Pirates of the Caribbean: Heart of the Maelstrom

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Pirates of the Caribbean: Heart of the Maelstrom
Faneditor Name:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
2006/2007
Original Running Time:
151 minutes/169 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
178 minutes
Time Cut:
66 minutes/79 minutes
Time Added:
3 minutes
Available in HD?
Brief Synopsis:
Cuts are numerous throughout, but the main narrative change is that Captain Jack Sparrow no longer dies or needs rescuing from Davey Jones Locker. This one altered story beat removed the downing of the Pearl, Singapore, and the Locker itself. Along with other cuts to tone down some of the sillier moments, Heart of the Maelstrom has become a rip roaring ride across the Caribbean.
Intention:
The second and third film in the Pirates of the Caribbean series were one epic story told in two parts. This version combines the two parts and keeps the running time to under three hours, allowing the story to be watched as one film.
Additional Notes:
A wedding day interrupted. Elizabeth and Will are arrested by Lord Cutler Becket, a man determined to rule the seas for the East India Trading Company. One thing prevents his total domination. The Flying Dutchman roams the waters, twisted from its original purpose by Davey Jones himself. Will must find Captain Jack Sparrow and enlist his help, but Jack has his own motives for finding the one thing that can control Davey Jones. A chest. What it contains could change the seas forever, and endanger the existence of everyone who calls themselves Pirate. Cannibals, sea curses, heathen gods, pirate courts, and the Kraken. This is one adventure you will not want to miss.
Other Sources:
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest OST (CD) - Hans Zimmer
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End OST (CD) - Hans Zimmer
Special Thanks:
TM2YC for previous editorial inspiration, Q2 for all sorts of advice, and the forum for their comments and suggestions.
Release Information:
  • DVD
  • Blu-Ray
  • Digital
Special Features
Chapters on DVD/BR
Editing Details:
Recoloured At World's End to remove the green tint and balance it closer to the Dead Man's Chest footage.
Removed Jack Sparrow death. This allowed the majority of the time saving. Only problem was Barbossa. His introduction at Tia Dalma's hut had to be done so that it had nothing to do with getting Jack back, instead he returns to lead them to the Brethren Court. Some sound clips from the shores of Davey Jones locker were repurposed here.
Cuts and Additions:
- Some trims to the arrest of Elizabeth and Will.
- Sparrow escaping the prison is removed.
- Will's acquaintance comment is removed.
- Sparrow and Bootstrap scene is removed, hence all black spot references are removed.
- Sparrow's panic, loss of hat, and subsequent first Kraken attack removed.
- So now we follow Will as he goes in search of Sparrow, Sparrow is first seen on the island of the cannibals.
- Elizabeth's escape moved to after all island scenes.
- Pintel/Ragetti introduction trimmed, the dog is removed.
- Sparrow's first escape removed.
- First part of cage roll is removed.
- Sparrow's fruit skewer/fall scenes are removed.
- Footage from Sparrow's first escape reused for real escape.
- All shots of the dog are removed as are some more of Pintel/Ragetti.
- Talk of going up river removed.
- Shot of Black Pearl repurposed here.
- Sparrow's flowery dialogue cut out when introducing Will to the idea of the key and Davey Jones.
- Elizabeth's escape moved to here.
- Scene of Will and Gibbs talking about the Kraken kept, although trimmed in a few places, and the boat ride isn't going anywhere specific.
- Tia Dalma scene is removed from here, reused later.
- Sweeping shot of The Edinburgh Trader leaving port removed. (This is the ship Elizabeth stows away on).
- No Tia Dalma, so Sparrow takes Will directly to the derelict ship, having told him that was the Flying Dutchman.
- Short trim to remove black spot reference when Davey Jones grabs Sparrow's hand.
- Norrington's introduction trimmed for the essentials.
- Sparrow and Gibbs leaving during the fight is removed after Sparrow says, let's go.
- Fight trimmed to remove harsh cuts (now Gibbs and Sparrow leaving isn't there).
- Mercer removed from Tortuga.
- Bootstrap removed initially when 'MISTER TURNER' is called for, we find out who he is when Will does.
- Bootstrap no longer reacts horrified by the idea of lashing his son, only to do it anyway.
- Will's talk about the key and the chest trimmed to keep it simple. 'So the Captain has the key.'
- Beckett's attempt to get Swann onside trimmed once the cuffs are off.
- Dice game removed.
- Sparrow and Elizabeth talks and flirting on the Pearl have been trimmed, but not removed completely.
- Once he has the key, Will no longer leaves the Dutchman. He's clever enough to know Jones will take them all directly to the chest, which is where Sparrow will be waiting for the key. So his conversation with Bootstrap no longer refers to making land.
- Jones still assumes Will escaped and has been picked up by The Edinburgh Trader. Some extended footage added as Jones teases Bootstrap, Will pops his head up from hiding to show he's still on the Dutchman.
- Kraken attack happens, minus Will, and removed some bad effects.
- Jones speech about Sparrow's plan cut, he orders to go straight to Isla Cruza, just as Will predicted.
- Rowboat to Isla Cruza removed.
- Elizabeth and the compass trimmed.
- Elizabeth ranting at the men fighting is shortened, primarily by removing Ragetti explaining the plot to us.
- Fight trimmed to remove bad dialogue.
- Fight no longer stops for them all to re-establish their hatred of each other. Sparrow doesn't fall off mill, into a grave, to be picked up by the wheel.
- Narrative now has Sparrow leaving Norrington and Will to fight, they continue the fight onto the wheel, it breaks free, the key is dropped by one of them into the wheel, the next we see them they are still fighting on top of the wheel with Sparrow chasing the wheel.
- Conch guy trimmed out as much as possible.
- The Pearl's escape from the Dutchman trimmed slightly.
- Sparrow no longer leaves the Pearl.
- No lack of gunpowder, use the rum, distractions. It's a cargo net of gunpowder now.
- Elizabeth doesn't cling to Sparrow's leg as he fires.
- Kraken now seen retreating from the Pearl, they defeated it. (Repurposed footage from lost Kraken attack at the beginning).
- Fade to black. Elizabeth no longer betrays Sparrow, Will no longer sees her kiss him, Sparrow no longer goes down with the Pearl.
- Fade up to song of the brethren. The boy singing at the gallows, intercut with Norrington delivering the heart to Beckett, Jones showing fealty to Beckett (deleted scene), the Dutchman attacking other ships.
- Sparrow, Elizabeth and Will, with the rest of the crew, now go and visit Tia Dalma. The initial scene is the baseline of this, with the odd shot of Elizabeth from the second visit. History of Davey Jones and the key dropped, instead dialogue from the locker is used to establish the new threat. 'Beckett has the heart, controls the Dutchman', 'the song has been sung', 'we need to find the brethren court'. And then 'you need a captain who knows those waters' and in steps Barbossa.
- This means we have no Singapore, and no visit to Davey Jones Locker, and continue in the stateroom of Beckett on the Endeavour. Some small cuts to remove reference to Elizabeth in Singapore.
- Two scenes are kept from the Locker, but are now in the real world.
- Sparrow and Barbossa arguing about who is the captain, Pintel's claim and the telescope gag removed.
- Sea of the dead also kept, where Elizabeth sees her father. She doesn't need to be explicitly told he is dead.
- Return from Locker cut, obviously, along with the mexican standoff.
- Search for water on land using the chart trimmed, second telescope gag cut.
- Dead Kraken cut.
- Betrayal at spring trimmed.
- Will no longer betrayed them, it was all Sao Feng.
- Alternate scene of Sparrow and Beckett on the Endevour, referring to their shared past used. Other parts trimmed, referring to debts settled by death.
- Will losing the Pearl cut.
- Sao Feng losing the Pearl trimmed.
- Will and Elizabeth arguing about going with Sao Feng trimmed to remove reference to Will's betrayal.
- Will being sent to the brig removed.
- Sao Feng assaulting Elizabeth removed.
- Sparrow catching Will dropping bodies has been trimmed to remove reference to Will being in the brig and Elizabeth being a murderess.
- Elizabeth's talk with Bootstrap trimmed.
- Elizabeth's escape from Dutchman trimmed so Norrington's sacrifice makes more sense.
- Jones reaction to Sparrow's 'regards' trimmed as he no longer has returned from the dead.
- Arrival to the Brethren Court altered. Jokes about names removed, Tia Dalma/Barbossa talk has trims to remove references to Sparrow coming back from the dead.
- Deleted scene entering the Devil's Throat added, but only to the point of entry. No dialogue kept.
- Brethren Court meeting trimmed. Removal of Keith Richards primarily, but also some smaller trims for some of the sillier moments.
- Meeting between Jones and Tia Dalma removed.
- Parlay meeting trimmed to remove talk of Sparrow coming back from the Locker. Also extended scene included where Sparrow questions his claiming of the prize.
- Barbossa's challenge to Sparrow trimmed.
- Elizabeth and Beckett's parting words trimmed to finish a bit earlier.
- Calypso's release trimmed.
- Elizabeth's speech trimmed. Other pirates' reactions shortened.
- Sparrow in the brig is moved and trimmed, only two figments of his imagination remain.
- Sparrow's escape from brig trimmed.
- Sparrow fetching his gear and the chest cut.
- The 'wedding' has been trimmed to remove all references to a wedding, now it is a declaration of love, and a violent ballet as they try and steal a kiss in the madness.
- Sparrow swinging around the mast is trimmed.
- Will arriving on the Dutchman is trimmed.
- Monkey Jack removed.
- Sparrow and Jones playing 'chase me' is cut.
- Elizabeth shouting 'Fire' is cut.
- Beckett's walk through the explosions cut.
- Celebrations trimmed.
- Will and Bootstrap conversation trimmed.
- Elizabeth saying goodbye to the Pearl cut.
- Close up of Elizabeth on shoreline trimmed.
- Sparrow and Gibbs discovering the Pearl is gone, cut.
- Barbossa on the Pearl started later.
- End credits scene of Elizabeth ten years later moved to mid-credits scene.
Cover art by DSM2337 (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer
Password: fanedit

User reviews

6 reviews
 
33%
 
50%
 
17%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
8.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.7(6)
Audio Editing
 
7.8(6)
Visual Editing
 
9.2(6)
Narrative
 
7.5(6)
Enjoyment
 
7.8(6)
View all user reviews View most helpful
Overall rating
 
5.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
4.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
4.0
Enjoyment
 
5.0
I'm sorry DSM2337 I know you tried and I know you were stuck between a rock and a hard place. It really does seem like if you pull one thread, the sweater unravels. I found it really disjointed. I'm intrigued by the potential; but I found the execution to be lacking. It trims a lot of fat for sure but character motivations get lost, diluted or we just jump ahead with no explanation. I don't even remember the sequels all that well, but with this edit I kind of had a hard time following what was going on. Sure stuff does get explained in very brief one off lines, but nothing feels set up or established. No room to breathe, no time for proper characterization, setting up motivations, flaws, etc. Scenes do genuinely feel missing. Either pacing wise or characters seemingly solving problems one scene after they were established.

I don't know what anyone wants in this movie. I can't tell where anyone's character arc begins or ends. A lot of necessary information probably wasn't there in the first place but I just found it to be really sporatic. There are plot points which get resolved as soon as they're properly introduced. I know it's hard to edit and mix score that's baked into the audio track but it was really distracting when two tracks with completely different bpms overlapped. Or when the songs were tonally on opposite ends. Or when the song suddenly faded out. A lot of scenes didn't have a story beat (usually establishing character, theme or moving the plot forward. Ideally all 3 are present in any given scene or at least 2 out of 3. There are obvious exceptions but you want to get across necessary information in a quick enough pace without it being rushed or expository. Editing is very hard and I'm not faulting anyone for not being a paid Hollywood professional).

I did like the intermission with the hanging, it was a really cool and distinct editing choice. I found it again was missing context explaining what was going on. It is an ambitious effort and I do feel bad about being really negative in this review but hopefully it's not taken personally and constructive enough. It is tough because I'm sure the necessary elements to make the story flow better were barely present in the first place but it feels a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It's a herculean task to try and edit 2 movies together. Let alone, both movies near 3 hours in length. I'm not faulting the effort. Please do keep working at it, I'm interested to hear your voice in whatever else you make. I hope this helps. Michael Hauge has a good framework for story structure (funny enough he based it off of Shrek). I'm not saying you need to learn screenwriting but I do think familiarizing yourself with how 3 act stories are structured will definitely help with pacing, character development, consistency, etc. I do think you do have a grasp on it, and I do think with more experience you will get the hang of it. Hopefully this was constructive, even if I didn't like the fan edit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
No
Format Watched?
Digital
S
Top 1000 Reviewer 4 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This is a tremendous edit and almost flawless in its execution. The A/V-editing is perfect, except a few instances that appear when AWE takes over. As other have already noted, the transition from DMC is imperfect. The idea is good and I like the montage, but the fade-to-black feels to quick, too abrupt. I also agree that the audio in the Tia Dalma-sequence dips in quality a few times. DSM2337's cuts are otherwise spotless.

Heart of the Maelstrom is, apart from the nitpicks above, a great fan edit (with a good title!). It improves both films and turns them into a single, action-packed adventure. The Narrative is, considering the amount trimmed, still clear and even more focused. A lot of nonsense is gone. Personally, I feel the wedding on the ship could've stayed. A reminder of the beginning, if nothing else.

Enjoyable and recommended!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
M
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
I'll be brief, this is a good edit but it's not particularly for me. I rather enjoy At world's end so seeing the beginning trimmed for pacing makes sense but it's not necessarily something I liked.
I think the rest of the film plays out fine. I think the timeskip is dine, and defeating the Kraken makes more sense than it's original fate.

The Merging of the two Tia Dalma sequences was a bold move and it paid off flawlessly.
I guess the other thing I didn't like was the multi-jacks near the end, you'd cut all instances of Limbo out of the film so to see Jack with the other Jack's near the end was a bit of a WTF moment.

But I think the good outweighs the bad and anyone remotely interested should give this edit the once over.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
I've always wanted a FE that combined the second and third PotC films, and at long last DSM2337 delivers! :D He's done an amazing job cutting these two bloating goliaths into a single, far more manageable, film. It's not perfect, but still a fantastic effort!

Video Quality: Excellent! No complaints at all.

Audio Quality: Generally excellent, but occasionally it seemed to fail? As if the audio was suddenly coming in through a really tiny speaker. It was odd considering how otherwise great the sound was here.

Visual/Audio Editing: Nearly seamless. I've got no complaints or issues with the editing job here, it was very well done. Cutting Jack's death and the quest to bring him back was incredibly executed!

Narrative/Enjoyment: The first half of the FE is a VAST improvement over the theatrical cut of Dead Man's Chest. The movie is now a fast funny rollercoaster ride. The real issues I have with the narrative are the bridge between the two films and the third film. Including the musical bridge just made it too obvious that these were two separate films and took me out of it for a few minutes. And while you did as good a job as is probably possible with the second half (there was a LOT of garbage cut, thank you!) it just felt...overlong, I guess? I'm not sure why, but the Kraken fight felt like it should've been the end of the movie and everything afterward just felt like the story getting dragged out. It made me wonder if, perhaps, the story overall would be better served if the Kraken (as cool as it is) was cut entirely.

Still, I enjoyed this and recommend it!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
8.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
7.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
(Watched 1080p mp4 version)

I thought I had cut my two POTC edits TO-THE-BONE but it looks I was way wrong. Setting aside the Jack-being-brought-back-from-the-dead section (From the end of DMC and start of AWE), which is cunningly removed from this edit and totaled about 50minutes... DSM2337 has suceeded in removing a further 30minutes! I'm not even sure from where, as the edits were mostly invisible. Nice work!

Audio/Video Quality: 8
Video looked pretty damn good but I think the 1080p treatment was a little wasted on the 6.3GB filesize. IMHO I don't think you can get the best out of a full-HD 3-hour movie at that bitrate.

Visual Editing: 9
Visual edits were near perfect and the two-in-one Tia Dalma editing was creative.

Audio Editing: 7
Audio edits were mostly smooth-as-silk across the 3 hours but there were 6-7, or maybe 8 occasions in the edit where the audio/dialogue sounded terrible. Like it was fed into a cheap transistor radio in a heavily sound-proofed room and then re-recorded. I'm not sure if this was an error or what? It was especially bad during the Tia Dalma scene.

Narrative: 8
Considering just how much of the labyrinthine plot was removed, there were very few "plot holes". One that stood out, was Jack having a Jar of dirt because??? (That's a minor, minor thing that's easy to ignore). I must admit I was disapointed that the join between the two movies featured a "Some months later" titlecard and musical montage. If you're gonna have a big break like that between the two halves, then this isn't working 100% as a single movie IMO. Especially as I think DSM2337 did some really creative edits around the join, that could have been taken a little further and then not needed the musical/title bridge.

Enjoyment: 9
Despite a few small problems this a superb way to watch these two bloated, convoluted yet often thrilling movies. Because it's just the thrills and with 2 hours and 25 minutes removed, surprisingly, the plot actually makes more sense!

Highly reccomended edit. Probably the definitive POTC experience.

User Review

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Yes
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Digital
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