Pirates Of The Caribbean - 5 Film Collection 4k Ultra Hd Review

[Azalee Freas]

Welcomepirate fans and all. For my second and final Pirates of the Caribbean review, I'll be taking a closer look at 4183: The Mill. Even if you haven't seen Dead Man's Chest, the second installment in the PotC series, you've probably heard of the epic scene on which this set is based off of. But, is the set as epic as the scene? Let's find out.

If you've seen the Pirates of the Caribbean films, you'll remember this iconic scene in which Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Norrington fight a three-way sword duel on an old mill. The box quite obviously depicts this scene, with a soft jungle picture serving as the background for the more intense action in the foreground. As I said in my London Escape review, the dark blue box of all of the PotC sets fits really well with the theme, as well as with the crisp silver font near the top of the box.

The back of the box displays the set in a less crowded environment, with a light parchment colored background. In addition to the entire set, the back shows a few of the play features this set has to offer.

After carefully removing the tape and opening the box, the contents pour out. The first things to notice are a poster and the sticker sheet. What the poster shows is a secret for you to find out ( ), and I'm sure we've all seen the DSS (Dreaded Sticker Sheet). I'm just glad mine wasn't crumpled.

Finally, the bulk of the content. Four numbered bags hold the set's pieces, each containing its own smaller bags with smaller pieces. Having numbered bags seems just a little nonsensical for a set this size, especially since some of the builds combine more than one bag. But, I'm not complaining, I always prefer numbered bags for a quicker build.

Unfortunately, no trading card is included in this set. I've built four of the new Pirates of the Caribbean sets, and it seems to me that that only the sets from On Stranger Tides include trading cards.

The first build, the foundation of the tower, calls for both the first and second bags, which makes me wonder why they're numbered at all. Moving on, there are quite few interesting pieces within the first two bags, including the new bucket piece, the new bottle piece, a 1x1 dark blue tile with compass print, sword sheaths in brown, and a dark red 1x1 round brick with heart print. Also included is a sprue with two keys attached, a fish in metallic (not pearl) silver, and two headgears enclosed in separate polybags. Not a bad selection at all.

I am consistently wowed by these new minifigures. They're just so detailed, and it's obvious that a lot of thought was put into them. All four figures have back printing and double-sided heads, as well.

Going from left to right, Captain Jack Sparrow is probably one of the weaker minifigs of this set, but still good in itself. In his tunic attire, this Jack is very different than the one in the London Escape set (there's a comparison picture a little ways down). Like I said in the London Escape review, I don't think this face is quite right for Johnny Depp's character, and needs to be more comical looking.

Next is Norrington. This is by far my favorite fig of this set, because the designers just nailed the expression on his face. Since his decommission from the Royal Navy, Norrington has been a carefree drunkard, and I am instantly reminded of his relaxed, slightly dazed expression from Dead Man's Chest when I look at this figure. The torso and leg prints are also great (with shiny gold trimmings), and a new brown scabbard piece completes the minifig.

Second from the right is Will Turner. I can't complain about anything with this figure, but the expression isn't quite there. I think that Qui-Gon Jinn's face works a little better here (comparison shot below).

Finally, TLG was kind enough to include a fourth figure, one with far less significance in the film but still a nice addition. The front of the box calls him "Hadras", and he's one of the fishy members of Davy Jones' crew. This minifig's printing is quite nice, and there's even a new hairpiece that can be used as a common shell. Hadras wouldn't look out of place in an Atlantis MOC.

Finally, here's a comparison shot with the two versions of the Sparrow minifig (Cannibal Jack not shown), as well as Qui-Gon Jinn and Will Turner with their heads switched. Personally, I think that Qui-Gon's head works better for Will, and Will's head doesn't fit either of the two.

Spilling out the contents of the third bag, a few interesting things are to be noticed. First, there are a few of those 1x4 round plates in gold (a new piece if I'm not mistaken), as well as a neat 1x2 tile in dark brown. What's really of interest here, though, is a mysterious white box. What could it hold? We'll soon find out.

After finishing bag three, the tower is now complete. From this angle, you can see an impressive doorway, a tall tower, and the spot where bag four's build will go. The tower is a decent size, I don't think I would want it too much larger, in order to keep the price down.

On the inside of the tower hangs a large gold bell. If you've seen Dead Man's Chest, it should be easy to guess that this is a play feature. By the way, that string is what was enclosed in the mysterious white box.

Allow me to explain. The string is tied to The hole on the bell, and is then looped up through the roof and back down again, and finally is wrapped around the 1x1 brick with post to stop the whole thing from moving. This effectively creates a pulley system between the bell and the other end of the string, just like in the movie.

One thing I didn't like was how the rope had to be done. I was never good at tying knots, especially with tiny string like this. It wasn't horrible, but it was a little frustrating to tie the knots onto the small pieces.

While playing out this famous scene from PotC: DMC is fun, I have to bring up another flaw. There's no place for the minifigures to stand! I could barely fit two minifigures on the little bit of roof space, but there definitely should be some stairs and platforms coiling around the inside of the tower, even if it means widening the entire thing. More modifications, I suppose.

The fourth and final bag doesn't contain any pieces of interest, but the build makes up for it. See, you build these separate planks and connect them all via hinge bricks, so it looks like a railroad track. Add the supports, and then roll it up to form a wheel! This build, to me, was extremely satisfying and fun, not to mention that the wheel is well built.

Now, once the wheel is built, you just set it on the little V-shaped supports as shown. The wheel is loose, and the little Technic holder pins work well to make the whole thing spin smoothly on the supports. It's even fun to just pick up the wheel and spin it between your fingers.

Build/Design: 6/10. Decent, but not outstanding. I really wish more of an interior would've been included, as well as a more detailed exterior (although the doorway is very cool). What didn't bring this score lower was the wheel, which was extremely fun to build.

Playability: 9/10. Superb. The bell feature is a little awkward to set up with minifigures, but works all the same. The wheel, on the other hand, is a blast to play with. The minifigures also provide playability, so you can reenact that epic three-way duel in Dead Man's Chest.

Minifigures: 10/10. I really can't complain here. I would've been alright with just the sword-fighting trio, but the fish guy was a very nice addition. Perhaps if this set was larger, the two "comedy-relief" pirates would've been included, too.

FINAL SCORE: 31/40, above average in my opinion. Not as good as London Escape, but still one of the stronger sets in the line because of the playability factor. Seriously, you could add on as much as you wanted to this set to reenact the scene from the film to the fullest extent. Add minifgures, buff out the tower, build a beach and forest, even add some pirate ships. The possibilities are endless, which makes this set superior to, say, a spaceship or the like where your choices are limited. I would suggest this set if you can afford London Escape and Isle de Muerta first.

This is a great review! I love how you compare the Jacks and swap out the heads - and you're right, Qui-Gon is a better Will than Will is. The "real" Will just seems too old somehow. I think TLG slightly overdid the facial detailing on a lot of these minifigs. The Cannibal Escape Jack looks really bad IMO. This Jack looks okay, though not super, and Norrington looks great - and I really like Hadras, the refugee from the Atlantis sets.

I wish this set was a little grander. It doesn't look bad, by any means, but it could have used a little more variation in the building. I think the two more expensive sets (London Escape and Whitecap Bay) offer a LOT more in terms of both playability and and useful parts. If I get any of the big POTC sets, I'll probably shoot for Whitecap Bay, and hope I can get this one at a discount later on in its shelf life.

Great! I like this set, if it wasn't for the price. I think Lego shouldn't spend so much time and money on figs, and concentrate on making the sets as good as they can. This set is a prime example. The figs are amazing, but the building is too damn small. There isn't even any standing space!

The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Curse of the Black Pearl, was a thrill ride in visual effects, well thought out story line, and a happy ending.

The second Pirates movie, Dead Man's Chest, was filled with many (perhaps too many) over-the-top exciting action sequences. While the plot consisted of a long list of incomplete story lines, you knew you were being set up for an exciting finish that would hopefully tie up the loose ends and conclude the story with a grand finale battle.

As it turns out, the final (or is it?) movie in this trilogy, At World's End, lost its way and should have been titled At Creativity's End. My mother always reminded me, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," so it is tempting to end the review right here.

Is it appropriate for children? I think not, very much so.

Some spoilers ahead, so read with caution...

The opening scene shows many pirates being hung after all their rights as citizens have been stripped, including a young boy being hung mercilessly even as he begins to sing and others join him. The action sequences are all highly violent and busy battles. While these scenes were filled with some exciting moments, they get blurred by the sheer sum of them. Nowhere are the closely choreographed battles that were a highlight of the previous two.

There are some humorous lines in the film, but they hardly redeem this pointless money-grab. Some sexual humor is to be expected today -- even in children's films -- however, the fascination with Elizabeth Swan gets embarrassingly crude, to point that you wonder if immature teenagers were allowed to write parts of the script instead of grown men. While early in the film I was disappointed, I assumed it could only get better. But it never did.

One must be willing to put up with heathen gods, magic spells, drinking and undead people walking around (or floating by) in order to even partake of this pirate-era film, but it seems the writers' and directors' idea of a finale was to kill more people than the previous two movies combined and have just about everyone turn on everyone else showing that the highest ideal is to always put oneself first.

The final wisdom of the film is the repeat of the line said in all three movies, "Take what you can, give nothing back," which is exactly what the directors did to audiences with this film.

There is much to complain about in acting, scripting, and the plot, but I will heed my dear mother and not list the lameness and silliness of the film, but to say that the ending is the final disappointment.

The trilogy begins with an unlikely to be fulfilled love between a pirate-born blacksmith and a governor's daughter. Throughout the series, the young boy -- Will -- is in pursuit of his love, Elizabeth, risking his life over and over to save her. The ending is sad and pathetic. We've rooted for the two of them throughout the three films, and any hope that a fourth film may free Will from his fate in order to be with his wife is shattered by the "bonus clip" at the end of the credits.

Redeeming? The only thoughtful line in the film was by the surprise appearance of the father of Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Keith Richards, who says, "The trick isn't trying to live forever, it's being able to live with yourself forever."

Since there is little to no use for this film in ministry, normally I wouldn't bother to review it, but since nearly everyone who reads this review probably saw it anyway (as did I), I think it fitting to have a discussion here on Kidology in regards to what you thought of the film. I'm not able to see much positive in it, other than a few passing laughs, but what did you think?

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