I will be the first to admit, I have an obsession with “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies and pirates in general. For as long as I can remember I have always loved pirates. Whenever my family would travel to Ocracoke, pirates were the only thing I would have on my mind. I was just enthralled with them. Between guns, ships, treasure, parrots, and swords, there is not much for a young boy to dislike about pirates. When the first movie (Curse of the Black Pearl) came out, I was very enthusiastic to go see it. Though I was young and a few of the scenes scared me, I was quite fond of the movie. I have re-watched the first movie dozens of times, and watched all of the others at least once. I may be partial to this film series, but I do have some facts to as why they are the best movies ever made. Below are some reasons, in my opinion, as to why “Pirates of the Caribbean” is the greatest movie franchise of all time.

The actors/actresses

Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, and Orlando Bloom, make up one of the most legendary movie casts of my generation. The real Captain Jack Sparrow could not have played himself better than Johnny Depp. The movements, sayings, and characteristics all were perfect. The beautiful Keira Knightly can play both sides of Elizabeth Swan, the prissy upper class Governor’s daughter to the tomboy pirate. She blends her acting perfectly with Bloom’s character, William Turner. William Turner is a sword maker who later joins Sparrow’s crew. The kind-hearted blacksmith who has some pirate blood is wonderfully portrayed by Bloom. The whole cast mixes very well and it shows in the movie.

The scenery

One of the greatest parts of the movies are the settings in which they take place. The first movie was filmed in St. Vincent and they could not have picked a better place to set the movie. The beauty of the surroundings alone was amazing enough to win an Academy Award. The following films were filmed in a variety of locations that include Dominica, Bahamas, California, and Hawaii. The cast even helped pick some of the locations where they filmed. When watching a movie that is filmed by the sea, I automatically fall in love with it and this is no exception.

The costumes

One thing I really loved about Pirates of the Caribbean are the costumes. They were not the stereotypical and cheesy pirate costumes that you can purchase at your local Walmart around Halloween. The costumes incorporated historical elements of real pirates wardrobes, making every fan of pirates want to dress like Jack Sparrow even more. The accessories donned by the cast such as guns, swords, cannons, and animals matched perfectly and added to the overall effect. The directors and writers also get creativity points in my book for giving Hector Barbossa a pet spider monkey. The creepy monkey made Barbossa even scarier. All in all, the costumes played a small, but impactful part in the movie’s success.

The special effects

POTC has dominated the special effect game for nearly 14 years now. With the exception of a few movies such as “The Avatar” and “Inception”, I would say POTC is number one on the list. Between the skeleton crew, octopus beards, and Bill Strap Boots Turner, the entire film series has had some spectacular special effects. Hal Hickel was the animation supervisor for the first movie, and had some brilliant ideas when it came to the effects which required advanced technology and specialized technicians. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” had a budget of 250 million and a huge portion of that budget went to the special effects. Overall the special effects in the movies really add an extra element of action for the viewers.

Captain Jack Sparrow

In my opinion, Jack Sparrow is the greatest Disney character of all time, hands down. He is a perfect mixture between a comedian and a cold blooded pirate. Jack’s character boasts elements of kindness, cunningness, cleverness, and funniness. The way he walks, talks, acts, and thinks are all very pirate-like. He transitions from a completely selfish, ruthless pirate to one who thinks of others, all while maintaining his bad boy pirate attitude. He is by far the coolest character in the movie.