Dr. DVD

When I was walking out of POTC this past weekend, I overheard a guy about my age say :"I haven't been that let down by an ending since Empire Strikes Back." I inquired and he said that he liked the movie, but was let down by lack of resolution at the end, that was the same case as ESB. I remember having a similar feeling as well, and almost had an identical one at the end of this one. The movie was entertaining, but it ended on the note that its purpose was to set up the third one. I remember many people being perturbed by ESB when it came out in 1980, but they didn't really turn against SW because of it, and they were waiting with baited breath for the third installment.

Similarly, Matrix Reloaded came out and ended on a note with no resolution, however, instead of having people wanting to see the next installment, many of them seemed to say:"that's enough, don't care anymore." While I wasn't one of them, I didn't feel as though that sequel had done what it could.

Which vibe did you get from this movie?

RichC2

While I disagree with your comments on Matrix Reloaded (I thought it ended on a high note, but Revolutions was a huge letdown), I'd have to say - based off your comments - that I got more of an MR vibe with PotC2. At the end, I just didn't care.

Jon2

Any movie that ends with: "To be continued"
(easily the three most hated words in the English lanuage),
even if it doesn't actually "end" with those exact words,
is just plain wrong.

And no one's opinion is going to change that fact.

Movies aren't Saturday morning serials, despite the high regard some filmmakers have for those venerated shorts.

Kal-El

Neither. It was not as good as ESB nor as bad as Reloaded. But it worked for me.

Dr. DVD

You must not have cared for the LOTR movies then.

fumanstan

Wish there was a middle ground option, since i liked all 3.

Josh H

ESB for sure as I'm dying for the 3rd POTC.

Though I was still excited for the 3rd matrix as well, but not as much as with Star Wars.

Shannon Nutt

Mentioning POTC: Dead Man's Chest in the same breath as Empire Strikes Back is sacrilege!

dadaluholla

I knew the third Pirates was being filmed along with the second one so I guess I went in already expecting some sort of cliffhanger type ending. It worked out great. I am freakin' dying to see P O T C 3... A S A P!!!

Fok

I hear ya

Jackskeleton

Yeah, I'm in the same boat as dadaluholla. With them being somewhat filmed together I expected it to be a sort of cliffhanger. I also think it worked out great.

I would relate it to ESB more so because it does have a star wars feel to it. You have the sort of love triangle, the two driods in the background being those two ex-skeleton pirates, a sort of Empire in the East Indian trading company and a lot of other similiarties in the characters themselves.

Also had a little Back to the Future II to it.

DRG

Of all the "incompleted story" movies (not counting stuff like horror movies and whatnot where the kiler comes back alive in the last frame), I'd say ESB, Two Towers, and Kill Bill vol 1 all delivered solid stories that can stand alone even without the followups. Fellowship of the Rings and PotC2 were both solid, but did feel partially unresolved.

Matrix Reloaded was in a whole new class, as the whole movie feels just like a pointless runaround once you've seen the whole shebang. There's barely any real story there, just a bunch of action sequences with a point A to point B to point C logic, where the climax is a diversion that barely has any effect on the followup. The actual new information could have easily been fit into the followup. I think if edited together, Reloaded and Revolutions could have been one awesome movie, instead of two subpar ones.

Back to the Future 2 on the surface is similarly empty, but in reality it gives a deeper exploration of the "alternate timeline" thing. Plus the future sequences give the series a nice broad spectrum.

Jackskeleton

How would ESB even be considered stand alone? You have the ending where Luke is getting a new hand, Vader out there leaving the question hanging about him being lukes father, Lando and chewie just leaving for a mission to try to bring Solo back and luke and leia just looking off into space. It's not a stand alone piece. You'll want to know what is up with Vaders reveal, what's going to happen to the Empire and Rebel group and most of all, how han is going to be brought back to life.

ClarkKentKY

I got more of a Back to the Future II vibe from it.

Jon2

Actually, I did like them a great deal.

But...that doesn't mean they aren't "wrong" (IMHO) at least as far as movie endings are concerned. However, I recognize that there isn't any way of staying true to the source material otherwise. The LOTR saga just wasn't going to work as a 2 to 3 hour movie.

Which is not an issue with something like POTC2, which should have ended with a definite conclusion. Instead we get a "stay tuned for the concluding episode" non-ending which appears to have been done strictly for purpose of getting movie goers back in theaters for part 3.

joeydaninja

What about a crapola vibe? This was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. It's probably because I liked the first one so much, that this one was such a big letdown.

kayak99

My wife and I both remarked, with disappointment, about the ending of this movie.

Dr. DVD

Well, I think it's safe to assume that was a business decision, and this is a studio movie where all decisions made on it are pretty much business based. Go figure...

matome

What he said.

Superboy

I didn't get a vibe like I got from any of those movies.

The Empire Strikes Back had way more plot twists, and while the ending was an obvious set up for a conclusion, it wasn't a total cliffhanger - it's not like they left luke hanging there below cloud city.

Matrix Reloaded ended in a really abrupt manner whose final scene wasn't much of a cliffhanger, and most people didn't even know what the hell happened.

Back to the Future II also had a confusing ending if you didn't understand the mechanics of time travel.

Filmmaker

Um, he wasn't dead.

No, but they did leave Han "hanging"...Luke's not the only major character...

Jackskeleton

Frozen in carbonite... just about dead.. yeah, either way his fate was pretty much left hanging.

Pirates gives the Empire Strikes Back feeling all the way.

Terrell

Empire Strikes Back had no ending whatsoever. The entire storyline is left hanging. In fact, that was a major criticism when the film was released. This film was a lot like that. So I'd say an ESB vibe, especially since I loved both films.

Superboy

Another thing to consider is the FIRST movie in the trilogy. Back to the Future ended on a note that screamed for a sequel even though it was just a silly way to end the movie at the time, and to show that Doc and Marty will always be going on adventures. The Star Wars is the only "complete" Star Wars movie in that it has a complete plot from start to finish and doesn't leave much in the way of plot dangling (but does leave plenty of room for future movies). The Matrix ended on a note that brought good closure to the movie but didn't necessitate a sequel.

Filmmaker

Except a big one called Darth Vader Lives to Fight Another Day...