Film

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Name: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Genre: Adventure, Action, Fantasy
Released: 2017
Cast: Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, Geoffrey Rush, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario

The fifth Pirates film finds Jack Sparrow hunted by ghost pirates and chasing Poseidon's Trident with a scrappy crew. It's a sprawling, effects-laden adventure that aims for the swashbuckling charm of the earlier films but trades wit for spectacle. Best for viewers who want colour, movement, and stakes without too much thinking.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you have a soft spot for lavish, ocean-sized set pieces and a rogue who stumbles through them with more luck than sense, and you don't mind the jokes landing unevenly.

Skip it if you find the series' loops of chases, double-crosses and near-escapes wearing thin, since this leans hard on a rhythm you may already know well.

What it asks of you: Over two hours of noise and motion, with little pause for quiet; it wants you to go along with its wild logic and let the spectacle carry you.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl2003

The template for everything that follows: Depp's breakthrough role, clever plotting, genuine surprises, and action that breathes. It knows when to be funny and when to be thrilling, and it earned its success.

But If you're coming to this expecting gritty or grounded storytelling, you'll bounce off the theatrical excess and camp almost immediately.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl poster

National Treasure2004

Lighter-hearted adventure puzzle with Nicolas Cage, genuinely fun because it doesn't pretend to be anything else. Cracking pace, Indiana Jones DNA, and it actually cares about you following the clues.

But The script is broad and the mystery is simpler than it thinks it is. If you need sophisticated dialogue, keep moving.

Jungle Cruise2021

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt on a river, trading quips and fighting mythical monsters. It's charming in a way the later Pirates films forgot to be: fun without trying so hard.

But The plot is thin and the supporting cast exists mostly for set pieces. It's a summer movie, not a story you'll be thinking about in winter.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Sinbad the Sailor1947

Both celebrate visual adventure and impossible creatures over narrative elegance. The wish-fulfilment engine running underneath is identical.

Live-action Technicolor fantasy from the golden age, with creature effects that still astonish. It shares Dead Men Tell No Tales' taste for colourful nonsense and unapologetic spectacle, but from an era when effects meant craft.

But The pacing is glacial by modern standards and the production design, however gorgeous, can feel stagy. The genre conventions are antique.

The Mummy1999

Tom Cruise, ancient curses, foolish decisions leading to absurd action. Brendan Fraser turns the hero into a comic foil and it works. Adventure that remembers humour is an engine, not a garnish.

But The CGI hasn't aged brilliantly and the tone wobbles between silly and serious. Some moments land better in memory than in real time.

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad1958

Stop-motion creature effects by Ray Harryhausen that still astonish. A skeleton fight, a Cyclops, a roc. Pure adventure spectacle from an era that understood wonder.

But It's slow by modern standards and the dialogue exists mainly to get you to the next fight. There's no character development in the contemporary sense.

Black Sails2014

Ten episodes a season, three seasons, and a prequel that nails what the Pirates films kept chasing: real stakes, actual character arcs, and swordplay that matters. Gorgeous to look at and genuinely thrilling.

But It starts slow and the first few episodes are rough. You have to be patient before the engine kicks in. Also darker and bloodier than you might expect from swashbuckling.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988

Terry Gilliam's visual fever dream with Jeff Bridges and Uma Thurman. Impossible, ridiculous, colourful, and committed to every absurd idea. Colour and imagination as a policy.

But The plot dissolves into pure spectacle and the film doesn't care. It's visually exhausting and the logic is dream-logic. Some people find it insufferable rather than magical.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen poster

Treasure Planet2002

Space pirates, a wooden ship flying between asteroids, hand-drawn animation with CGI integrated before it was easy. Criminally underseen and structurally solid in a way that rewards rewatching.

But It underperformed badly and Disney shelved the whole concept. The premise is high-concept and that can feel gimmicky if you're not already on board.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World2003

Russell Crowe as a Napoleonic naval captain hunting a French ship across the ocean. Intelligent action, real naval tactics, and it trusts you to keep up. A thinking person's adventure.

But It's talky and the climax happens almost in passing. The naval combat is more strategy than spectacle, and there's no love interest to soften the edges. Very dry in places.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World poster

The Goonies1985

Both films believe that a motley crew searching for treasure while pursued is enough. Both let spectacle do the heavy lifting. Neither apologises for it.

A ragtag group on a treasure hunt fighting eccentric villains across impossible set pieces. Spielberg-produced, Donner-directed, and it moves like hell. Pure joy weaponised as cinema.

But The comedic tone can feel dated and some of the characterisation is thin. It's broad in a way that won't speak to people wanting subtlety.

Stardust2007

Both prioritise character eccentricity and visual invention over plot coherence. Both understand that adventure lives in digressions and weird supporting characters. Both are unashamed fantasy.

Neil Gaiman's logic applied to fairy-tale adventure: a young man crosses into a magical realm to win a woman's heart and tangles with pirates, witches, and fallen stars. Funny, self-aware, and gorgeously strange.

But It wears its literary DNA on its sleeve, which reads as arch to some viewers. The tone is deliberately uneven and not everyone finds that charming.