Continuity mistake: Will goes to the fort the morning after the pirate rampage in Port Royal. Will says, "We have to hunt them down. We must save her," and his shirt collar is very crooked. Governor Swann says, "If you have any information concerning..." and in this shot Will's collar and vest are straight. In the following shots the shirt collar is crooked again. (00:41:20)
Continuity mistake: Aboard Interceptor, Will cuts the lines leading to Dauntless with his axe and Interceptor pulls away. As they pull away, the first gangplank falls, knocks into the swivel cannon on the rail of Interceptor, forcing it to now point up. Jack and Will are busy stealing Interceptor. When Jack yells out, "Thank you, Commodore!" the cannon is turned straight around again. The first shot was part of the mishap during filming, as noted in another mistake. (00:47:05)
Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth is taken aboard the Black Pearl, Bo'sun slaps her face. Bo'sun's hand never makes any contact with Elizabeth's face, but the sound effect makes it very convincing. Also, in the first side shot of the slap, when Bo'sun starts to say, "You'll speak..." it's the back of her left hand that touches her cheek, and we can see the white corner of her night gown under the robe sleeve. In the next front shot, it's the palm of her hand that is touching her cheek now and the white night gown doesn't show at the sleeve. (00:38:10)
Continuity mistake: At the dock in Port Royal, in the close-up as Jack makes his escape from the Marines, he is standing on the beam as he throws his shackle chain over the rope. The ledge to his left, just under the rope, has a metal support that is flush with the wood's edge. In the next wide shot as Jack starts his descent down the rope, the ledge and its metal support are not the same as in the close-up, they are obviously very different. (00:20:10)
Continuity mistake: Jack hides behind a statue outside the blacksmith shop. The soldiers run past a woman and her vegetable cart whose wheels are closest to the blacksmith shop. After Jack removes his sword, he looks around the courtyard. The cart's legs are now closest to the blacksmith shop and the wheels are now at the other end, the complete opposite of how the cart was positioned in the first shot. (00:20:35)
Revealing mistake: When the pirates arrive on shore at Port Royal, Ragetti and Pintel are standing in front of the boats. Ragetti has his false wood eye in his hand, as he sharpens the 'iris' with his knife point. As he does so, the eye socket does not look empty in this shot, only covered. (00:30:45)
Continuity mistake: After escaping, while Jack is swinging quickly about on the rope, in the first wide shot, he hangs low on the rope and the excess rope reaches his knees. When Jack yells, "Whoa!" he is higher on the rope and yet the excess rope still just reaches his knees. Then when Norrington shouts, "Open fire!" still higher on the rope, the excess rope is now way below his feet. (00:19:50)
Revealing mistake: Norrington says, "Gillette, Mr. Sparrow has a dawn appointment with the gallows..." and he's standing at the dock. When he says the name Gillette, there is an unobstructed view. Behind Norrington to HIS right is the bottom part of the mountain's rocky cliffside and we do not see Dauntless moored. At this angle the Dauntless should be seen, though the digital editors neglected to add it. (00:20:30)
Continuity mistake: When Pintel and Ragetti go after Elizabeth in her home she knocks Pintel out cold and drops hot coals from the bed warmer on top of Ragetti's head. In the close-up as Ragetti yells, "No! No! It's hot!" he holds the flaming torch in his left hand. However, in the next shot as Pintel yells, "Come on!" the torch is gone, it is in neither of Ragetti's hands and of course when he leaps over the banister he has the torch again. (00:32:50)
Continuity mistake: As the soldiers are firing at Jack after his escape, he runs across the footbridge. In the far wide shot, he crosses the center of the bridge and passes the man with the sack on his back. In the next close-up shot, Jack is just getting to the center of the bridge and starts to pass the man with the sack on his back. (00:20:20)
Visible crew/equipment: On the dock, when Jack grabs the rope, flies up and escapes, the cannon comes crashing down onto the dock. When the wood planks break (pre-cut wood), two Marines fall into the hole. Seen hanging under two of the remaining fixed wood planks are strips of tape that was used to help secure the pre-cut wood together with the fixed wood. Another view of this is also seen on DVD 2. (00:19:45)
Continuity mistake: On the dock, after the rescue, Jack sees the medallion on Elizabeth's neck. In the next shot as Norrington and his men come, we see that Jack's coat, hat, and other effects are lying scattered around on the ground. Yet later, when Mullroy bends down, he quickly picks up Jack's things to show to Norrington, and the gun, compass and sword are neatly placed on Jack's hat. (00:16:50)
Continuity mistake: When the sinking Jolly Mon 'sails' towards the dock, the straw basket which sits on the dock changes positions in the following shots, as does the rope lying on the side of the dock. When the dock master says, "It's a shilling to tie...dock," they look at what's left of the boat. The flag is hanging straight down, not blowing, but after Jack says, "And we forget the name," the flag is now wrapped around the mast. The following is only visible on VHS: there is one large barrel directly in front of Jack, but when the shot faces the Jolly Mon, there are two - a small one appears, which has a paint splattered top. (00:10:00)
Continuity mistake: When Gillette puts the iron shackles on Jack, as Elizabeth offers her protest, in the shots facing them, there is a barrel with a green sack on top of it and two wicker rods against the stone wall. However, when Norrington says, "Indeed," then when Jack says, "Finally," and also when Jack says, "I saved your life. You save mine. We're square," the barrel, sack and rods are not there. (00:18:25)
Continuity mistake: While underwater, as Jack removes Elizabeth's water-logged dress, his left hand and arm are visibly clean, as well as when he has her on his shoulder at the dock. Then while kneeling over her on the dock, Jack's left hand and arm are extremely grimy and dirty. Yet when Norrington grabs Jack to bring him to Gillette, and while Jack holds Elizabeth hostage, his left hand and arm are clean once again. (00:16:10 - 00:18:40)
Continuity mistake: On the docks, when Norrington exposes Jack's scar and tattoo on his right arm, he says, "Well, well, Jack Sparrow, isn't it?" and in the wide shot Murtogg holds the middle part of his gun. In the close-up when Murtogg says, "He said he'd come to commandeer one," he holds it near the bayonet, yet in the next wide shot he holds it in the middle again. (00:17:40)
Revealing mistake: When Elizabeth falls down from the cliff, with her hat and scarf falling over her, you can see it is definitely not Keira Knightley, as the stuntperson's face is perfectly visible. (00:15:05)
Continuity mistake: When Jack walks down the dock to the Interceptor, Murtogg and Mullroy are sitting with sacks, crates and barrels in a deep shadow, but the sun is seen afar. A few shots later, after they intercepted him, those same sacks, crates and barrel are brightly lit by the sun. The shots were probably filmed at different times of the day. (00:11:45)
Continuity mistake: In Port Royal, as Jack passes the dock master, he says "Hold up there you. It's a shilling to tie up your boat at the dock." In the wide shot, a man carrying bananas on his left shoulder, (the one with white pants, white shirt, vest and hat) is passing behind Jack. Then, there's a close-up of Jack and a shot of the Jolly Mon. When the dock master says "And I shall need to know your name," in Jack's close-up, that same man starts to pass behind Jack, but by that time, he should be at the gangplank already, and the bananas are now on his right shoulder. This has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (00:10:10)
Revealing mistake: When Jack rescues an unconscious Elizabeth, as he reaches to lift her, his wet white shirt is translucent. From just above the elbow we can see the pink of his skin showing through the sleeves, but above that it's very apparent that he is wearing another garment under the white shirt. Yet when he's on the dock, there is no other garment under his shirt, which is still translucent enough to see the two tattoos on each of his shoulders. (00:16:00)
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