Tag Archives: tim powers

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean – On Stranger Tides

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Rating: ★★☆☆☆
In 2003, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl came to theaters. It was, far, far better than we had any right to expect, and pirate fever soon struck the world. Any movie based on an amusement park ride (no matter how well loved) is almost certain to be one-dimensional, half-assed, and forgettable, and yet we got a piece of genius that redefined a generation or more’s view of pirates. That’s the good news. The bad news is that with 2011’s On Stranger Tides, we finally got the pirate movie we probably should have gotten in the first place: one-dimensional, half-assed, and forgettable.

Now, that last statement is bound to ruffle some, and I’m not saying On Stranger Tides was a bad movie exactly. It was just dull. Predictable, dull, and more of a cartoon than a live action adventure. It was only truely bad when considering the talent onhand, and comparing it to what this movie *could* have been. Continue reading →

Some Clarification on the Powers/Disney Connection

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Surprised author Tim Powers finds himself setting sail with ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ [Updated] | Hero Complex | Los Angeles Times.

So this article confirms that to one extent or other, PotC4 does look to be based on the Tim Powers book On Stranger Tides. Powers’ attitude? Much more realistic and healthy than my own, as I still cringe to see a single on of Powers’ characters usurped by Barbossa or Sparrow. But as some readers pointed out, you can’t judge a movie until you see the movie, which is true. 

I still find Disney’s need to harvest pre-existing texts as a bad sign – it could well mean they’re looking for a short-cut fix to not having any story ideas of their own. OR, maybe they’ll spin gold out of it – I’ve certainly been wrong before.

It’s Official: Disney is Creatively Bankrupt

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Locus Online News: Powers Novel Optioned for New Pirates of the Carribean Movie.

Yup, so it now seems that PotC4 “On Stranger Tides” is indeed going to be based on the Tim Powers novel, and not simply sharing the title. Which I think entirely sucks – On Stranger Tides is a very specific story utilizing a very specific set of characters, none of whom strike me as a shoe-in to be replaced by Jack Sparrow. Plus, if Disney has to start the planning phase of this fourth film by bastardizing a prexisting work, I just don’t see how it indicates they have the creative fortitude to do make for a decent end product.

Of course, all this might change anyways since Johnny Depp is hinting that he might not be up for a fourth film anyways, so maybe it’s a moot point.

Review: On Stranger Tides

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Rating: ★★★★☆
powers-strangertidesThis may well be the greatest pirate book I’ve ever read.

My discovery of On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers was a strange one. First published 20 years ago, it’s largely flown under the radar amongst the pirate crowds. I’d never heard its name uttered amongst fellow enthusiasts swapping their favorite reads, I’d never heard murmurs of it being made into a movie, never saw it pop up as an Amazon.com recommendation – it’s honestly a miracle I discovered it at all.

It was while reading an old interview with Ron Gilbert – creator of the first two Monkey Island games – that I first learned of this book. The Pirates of the Caribbean Ride has largely been attributed as the inspiration for these brilliant games, but in this interview Gilbert indicated that it was actually the book On Stranger Tides that spurred the creation of Monkey Island. Now, the PotC rides were indeed key to my early love of pirates, and the Monkey Island Games were themselves key during my teenage years. So to learn that there might be a third part of this equation – well, I certainly had to check it out. Continue reading →