Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Question: At the end of the movie when the mermaid offers to save the religious guy, why does it appear that she is just dragging him underwater to his death?

Answer: The difference this time is that she actually kissed him before pulling him under. Either she breathes for him that way, or there's some magical property to a mermaid's kiss. They mentioned earlier in the film how a mermaid's kiss can save a man from drowning. Also, once the end credits start to flash on the screen (background is under water), about the 4th set, the screen lightens, and you can see two "mermaid" figures/shadows swimming toward the upper right of the screen. This is most likely Philip and Syrena. He became a "mermaid/merman."

Phixius

Answer: The Mermaid said, "I can save you. All you have to do is ask." The man said, "All I ask, is for your forgiveness." That was close enough for the Mermaid.

Question: Jack seems to be in the habit of getting smacked across the face by a woman a lot. In a deleted scene, it shows Jack getting smacked in the face by a mermaid. Why was this scene deleted from the movie?

Answer: Although this has been a running gag throughout the series, the filmmakers probably felt it quite didn't fit into the storyline or else thought the joke had simply worn itself out. It may also have been intended to be used for promoting the film and in theatrical trailers.

raywest

It should have been kept in. I thought it was funny.

Question: After Phillip frees her, why did Syrena then go to find the chalices and give them to Jack Sparrow? She could have just left and taken Phillip with her.

raywest

Chosen answer: She most likely went to stop the ritual, she probably didn't want her tear to be used by the likes of Blackbeard. She knew that Jack would use it wisely.

Question: Four questions; One, why the hell would Angelica be dressed and acting like Jack, and how could she think she could pull him off? Second, wouldn't Angelica and Blackbeard find it suspicious that Jack keeps asking questions about the Fountain of Youth? He claims that he's been there, and yet they don't find it weird that he's asking about something he's supposedly seen? Third, how was Syrena gonna save Phillip when she drags him underwater? Is there an undersea hospital or something? Fourth, why did Jack leave Angelica on an island by herself? I never understood that.

Answer: Angelica merely wanted to create the "illusion" that it was Jack Sparrow in order to shanghai a crew for her father's ship to search for the Fountain of Youth. They would be more willing to follow Jack Sparrow than Blackbeard. Most had never seen the famous Jack Sparrow in person and were half-drunk most of the time, and likely wouldn't notice the deception. Angelica and Blackbeard may have been suspicious about Jack, but he was their only means to finding the Fountain. The mermaids appear to have magical powers that would allow Syrena to save Phillip, possibly by transforming him into a merman, though this is never explained. Although Angelica claimed to love Jack, he did not trust her motives, and that was why he left her on the island. Jack knew Angelica had the ability to escape. He would not leave her to die.

raywest

Question: While in the small boat at Whitecap Bay, why did the mermaids attack most of the sailors but left Philip alone?

Answer: They didn't "leave him alone." The mermaids were in the midst of attacking all the men in the boat when Blackbeard had his crew on shore set off the explosions. That caused the mermaids to panic, tipping the boat over and dumping the surviving men, including Philip, into the sea. Serena, the mermaid Philip falls in love with, was apparently attracted to him and she pushed him out of danger. During the confusion, Philip made it back to shore. The mermaids were still attacking everyone on shore, and that is when Serena became trapped by some falling debris.

raywest

Question: Philip is supposedly killed by Blackbeard and then wounded in battle later in the film. How does he manage to survive and show very little signs of being injured?

THGhost

Chosen answer: He was stabbed with the same tranquilizer that Jack was shot with, to make him appear to have been killed when he was in actuality completely unharmed. He reacted appropriately to the wound received later too. Stomach wounds hurt like mad, but it is possible for them to take a very long time to kill you if they are mortal wounds.

Phixius

Question: Why would Blackbeard take so long to stop the mutiny? Sure he gives the ones responsible their punishment, but if it really bothered him or made him angry enough, then why not come out sooner, or be more angry? He seemed pretty calm during this scene.

Answer: He took his time because he knew the mutiny would fail because has complete control over his ship. Better to make sure he knew who he couldn't trust.

Greg Dwyer

Question: When Barbossa was explaining to Jack how the Pearl was taken and not lost. What does Barbossa mean when he says the sea beneath the Pearl began to roil?

Lueroi

Chosen answer: The sea got very choppy and wavy directly beneath the Black Pearl.

Phixius

Question: At Whitecap bay, Barbossa says: "I cannot! Ever walk on the beach, look back, and see your footsteps in the sand? It's like that except the footsteps lie before me." Then a sailor says: "Footstep, actually." What does the sailor mean? How is that grammatically incorrect?

Answer: It isn't a grammatical correction. He's pointing out that Barbossa only has one foot.

Phixius

Question: At some time in the film Philip shouts at Blackbeard and tells him that the mermaid has a name, "Syrena." How does he know her name?

Answer: Because Philip is the one who named her Syrena. She did not have a name, at least not a conventional human one, prior to that.

raywest

Question: How does Syrena get into the Fountain of youth cavern? Jack goes through the ceiling of the cave after being helped up, and the rest of the crew follows the same way with the ground being solid underneath them. Since this should be the only entrance to the cavern and there does not appear to be any water connected to the location where they enter, how does she get in to give the chalices to Jack?

Answer: There is no way of knowing that the entrance Jack used is the only way to enter the Fountain of Youth cavern. It is just one way that mere mortals can enter it. Serena, being a mermaid, likely knows of underground water passages that interconnect to the chamber.

raywest

Question: Why was Jack not on the Black Pearl with Barbossa when it sunk? At the end of "At Worlds End", they have to go back and get Jack because he took a piece out of the map, so where was Jack?

Answer: There is nothing suggesting that they ever went back to find Jack. As soon as they realise that the map was stolen, the movie ends with Jack sailing alone with the map. Even if they did go try to search for him, they probably would never have been able to find him. At the start of On Stranger Tides, Jack is still searching for the Fountain of Youth and still has the map with him, so it is clear that he has not gone back to or found the Black Pearl yet, so he would not have been on it when it sunk.

Casual Person

Question: Why didn't Gore Verbinski direct this movie?

Answer: Reportedly, it was a scheduling issue. Verbinski was already committed to working on the animated film, "Rango," when "Stranger Tides" was to be filmed.

raywest

Question: Why did Blackbeard's daughter kidnap Jack in the first place? How did she know she would see him in London?

Answer: As I recall, she was impersonating Jack in order to exploit his notoriety to recruit a crew for her father, Blackbeard, to find the Fountain of Youth. She was not intending to kidnap him. Jack heard about an impostor and showed up to confront her. She captured him to prevent being exposed as the fake Jack. She may or may not have known he was in London.

raywest

Factual error: In the courtroom scene, the Judge uses a gavel (the small wooden hammer). These are not, and have never been, used in British courts.

THGhost

More mistakes in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
More quotes from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Trivia: Penelope Cruz, who plays Angelica, was pregnant for about half the filming process. In certain scenes, the director had to try his best to make sure her stomach wasn't shown.

sarahmb2

More trivia for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.