Chasing Pirates of the Caribbean

Has anyone seen the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie? I really enjoyed the first three Pirates movies, and was curious to see how a fourth movie would turn out. On Stranger Tides was surprisingly great for being a fourth film - I generally lose interest after the first or second (think the Beethoven movies or Home Alone or Land Before Time < how many of those were there - twenty-nine?>). The biggest reason that On Stranger Tides is so good is probably the continued reign of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, and though Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley aren't in the movie, it still held up. All the sword-fighting and sea-story elements of the previous films are kept, but the story is refreshed enough with new characters and plots to be enjoyable. Johnny Depp is joined by Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane in an adventurous tale about Blackbeard and mermaids and the fountain of youth. What I love about the Pirates movies is the emphasis on sea legends and myths and how they are treated as reality. 

Another reason I wanted to see Pirates of the Caribbean 4: I spent last summer chasing Johnny Depp around in his black Escalade. Well, at least I think it was his car. The Pirates 4 cast and crew came to Hawaii last year for some of the filming. We could see the movie trailers and trucks parked all over the place, but unfortunately, no actors. I did a little bit of pirate chasing when they were in the neighborhood, and even though I saw George Clooney making another movie, no Johnny Depp. It was still fun though, and I got to see some of the scenery in the movie ahead of time. 

Movie crew tents set up by the beach:

Yellow tape attempting to keep spies out:

This is the setting for the sunset scene at the end of Pirates 4:

A bunch of JD spotter wannabes:

A boat full of crew members (I think):

No JD, but I did make a friend:

One evening on my way home from work, I spotted a trail of yellow arrows on the road. The movie crews use them to show all the trucks where to go, and the trail is always changing because they film in different areas. So since I had nothing better to do, I followed one of the trucks to see where they were going to film that night. We drove over a slowly winding road inland and upland, and we eventually arrived at the entrance to a ranch high above the sea. I had to turn around, since it was private property, but the drive was still worth it. Turning back down to the coast, I felt I could actually taste the last colors of the day as they slowly melted together and fell all over the golden green landscape:

Although it sounds a little pathetic that I actually chased pirates around last summer, and even though I didn't actually see any, I had a good time exploring the island, discovering the hidden beauty of this place where I live. It's all in the chase, I suppose. The journey. The adventure. The day-to-day surprises. What have you.