look was also darker and less color saturated in many sequences, including Jack's eerie tour of Davy Jones' Locker and the story Maelstrom finale battle.  Such dim lighting and subdued colors would prove a difficult challenge for transfer to DVD with its limited digital capacity, but AT WORLD'S END retains is moody ambience without sacrificing most of its visual depth.  Some scenes tend to flatten a bit on the small screen, such as the nighttime appearance of dead souls in their ghostly boats, but this transfer stays quite true and consistent through sequences with these otherworldly color timings.  The faces of the Black Pearl crew appear eerily lit but deliberately so, avoiding any unpleasant color shifts from disc transfer.

The Dolby Digital audio track makes good and expansive use of the 5.1 surround sound field, keeping the center  dialogue channel fairly clear and distinct amid the auditory chaos of cannon fire and oceanic whirlpools  Overall AT WORLD'S END enjoys a handsome and high-quality journey on standard DVD disc format, representing the cinema experience fans previously enjoyed in theaters now from the comfort of their own couches.

The only bonus feature found on Disc One is Bloopers of the Caribbean, a five-minute collection of flubbed lines, failed action takes and general tomfoolery perpetrated by Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Geoffrey Rush and Keira Knightley.  These plundered outtakes have become a favorite tradition on PIRATES DVD releases and this lengthy look at the mirth on-set is a worthy entry, if perhaps not quite as laugh-getting as the first film's collection.

For the unfortunate souls who obtain the single-disc DVD of AT WORLD'S END, your journey would end here — but hopefully ye stout-hearted mates bartered for the 2-disc set, with details straight ahead as ye sail!

DISC TWO boasts a wealth of bonus material including nine new featurettes which cover the production of AT WORLD'S END in-depth and entertainingly so:

Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom is the longest entry and appropriately so, given the massive complexity of filming the stormy battle at the film's conclusion. Ironically, after battling all the weather elements (hurricanes, rain, rough seas) when filming PIRATES 1 & 2 on the water, Gore Verbinksi moved the AT WORLD'S END crew indoors to an enormous structure in the California desert to create this epic confrontation between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman.  How did Captain Jack, Barbossa, Elizabeth and Will engage in the most epic swordfight and sea war against Davy Jones, Lord Beckett and the East India fleet amid a torrential swirling storm?  Watch the drenched actors and gimbal-docked ships rock and roll amid the most ambitious action sequence ever filmed, and prepare to be amazed.

Keith and the Captain reveals the thematic relationship which actor Johnny Depp made to Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richards while first developing the character of Jack Sparrow.  With Richards making a cameo in AT WORLD'S END as Captain Teague, keeper of the Pirate Code, viewers can now directly compare the cinematic hero with the living legend and see where fantasy and reality merge in the ultimate rock-and-roll star pirate.

Tale of the Multiple Jacks delves into the unexpected and fantastic realm of Davy Jones' Locker, a netherworld where Jack Sparrow exists neither living nor dead, commanding a ship crewed by fractured facets of his own personality.  Learn the technical tricks and mind-boggling mental exercises which Johnny Depp and crew employed to populate an entire ship's deck with duplicate (and deranged) Jack Sparrow doppelgangers.  If you thought "chicken man" Jack was funny to watch, feast your eyes on director Gore Verbinski demonstrating the concept!

Hoist the Colours offers glimpses into the musical development of the film's opening tune of pirate defiance and pride.  Score composer Hans Zimmer and documentary cameras reveal how he and director Gore Verbinski wrote and developed the mournful tune in a roundtable studio gathering, and developed it into a dominant theme of the third PIRATES adventure.

Masters of Design focuses on the unique and diverse talents of five pre-production artists: Jim Byrkit, designer of Sao Feng's pirate map to worlds beyond; Crash McCreary, the concept designer of Davy Jones and his cursed crew inhabiting the Flying Dutchman; production designer Rick Heinrich, who offers a video tour of the massive Singapore stage set; Penny Rose, costume designer who details the toil and trials of creating Captain Teague's costume for Keith Richards; and Chris Peck, prop master assigned to design and build the massive Pirate Codex book by which all sons of the sea live and die.  This is another in-depth bonus feature, like Anatomy of a Scene: The Maelstrom, which offers viewers a wealth of behind-the-scenes knowledge and secrets to enjoy.

Inside the Brethren Court is an interactive roll-call for all the nine Pirate Lords from around the world, exploring their varied biographies and piracy styles through costume, makeup and associate props for each Lord, exemplifying their lifestyle and customs from the seas they rule and plunder.

The World of Chow Yun-Fat introduces audiences to China's biggest, truly legendary movie star who portrays the mysterious and intimidating Captain Sao Feng, Pirate Lord of Singapore.  Interviews with cast and crew demonstrate how much respect Yun-Fat was given on-set, and surprisingly how much fun and laughter he brought to it.

The Pirate Maestro: The Music of Hans Zimmer spotlights the PIRATES composer, noting in prolific detail how he created the film score in collaboration with director Gore Verbinksi as an emotional and highly effective storytelling tool.  Even more in-the-moment documentary video of composition and orchestral recording sessions highlight Zimmer's indelible contributions to the raucous action and seafaring romance found AT WORLD'S END.

Two Deleted Scenes, "I Like Riddles" with Pintel and Ragetti and "Two Captains, One Ship" illustrating the command conflicts of Jack and Barbossa, round out Disc Two's bonus features.  While the pair of cut scenes are briefly entertaining on their own, Gore Verbinski's optional commentary tracks underscore why the two were superfluous and redundant amid the already-crowded story structure.

Avast, my hearties, keep a weather-eye out for hidden Easter Egg treats tucked in amid the Bonus Feature menus!  Navigate the screens carefully and you'll be privy to short video vignettes about actor Marty Klebbe's customized PIRATES motorcycle and sports car, an CG pre-visualization of the World's End waterfall scene, and much more.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN:AT WORLD'S END on 2-Disc High Definition

While the high-definition release of AT WORLD'S END, exclusively on Disney Blu-Ray discs, duplicates the content of the 2-disc standard-definition DVD set, the advanced format offers significant and dazzling presentation advantages which far surpass what ordinary DVDs can deliver.

Most noticeable are the stunningly high-quality picture and sound which match if not exceed the viewing experience you may have enjoyed in theaters.  The 50GB disc boasts a full 1080p hi-def digital film transfer in the original 2.35:1 widescreen anamorphic aspect ratio, with crystal clear image detail: you'll shiver at every slimy suction cup on Davy Jones' tentacled beard, gaze in wonder at the sparkling stars spanning the heavens at the World's End precipice, and marvel at the thunderous spinning seas of the Maelstrom.

The unrivaled image quality on Blu-Ray is only matched by the format's spectacular audio options, including a tonally sharp and shuddering 7.1 field of surround channels pumping the uncompressed soundtrack in 48kHz, 24-bit quality.  Whether listening to the distant wash of tropical waves and warm sea breezes, or ducking from the furious cannon fire of the finale battle, Disney takes full and fantastic advantage of Blu-Ray's peerless storage and playback capacity.

Another Blu-Ray bonus is the animated menus hosted by the skeletal Jolly Roger, a talking skull who is your guide through the two discs of material.  Created with state-of-the-art BD-Java technology, this crusty character may taunt and curse your bones if you linger too long while making your menu selections. 

But Jolly Roger is only a start, as this Blu-Ray release delivers another exclusive treasure: the fully interactive Enter the Maelstrom exploration into the making of AT WORLD'S END epic ocean battle.  Producer Jerry Bruckheimer narrates the time-lapse footage showing the construction of the full-size Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman ships, sailing naught but a blue-screen sea inside a gigantic warehouse in Palmdale, California.  As the fast-forward video proceeds, viewers use their remote to selected dozens of 'hot zone' points which open new video clips illustrating all aspects of filming from the giant ship gimbals which simulated the rolling seas, to the deck-tilted swordfights and rope swings of the stuntmen engaged in battle, and many more choices. 

While navigating these pop-up menus and their content-linked alternatives may get a bit confusing at times, this exclusive technology delivers a truly one-of-a-kind high-definition experience.  I suggest viewers let the complete time-lapse video run once uninterrupted so you get a feel for the entire content, then when it automatically repeats from the start, then begin choosing topics of interest to explore in more detail and enjoy this unique presentation.

The same bonus features as offered on the DVD release are present on Blu-Ray but with hi-def enhancements to video size and quality to remain consistent with the screen size presentation of the feature film.  Likewise Blu-Ray viewers can enjoy the secret Easter Egg treats, but they can be found in slightly altered menu locations suited to this format's release.

If one disappointment exists in the high-definition presentation, it's the sorely missed omission of a commentary track by director Gore Verbinski and members of his salty crew.  While this expected feature was announced in early press releases about the home entertainment release, the commentary track disappeared into the mists nevertheless — perhaps to appear in some future release of a complete trilogy box set or the like.  Only time will tell, but its inclusion now would have allowed both the Blu-Ray and DVD releases to fulfill their anticipated potential.

Whichever disc format you chose, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END bring home the final and epic chapter of an amazingly successful cinematic adventure.  Perhaps less complete than it should have been, compared to the hours of extra material offered on the first two films' disc releases, AT WORLD'S END can't avoid being a must-own addition to any swashbuckling fan's video library.  Who knows if more new journeys await Captain Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth and Will?  But now you can complete the existing trilogy of high seas adventure by bringing home PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END today!

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