Visible crew/equipment: After the pirate pries the gold bowl off his head Elizabeth whacks him, then she and Will stave off the other two pirates' swords as together they hold the gold bar overhead. At the start of the next shot as Barbossa and Jack duel, part of the wood plank that Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp stand on is visible at the bottom right of the screen. (This is ONLY visible on the video version.)
Deliberate mistake: When Jack Sparrow and Will Turner take a rowboat and put it over their heads upside-down and walk on the bottom of the harbor (about 20 feet deep by the looks of it), wouldn't the rowboat rise to the surface? The amount of air trapped in the boat appears to be around 3-5 cubic meters, even at three that would provide plenty of lift to lift a boat twice that size and both people to the surface. This isn't even taking into account that wood and people are both fairly buoyant in and of themselves, even without the air pocket to aid. This scene is a direct homage to an earlier pirate movie, The Crimson Pirate, in which three characters do the same thing, hence this is a deliberate mistake.
Visible crew/equipment: After stealing Interceptor, on deck Will sharpens his sword as he says, "When I was a lad...my mother raised me...I came out here looking for my father," and Jack responds, "Is that so?" In the next close-up of Will part of the camera equipment is visible at the bottom of the screen. (This is ONLY visible on the video version.)
Visible crew/equipment: As young Elizabeth holds the medallion in her hand in the close-up, the Pearl comes into focus in the distance. In this shot, behind her hand and chain, but in front of the rail and rigging, the top of the white reflector screen is visible as it comes up at the bottom of the screen. (This is ONLY visible on the video version.)
Continuity mistake: Aboard the Black Pearl, after Elizabeth walks out onto the deck and sees the skeletal pirates for the first time, in the shots as she stumbles backward and is tossed in mid-air her strapped shoes with heels are visible. After she knocks off Grapple's skeletal head with the wheel, as Elizabeth runs down the stairs her right shoe is perfectly visible and it most certainly isn't one of those pretty shoes with heels. (This is ONLY visible on VHS.)
Continuity mistake: At Isla de Muerta, during their duel, Barbossa kicks Jack in the face and he falls to the ground. In the first shot, Jack's arm and back land directly beside the spot of moonlight behind him. In the next close-up, his back and arm are at least two feet from that spot of moonlight, though he has not moved. (Difference visible on VHS.)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the movie when Will saves Jack you can see a blue sky in midday, yet when he kisses Elizabeth a few moments later, the sun is setting with shades of orange and yellow. The next scene (last scene in the film) we see Jack on the Black Pearl and the sky is clear blue again.
Factual error: After Will And Jack commandeer the Interceptor, the ship is viewed from above, sailing on a beam reach (a point of sail in which the boat is at 90 degrees to the wind). When Jack knocks Will off the ship with the boom, he jibes the boat, causing the sail to shift positions suddenly. In order to do this from the previous position, he would have had to turn the ship almost completely around. This would have taken well over a minute. Jack did this in less that three seconds. The sail is also filled to the wrong side while it sweeps Will off the deck.
Factual error: Viracocha is sculpted on the "Aztec" chest of golden coins, but is not an Aztec god.
Continuity mistake: At Isla de Muerta, whilst floating offshore in the rowboat, when Jack moves forward to sit beside Norrington and discuss the plan, Mullroy sits behind Jack. In Murtogg and Mullroy's close-ups the silver medallion on Mullroy's white strap is centered properly at his chest. However, in other shots that silver medallion is near his waist.
Visible crew/equipment: After Will rescues Jack from the gallows they end up on the parapet surrounded by soldiers. As Will and Jack spin around facing the soldiers closing in on them, part of the camera equipment, which moves, is visible at the bottom right of the screen. (This is ONLY visible on the video version.)
Continuity mistake: Aboard the Pearl (before Elizabeth's blood ritual), in the exterior shot Elizabeth peers out the window which slants away from her right side - making it the right window of the port side, as she faces it. However, in the next interior shot she actually sits in front of the port side's left window, which slants away from her left side.
Continuity mistake: When Jack arrives at Port Royal, he stands in the sinking boat, trying to bail out the knee-deep water. When he steps onto the dock, he is completely dry.
Visible crew/equipment: After Will puts the explosive inside skeletal Jacoby he exclaims, "No fair!" before he and the two other pirates blow up. In the very next shot of Barbossa, as he duels with Jack, the edge of the large wood plank that Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Depp stand on near the pile of treasure is plainly visible at the bottom of the screen. It can also be seen on DVD 2. (This is ONLY visible on the video version.)
Other mistake: When Elizabeth invokes the rite of parley with Captain Barbossa and first boards the Black Pearl, you can see the red flashing along with the booms of the cannons. As Elizabeth bargains with the captain, the flashes continue. After Captain Barbossa orders the guns stilled, the sound stops, but the flashes continue through the end of the scene even though they are no longer firing the cannons.
Visible crew/equipment: After Elizabeth hides the dinner knife in the napkin, two shots later, as Barbossa hands the medallion to the monkey, there are two rods visible below the swing - one at each end - to keep the swing steady. (Visible on VHS.)
Other mistake: When Elizabeth is watching the attack on Port Royal from her balcony, the Black Pearl is at least two miles away. And yet one shot is able to hit the house.
Continuity mistake: There are three sets of windows in the captain's stateroom - at port, starboard and stern - with three windows per set. Just before Pintel and Ragetti give Elizabeth the dress, there is an exterior shot of the Pearl, and all three stern windows are actually symmetrical vertically. However, in the interior shots, the first and third stern windows are vertically slanted at their outer sides.
Continuity mistake: When the redcoats surround Jack and Will, at the end, they are around them on all sides in some shots, but there's a large gap in others. And this is before they are told to lower their arms.
Continuity mistake: When Jack dives in to save Elizabeth, his hands are relatively clean. Yet, back on the dock as Jack rips off her corset, his hands look as if he dipped them in oil and mud.
Chosen answer: Because they'd have to find it. The gold may "call to them", but it obviously doesn't function as a millimetre perfect homing beacon or they'd never have missed the medallion years earlier when they attacked the ship carrying the young Will. Elizabeth drops it into the sea and they're going to have to spend what could be months trying to locate it - currents could take it well away from the dropping point. They've found the final missing piece; they're potentially just hours away from finally being cured. The last thing they want is to see it thrown into the sea.
Tailkinker ★
Well, if the crew was anxious to get the medallion then why did they act like they weren't interested in it before Elizabeth pretended to drop it?
Reverse psychology.
Ssiscool ★
What do you mean by reverse psychology?
By showing they are not interested in the medallion they are hoping Elizabeth will just drop it on the floor or chuck it to them as it's of no real value. However when she releases a bit of chain and the medallion drops, and the pirates lurch forward revealing that they really want the medallion and as such Elizabeth now has the upper hand in negotiations.
Ssiscool ★
I'm guessing Elizabeth wasn't fooled when the pirates showed disinterest in the medallion.
That's not called reverse psychology, which is used to encourage someone to change his or her mind. Doesn't work with a threat. They are feigning indifference to hide the importance of the object.
lionhead
They didn't want to give her an advantage over them. Pretending to not care about the coin would make Elizabeth think that the coin is worthless and cannot use it to barter a deal.