I watched 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' immediately after 'Curse of the Black Pearl,' and it was a very tough act to follow. As I gushed in my review, 'Pearl' looks fantastic in Blu-ray. Happily, when it comes to picture quality, 'Dead Man's Chest' is every bit 'Pearl's equal -- in fact, it's even a bit more impressive in some respects. Though both films share a completely consistent visual look, 'Dead Man's Chest' is filled with even more spectacular nighttime setpieces and all manner of squishy, half-rotted supernatural creatures. This transfer is more than up to the challenge, setting a new benchmark for detail and dimensionality.
As with 'Curse of the Black Pearl,' Disney presents 'Dead Man's Chest' in 2.35:1 widescreen and 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video. The source is absolutely pristine, with nary a speck of dirt or blemish to be found. Film grain just doesn't seem to exist, yet this is a picture that always looks incredibly life-like and natural. Colors are beautifully rendered, from the rich orange hues of the sun-drenched exteriors to the rock solid midnight blues of the Jolly Roger. Shadow delineation is extraordinary -- every last, oozy, puss-filled tentacle of Davy Jones is visible. Whatever its other virtues, 'Dead Man's Chest,' is a tour de force of production design and seamless integration of CGI, and both are done massively proud here.
This disc is also a great test case for the considerable upgrade Blu-ray can offer over standard-def DVD. Though the standard-def transfer of 'Dead Man's Chest' was certainly superior to the noisy, edgy 'Curse of the Black Pearl' DVD, both are blown out of the water by their high-def counterparts. Depth is never less than eye-popping -- I don't think a single shot in 'Dead Man's Chest' looks anything less than three-dimensional. The image is smooth, free of edge enhancement and other obnoxious digital processing tricks, and contrast is not at all jacked up resulting in blown-out whites or lessened fine detail. In short, 'Dead Man's Chest' is the kind of top-tier next-gen presentation we all hope for when a studio unleashes a highly-anticipated blockbuster title on high-def.