Revealing mistake: When Jack is standing on the mast of the Jolly Mon, as he's 'sailing' closer to Port Royal, the Dauntless is seen in the distance, as are two very small row boats and the docks to the left. There are no other ships seen along the entire mountain cliffside, some of which is CG. In the next shot showing Dauntless from the dock, there are two other large ships near her, one being loaded with goods which should have been seen in the earlier wide shot. Given the proximity and dimension of Dauntless in the second shot, the other ships should have been seen in the earlier wide shot of the area. Both shots of Dauntless are CG, as is part of the cliffside. This is not because of camera angles. (00:08:55)
Continuity mistake: When Jack jumps down from the mast yard arm on the Jolly Mon to bail water, in the far wide shot, the mast pennant lies still, yet blows wildly in the previous shots and the bottom left of the sail is caught up on line from the rigging, but in the following shots, it's not. Also, in the wide shot he starts to walk to the middle of the boat, and he puts his arms out as he's starting to pass to the right of the mast. In the next close-up of Jack, he's passing the mast on the other side. (00:09:10)
Continuity mistake: When Jack sails toward Port Royal, he passes the skeletal remains of hanged pirates, to whom he pays a respectful bow. First, there are two wideshots of the skeletons, then in the close-up they are actually wearing more clothing, particularly the strapping middle guy, whose head position differs, and his straw hat is larger as well. (00:09:15)
Factual error: Near the start, Jack steps from the yardarm of the sinking craft onto the dock. However, as it is a sailing craft, there is no way that it could have continued its forward movement once the sail was under water, even discounting the drag effect that the sail would have had in the water. Once the sail is submerged, it would act as a type of anchor. (00:10:00)
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 Captain Jack Sparrow steps from the sinking ship to Port Royal's dock, he lifts his right leg for the step-off. Yet, when the shot cuts to his feet hitting the dock, Captain Jack steps off on his left foot. (00:10:05)
Visible crew/equipment: When the dock master tells Jack, "Hold up there you. It's a shilling...," seen in the background on the left of the screen is a thatched roof enclosure. An orange aluminum ladder is sitting under the thatch. Many of the crew's orange aluminum ladders of various heights can be seen on DVD 2. (00:10:10)
Continuity mistake: Jack walks past the dock master, behind Jack the desk is on a wagon and the handle is leaning on the left side of the desk. Also the feather quill on the desk is leaning towards the back of the desk. When Jack walks away and takes the sack of money, the handle of the wagon isn't leaning on the desk and the feather quill on the desk is leaning forward towards the front of the desk. (00:10:10)
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)
Continuity mistake: At the Fort, the two columns of soldiers separate and Norrington walks into view. It's shouted, "Right about face," and the soldier behind Norrington on his left has his black bag to his side. When "present arms" is shouted, the soldier's black bag is in front. Also, Governor Swann, in the front wide shot, is standing on the second step from the bottom. In the next close-up, he's standing on a step further up - the soldier to his left in the previous shot was standing on the same step as him. (00:11:15)
Factual error: Captain Norrington is "promoted" to Commodore. However, commodore was not a rank in the British navy (it is now, not then), but a posting. A post captain could be appointed commodore (meaning he commanded more than one vessel) for a specific task, but when that task was completed, he became a post captain again. A promotion would have made Norrington an admiral. (00:11:30)
Continuity mistake: Jack walks down to the dock where Interceptor's moored, Murtogg is sitting on a sack that lies on a crate, his feet are up on a small barrel and behind him to his left are two large barrels, one on top of another. Once Jack's confronted, now the two large barrels are closer to the beam, and the small barrel is up right against the crate. This has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (00:11:40)
Continuity mistake: On the dock at Port Royal, Jack is speaking with Murtogg and Mullroy, who are guarding the dock from civilians. Seen behind the Marines to their left is the vacant dock edge. Yet when Jack holds Elizabeth hostage, the same dock edge is seen, but in this shot the edge is now filled with barrels and sacks. No one was on the dock between these two scenes. (00:11:45 - 00:18:40)
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)
Revealing mistake: Jack slips aboard Interceptor and Murtogg and Mullroy run aboard and confront him. In Jack's close-up he begins to say, "Well then, I confess." The next shot is of Murtogg and Mullroy, while Jack continues to say, "It is my intention," and as he says, "to commandeer one of these ships..." there is a shot from behind Mullroy's right shoulder. As Jack speaks, Mullroy turns his head to the right and quickly glances peripherally to his side at the camera, so as not to bump into the steadicam at his elbow. Angus is not looking at anything else. (00:13:50)
Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth faints and is falling into the water after Norrington's proposal, there's a shot of her from on the rock. You can see her hat and scarf falling right after. But when the shot moves to Jack and the two guards on the ship, Elizabeth is falling and there is nothing above her - where are the hat and the scarf? There is plenty of time to see the hat and scarf fall too, if they were actually included in the shot, but they simply weren't. (00:15:00)
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: After Elizabeth falls off the ramparts, the first shot is of an unconscious Elizabeth under water, and her right shoe is not on, at the heel. In the next two shots, the shoe is perfectly on. (00:15:15)
Continuity mistake: After falling off the parapet, Elizabeth is under water, and we see a close-up of the medallion floating freely, causing a tremor in the water. When Jack gets her back on shore and rips open her corset, the medallion is now firmly tucked inside her dress - no way it could have just slipped in there given how insanely tight it was. (00:15:40)
Revealing mistake: In the wide shot, when an unconscious Elizabeth reaches the water's bottom, the body is a mannequin that has been weighted down in the middle. The white mannequin head can be seen as the body meets the bottom. (00:15:55)
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