Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth sits in the rain, holding her bouquet of wedding flowers, many long hair strands hang down her forehead. However, when she runs to Will there are far less loose strands of hair, and the hair pulled back is neater. (00:01:25)
Continuity mistake: At the start, when Elizabeth kneels in the rain in the background, just as Cutler Beckett's legs appear in the foreground, the floral edged row of chairs are beside her. When she drops her bouquet to run to Will, as the camera pans up the rows of chairs are farther back. (00:02:10)
Continuity mistake: When Governor Swann says, "Stand your men down!" there are two soldiers at his sides, and the silver medallions on their white straps move up and down, between the wide shots and close-ups. (00:02:40)
Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth demands, "What are the charges?" the guard is just putting the shackle on her left wrist, with the right off as well. However, in the previous shot the left shackle is already on and the right is being put on. (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: After arresting Will and Elizabeth, when Cutler Beckett holds up Norrington's arrest note, the way the paper is folded and how he holds it differs between shots. (00:03:20)
Factual error: In the opening scenes of the film, the audience finds that Tom Hollander has warrants for the arrests of Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley for a number of charges, one of which in conspiracy. However, while conspiracy is considered a distinct charge under American law and jurisprudence, this is not nor was it the case under British law. According to the principles of British common law and jurisprudence, conspiracy to commit a crime is legally identical to the commission of said crime (e.g., conspiracy to commit treason is considered treason). (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: As the pirates get dragged through the large castle doors, you see four pirates hanging in metal cages, all the way up to the castle doors. When the castle doors close from an above shot, no hanging pirates are in view. (00:05:15)
Continuity mistake: At the edge of the cliff, in the first overhead shot, when the four men lift the coffin its "head" side is nearest the water. However, in the next shot the "foot" side is nearest, before they throw it in the water. (00:05:30)
Revealing mistake: The crow pecking on the floating coffin Jack is hiding in has a modern-day identification band on its leg. (00:05:50)
Continuity mistake: When Jack shoots a hole in the casket killing the bird, the amount of feathers on the casket differ between the shots. (00:06:00)
Continuity mistake: When Jack blasts the bird pecking on the coffin, the wood debris differs between shots. As his gun-toting hand still pokes through the hole, there is attached wood debris sticking up 90° at the sides of the hole that was not in the previous shot. (00:06:10)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film, right after Jack hands Gibbs the dead man's leg, Mr. Cotton throws Jack's coat about his shoulders, over his hair and bandanna, but when Jack turns around, in the next shot, his hair and bandanna are on the outside of the coat. No one touched them, and Jack seems oblivious to his various accoutrements, so he wouldn't have done this either. (00:06:50)
Continuity mistake: When the monkey steals the cloth with the key drawing, Jack shoots him and the monkey drops it on deck. Before Marty picks up the cloth, its position on deck differs. (00:07:30)
Continuity mistake: The cloth with the key drawing changes greatly throughout the film. This includes the actual drawing itself, the tears on the cloth, shape of the cloth, etc. (00:08:05 - 00:43:50)
Continuity mistake: When Lord Beckett is trying to convince Will Turner to go after Jack Sparrow, he picks up a red hot poker from the fire and says that they've marked each other. The shot cuts to Will who asks simply "How did he mark you?" at which point the shot cuts back to Beckett and the formerly red-hot poker is already now a much cooler black. Glowing hot iron does not cool that quickly in air. (00:09:30)
Continuity mistake: When Will is speaking with Cutler Beckett, Will's knotted bow tie changes - note the level of its white lace. (00:10:00)
Continuity mistake: When William is talking to Cutler Beckett after being arrested, a fishing ship is seen out on the ocean, not moving. In the next shot, the ship has disappeared. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: When Will enters Cutler Beckett's office, Beckett pours Will a drink in a stemmed glass. When Beckett walks back toward Will, there is considerably more liquid in the glass. (00:10:20)
Continuity mistake: When Cutler Beckett shows Will the Letter of Marque, the seal beside King George's signature is seen. Later, while Elizabeth points the gun at Beckett, he places his own seal below, and the shape of King George's seal is entirely different now. (00:11:20)
Continuity mistake: In the scene when Will is talking to Cutler Beckett, there is a clock behind them that is being hauled up at a very slow pace. But when the shot switches and there's a close-up on Will, the clock has disappeared. Despite the angle change, we should still be able to see the clock. There hasn't been enough time for it to have moved out of shot. (00:11:20)
Suggested correction: Actually the clock is simply out of shot. If you listen you can hear the creaking where it's still moving and if you watch the two ropes behind Will you will see they are still raising and on the post behind Beckett you can see the shadows raising too. So the clock just simply isn't in the shot.
