PREFACE
I love adventure stories. Especially pirates ones. Epic sword fights, battles between ships on the high seas, witty heroes and dastardly villains, thundering, bombastic soundtrack playing in the background. Thus, I was blown away when I saw the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. Here was a movie that was, I felt, in the same tradition as the marvelous Princess Bride—it was careful not to take itself at all seriously, had swashbuckling action, a fantastic lead, and an overall adventuresome feel that is all too frequently gone from today's movies.
That's why I've never liked the second and third films as much. They, unlike Curse of the Black Pearl, take themselves seriously. The whole point of POTC is that the stories are ridiculous, and you're supposed to run with it. The first film accomplished its story because it realized this was a cheesy adventure film. The latter two devolved into melodrama and convoluted plots that were a chore to watch. But I digress...
Anyway, I'm a big reader, so I always wished the POTC films had novelizations available. Thus, with my discovery of this wonderful site, I've decided to write my own.
Note: This is not going to be like FantasyBard's novelizations, which introduce a swathe of new characters and, in the case of At World's End, change the plotlines of the movies considerably. The stories are admittedly brilliant, and I'd highly recommend reading them, but I'm just going to stick to the movie's story. I plan on occasionally throwing in an extra scene or two, but only if they're something I feel would have made the movie better. Other than that, it's going to be straight POTC from here on out. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.
—The Author