Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (PG-13, 2006)

common sense media says

An action-packed but too-long flick for kids 12+.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie contains a LOT of peril and action-violence. Characters are shot at, chased, dragged, trampled, rolled down hills, and nearly roasted over an open fire. In one disturbing scene, Will is tied to a mast and flogged by Bootstrap Bill. Also, the grotesque pirates and CGI sea creatures are menacing and downright scary. And there's lots and lots of rum (yes, we're talking about pirates, but the audience won't be able to buy the stuff for a decade...) But depending on the maturity of your kids, this movie is okay for kids 12 and up.

Positive messages: Will is noble and heroic, but Jack clearly lacks morals and ethics. He drinks, lies, womanizes, and seems willing to sacrifice his "friends" so he can go free.
Violence: Characters are chased, stabbed, flogged, shot at, trampled, roasted, and rolled down hills. Scenes include swordfights, cannons, angry cannibals, and menacing sea monsters.
Sex: Innuendoes and double meanings are rampant, notably involving a compass, swords, and fighting. Flirting between Jack and the voodoo priestess; some kissing and romantic scenes between Will and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth and Jack.
Language: Mild, including one "oh bugger".
Consumerism: None.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Characters drink throughout the movie, and Jack refers to alcohol in a positive way ("If this were a dream, there'd be rum.")

More on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about how far people should go in the name of friendship. Is Jack justified in dragging Will and Elizabeth into his adventure? What could he have done differently to protect his friends?

What's the story?

What's the story?
"You have a debt to pay," says an ominous voice. "You owe Davy Jones your soul. That was the agreement. Time's up!" And so begins the second installment of the franchise that's turning pirates into rock stars of the new millennium. Yes, the loopy Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is caught in yet another tangled web of ghostly creatures lurking deep in the ocean. It seems that he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davy Jones (Bill Nighy), ruler of the ocean and captain of the Flying Dutchman. And, oh yeah, his beard is made up of creepy tentacles! To find the chest, "you must sail to da ends of da eart' and beyond," proclaims Tia Dalma (Naomie Harris), a mysterious voodoo priestess. In short, unless Jack can figure a way out of this predicament, he'll be doomed to an afterlife of eternal damnation and slavery. Being a pirate and an opportunist, Jack doesn't shy away from enlisting the help of his old friends, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and his fiance, Elizabeth Swan (Keira Knightly), who've been thrown into prison by the evil Lord Beckett (Tom Hollander), a representative of the East India Trading Company. Beckett has his own plan to keep Davy Jones and his ghoulish pirates from attacking his company's ships.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 
This movie is all about Johnny Depp, who camps it up from one action-packed scene to the next. Let's see…there's a giant sea monster, voodoo princess, barnacle-encrusted pirates, desert island, hungry cannibals, buried treasure, ghost ship, insane sword fight, and every other pirate cliche you can think of. Really, it gets a little exhausting, and after the first hour or two, the whole thing starts to wear on your psyche, even Depp's drunken pirate schtick, which seemed so fresh and fun in the first movie. The story line puts Will and Elizabeth's romance on the back burner, and that's what helped to give the first movie some depth. Still, this movie is a lot of fun, moves along fairly well, and ends with a great cliffhanger into Pirates 3. It would have been better if they'd chopped off about 30 minutes in the middle.

 

Kudos to Stellan Skarsgard (Good Will Hunting), who gives a heart-wrenching performance as Bootstrap Bill, and to Bill Nighy (Love Actually), who deserves a "best villain" award for bringing Davy Jones to life in all his tentacled glory.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
Director: Gore Verbinski
Cast: Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom
Genre: Action/Adventure
Run time: 150 minutes
Theatrical release: July 7, 2006
DVD release: December 5, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images
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This review was written by Jane Boursaw
 
 

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What parents & educators say

12

Most useful reviews by all members

clone4-55
teen, 16 years old
 
great movie (not for kids)
i loved this movie, but the 3rd is the best so far (for me). it has a lot of violence in it and some very cruel and creepy images. i call this off for children under 13 years and if children under 13 watch this , then parents should really watch with them and really take it serious to watch with them.

redbelt 09
kid, 11 years old
 
very different from the 1st. alot scarier.
i think it is the worst pirates yet, but still entertaining. there is some violent parts, but not as many as the 1st or 3rd. there is lots of scary images though, and most are violent. a bird rips a mans eye out, will is whipped(my parents made me close my eyes but my dad said it was violent, and its probably scary too. davy jones looks pretty gross, and so do his crew members. jack sparrow eats someones toe, and thats just disgusting. alot of drinking too.

BellaBelle
kid, 11 years old
 
A little iffy for me still good though I would recommend everyone maybe 5th grade and up to watch but definitely 6th and up

ps3 gamer
kid, 13 years old
 
Have you the heart?To watch a still beating heart!?!
Really this isnt a bad film at all. Its more like a comedy than a action adventure! Though young kids may find that some bits disturb them slightly.e.g tha still beating heart of davy jones-the fish people. But all the films in the seris are great and i would advise watching them!

FezesAreCool
kid, 12 years old
 
Too frightening for young children, 11+
I really like this film. It is funny in parts particularly when Jack Sparrow comes out of the tent and sees a huge crowd of people who want to kill him and he just says oh b--ger! Mild language on the 'bl--dy' level. Plenty of violence but no gore and hardly any blood. Some scenes may frighten young children so overall 11+.

EspumaMarina
teen, 15 years old
 
One of the best movies, although confusing
A really good and funny movie, although really confusing. I'll start on my questions: Why was Jack at that place at the beginning and floating in a coffin? Why was Elizabeth standing in the rain in her wedding dress? Why did Elizabeth just leave her father like that and didn't even think of a way to defend him? .. anyway. It was all scary and funny at the same time. Jack isn't the best rolemodel (obviously) but he's one of the main reasons the movie is such a sucess! Will can be dimwitted, but usually pretty good. Throughout the movie its confusing on who's on who's side.. Then when James came in.. I got confused again. It's not bad though, I highly recomend it. There's some mild kissing, but at the end the kiss between Elizabeth and Jack wasn't anything serious (infact it was a way of distracting him) Some scenes with the action will freak one out, especially when those birds poaked out a mans eyeballs. The impailing with the swords makes me turn away, but overall the movie is enjoyable. Dispite the bad messages, its a pretty safe movie to watch, just have some self control instead of copying the actors..

FlickChick197
teen, 15 years old
 
Double Digits Only.
This action-packed adventure would keep any viewer on the edge of their seats! With wild chases through thick, dark forests to nasty suspensful run-ins with the ghastly Davy Jones and his crews. This is good for any double-digit person. Concerns: Violence, Drinking, Negative Messages Violence: Clearly, being a pirate contains sword fights and constant arguments and disputes against the government. Davy Jones attacks Jack's rather.... stable Black Pearl with the evil Kraken. The survivors are captured, but no prisoners will be kept. Therefore, Davy orders his cursed crew to kill them. You will see this clip in the trailer (this clip is the one of the crew and the tomohawks). There is no gore, but implication and heavy violence to anyone who understands. Drinking: Jack make constant jokes and remarks referring to "grog" which is the pirate version of alcohol. Also, in Tortuga, there is a drunken maiden and many bar fights. Bad messages: Well... that's obvious. All in all, it's purpose and intentions were greatly and effectively met.

bananalover
teen, 16 years old
 
better than the 1st and worse then the last
better than 1 but worse then the last

 
Pretty good film is a little more graphic than the first.
Honestly, if your kid watched the first one with no problems at all, then they would be totally fine with this one. If they did have some problems, maybe you should watch it first and see if they could handle it. When they find the heart, it might be a little nasty for the squeamish person, but be advised that it isn't a human heart. It's a weird oval-shaped thing that beats and has way more than 4 arterie thingys. But yeah, It was awesome.

khelah
kid, 11 years old
 
good movie but not as good as the first davvy jones is scary for kids under 9+

Ugli Chic
teen, 18 years old
 
okay...
It was okay, I guess. Got kinda boring, drags on the action a little long, and didn't have much of Will or Elizabeth in it. Davy Jones and Tia Dalma are creepy!

horselover11
kid, 12 years old
 
i think this movie but kids under the age of 10 should watch with there parents. The kissing is not bad at all i have whatched before and they dont curse at all. Over all good movie of action love and avdenture. :) please please comment my profile :)

Sosie98
teen, 14 years old
 
My sister, Alice, was once really scared of Davy Jones and it gave her nightmares. He is disgusting and gross. I think Jack's a bad role model, but he always ends up doing the right thing even though he considers leaving them to die. Or it seems as though he's doing the wrong thing but he actually has a plan till the end. Johnny Depp makes Jack an intellectual and funny pirate that is so smart he makes no sense. Orlando Bloom is a good role model for kids, because he'll do anything to save the person he loves. Partially, though Elizabeth is a bad role model because she is engaged to be married and is also flirting with Jack. Overall it's a great movie that features awesome special effects. Love it!!! Oh and I would rate this on for age eight because those kids won't get the bad stuff in it. They'll just understand that it's a great movie. I love Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom's awesome!!

 
Just as good as the original, though not quite as fun with a few dark parts
Dead Man's Chest is the second installment in the Pirates trilogy, and it points to good things for the final movie (already filmed with Dead Man's Chest). Everything good about the first movie returns, sometimes literally, with throwbacks to the first one and even some important characters making a surprise return (wait until the end, then you'll understand). The acting is good, and Depp continues to shine as Jack Sparrow. However, it did feel that some of the Jack mannerisms were a bit forced, which I assume would be the director trying to exploit everyone's liking for Depp's eccentric role. Nighy plays Davey Jones well, albeit he is masked under a Gollum-esque disguise of special effects. My only warning is that if you don't like cliff-hangers, you might be disappointed with the ending (which, in my opinion, was well-done). That, and I also thought the characters had diminished roles form the first one, seeing as we already knew who they were, so it didn't have the fun of learning all their quirks and whatnot.

4Spice
adult
 
pretty good movie
i loved how jonny depp played in this movie 12 and over for fighting no sex

Coolguy101
kid, 11 years old
 
Iffy for 10 year old's
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is the second movie in the series and the best to me. It is violent but there is little blood. The first one is more violent and bloodier. There is really only one scary part when some pirates's get axed in the back. But they only show the axes in the air and their dead bodies. And Jack Sparrow betrays his crew but comes back.

 
i think this movie is a very good movie for ages 12 and up because it is very entertaining

NarutoRocks13
kid, 12 years old
 
1 of my favorite movies. This movie deserves more than 3 stars.

9001
teen, 15 years old
 
Great movie!
This movie is great, but violent and scary. 13+.

pen7777
teen, 15 years old
 
Different than the first, still great!!
This one has more violence than the first and a deeper plot. Theres still comedy and a lighthearted feel for the most part, but more intense than the first.

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