As you're no doubt aware by now, I'm a big fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. At this point, you either love the series or you're completely disinterested in the franchise, so I'm guessing this DVD review is meant for the "already fans." We'll start off with some material from my original review of the film, then some thoughts after my second third time with the flick, and then we'll finish off with a blow-by-blow on the DVD goodies. (The DVD hits the shelves on December 4 in a solo-disc or dual-platter format. This review covers the two-disc special edition, which is scheduled to go "into Disney moratorium" as of September 2008.)

Sometimes the big-time franchise makers are damned if they do and damned if they don't: Churn out a skimpy "Part 3" that just rehashes what was offered in Parts 1 & 2 and you've got something vaguely entertaining but clearly inferior like Shrek the Third. Try too hard to jam too many arbitrary plot threads and flimsy characters into your third entry and you're stuck with a lurching behemoth like Spider-Man 3. And then you have the middle ground: The sprawling, gorgeous and massive adventure epic Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which while far from a flawless film, aims to stay faithful to its predecessors while still upping the ante (a lot) with a boat-load of new plot developments, characters and surprisingly nifty subtext. Yep, this particular popcorn movie runs almost three full hours, but if producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski had produced a quick-buck 92-minute third chapter, then the complaints would be legion. You can't win. Except at the box office, obviously.

Note: This review was penned by an unapologetic Pirates of the Caribbean lunatic. (I expected the first movie to STINK, and I ended up adoring the thing. I expected Part 2 to be a tired rehash, and it was anything but.) While that certainly doesn't mean I walked into the flick INTENT on giving it a good review, the simple truth is that these movies speak directly to the ravenous 12-year-old movie geek who (fortunately) still holds residence inside my soul. The flick is far from perfect, indeed it's bottom-heavy and swollen to bursting with wriggling plot threads, but damn if I didn't have a good time tagging along on this third adventure with all my old Pirates pals. Having said that, let's move on...

Sometimes the big-time franchise makers are damned if they do and damned if they don't: Churn out a skimpy "Part 3" that just rehashes what was offered in Parts 1 & 2 and you've got something vaguely entertaining but clearly inferior like Shrek the Third. Try too hard to jam too many arbitrary plot threads and flimsy characters into your third entry and you're stuck with a lurching behemoth like Spider-Man 3. And then you have the middle ground: The sprawling, gorgeous and massive adventure epic Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which while far from a flawless film, aims to stay faithful to its predecessors while still upping the ante (a lot) with a boat-load of new plot developments, characters and surprisingly nifty subtext. Yep, this particular popcorn movie runs almost three full hours, but if producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski had produced a quick-buck 92-minute third chapter, then the complaints would be legion. You can't win. Except at the box office, obviously.

As it stands: Yes, Pirates 3 has a few more plot-threads than it really needs. And yes, it's probably a bit longer (168 minutes) than it really needs to be -- but the bottom line is this: Once again, the Pirates series delivers the goods. In style and color, in character and adventure, in wit and weirdness ... this movie delivers. I'll make it even simpler: If you enjoyed Part 1 but thought Part 2 was over-plotted, overlong and over-kinetic, then you'll feel the exact same way about Part 3. As an outspoken and very geeky fan of the first two chapters, however, I was pretty much dazzled by what World's End has to offer, and I'm not just talking about the action, the effects and the mayhem. And if the flick's got just a little too much fat on the bones, oh well. A bit too much is always better than not enough, if it's me you're asking.

Ahoy there! You've been eyeing your calendars. You've been counting the days. We told you it was coming, and now...it's here! And I hope you people are happy, I just sat through two hours of Dancing With The Stars to bring you a report on this thing! (Joey Fatone's going all the way this year, by the way). The official trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End was unveiled to the general public tonight during the hit ABC show. Did you see it? The preview will have its online debut in just a few minutes at 10PM Pacific Time. You can see it in hi-def at Yahoo, regular-def at Disney.com, and at "other premium online destinations." Yahoo has really been hyping the event, their site has a countdown going and everything.

I thought Dead Man's Chest was a big ol' mess (don't make me walk the plank!), but this one looks pretty sweet and I've got high hopes for the third chapter. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has been saying the first two movies were "hors d'oeuvres" compared to At World's End. And why would he lie? The new film (and the trailer) picks up where Chest left off, with Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), Will Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) trying to free Captain Jack Sparrow (Depp) from his trap in Davy Jones' locker. Go over and check the trailer out, it's jam-packed with crashing waves, waterfalls (the actual edge of the world?), swordfights, exploding cannons, monkey antics, wisecracks, a marriage proposal, and a very intriguing shot of a ship sailing through the desert. The gang's all accounted for (Octopus-Face! Voodoo Woman!) and it was cool to see new addition Chow Yun-Fat in the mix.

One complaint -- would have loved to see Keith Richards, but I guess they've got to keep some surprises up their sleeve. Only about two months until you can see the real deal, Pirates 3 opens on May 25th -- arrrrgh you excited?

Everyone knows I'm a big fat sucker for the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, so you can probably expect a whole lot of Pirate-related booty to churn out of my keyboard over the next four-plus months. Case in point: AICN just got their hands on a half-dozen rather nifty promotional pics for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. And obviously I think they're awesome.

We get single character posters for the dashing William Turner, the lovely Elizabeth Swann, the exceedingly eccentric Captain Jack, the wonderfully resurgent Barbossa and -- oh, cool -- our first good shot of Chow Yun Fat as Captain Sao Feng -- whom I'm willing to bet is a baddie.

The coolest promo piece by far is one that collects all five characters into one fairly slick pic. Click right here to enjoy the piratical promotionals. (POTC3 opens on May 25, don't forget. I'm trying to drum up a little support for this little series.)