Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As young Elizabeth sings, the next shot from behind her to her right we see the cannonballs lined up at the bottom of the rail going around the deck. When she yells out, "Look! A boy..." Now there is a cannon in the corner of that bow. (00:00:45 - 00:02:20)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth's maids lace up her corset, obviously both the back and front laces were pulled very tight, as this is the reason for her discomfort and eventual lack of air. After Jack rescues her, as she is on his shoulder we see the two sides on the back of her corset are far apart and the laces in between extremely loose. Yet, when she is lying on the dock, Jack slices the front laces on her supposedly constricting corset so she can breathe again... (00:16:25)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: While rescuing young Will, as Norrington shouts, "Man overboard! Man the ropes. Fetch a hook," Governor Swann is leaning over the starboard rail near the rigging throughout these shots. However, as Norrington says, "Haul him aboard," in this one shot Governor Swann's body is then seen on deck rushing to the rail with other sailors, where he already was in the previous shots. Also, a moment later the ribbon on the sailor hat lying on the tarp changes position in a following shot. (00:02:25)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Revealing mistake: Keira's stunt double Sonia is obvious in different shots throughout the film. When Elizabeth walks onto the deck of the Pearl, only to see the skeletal pirates, she stumbles backward and lands on the tarp, and it's very apparent that the one who comes back down from mid-air onto the tarp and goes back up is Sonia. Later on Isla de Muerta, Elizabeth whacks Jacoby (burning beard) with the gold rod and soon after she approaches a second pirate. This pirate is very pleased with himself when he takes the gold bowl off his head, and we can then see it is Sonia actually whacking him, but in the very next shot it is Keira reacting to whacking the guy. (00:59:05 - 02:00:05)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Port Royal is being attacked by the pirates, Will throws an axe into Jacoby's back. The axe handle lies flat against Jacoby's back. In the next shot, when Jacoby is lying on his stomach, the axe's handle is sticking up, perpendicular to his back, making it easy for Will to run by and grab the axe quickly. (00:31:15)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Will first walks through the crowd at Jack's hanging, there is a wide shot. Then there is a semi close-up of Will and the surrounding people. Next there is a shot taken from behind Will, still showing some people around him. In all three shots as Will stands still, some of the people's positions differ and some of the people are different, in all three shots. (02:04:40)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: At the blacksmith shop, in the close-up, the palm of Mr. Brown's hand faces upright, when he drops the bottle. In the wide shot, the palm of his hand faces down. When Jack approaches him, the palm faces up again. Also in one shot, one end of Mr. Brown's red scarf is sticking out of his smock and in the next shot, both ends are out. (00:21:05)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In Tortuga, on the dock, Anamaria slaps Jack twice. In the side shot, Jack says, "You'll get another one," and she picks up her right hand and points her finger right up into Jack's face. When Will says, "That one," Jack spins around, and in this shot when he asks, "What one?" now Anamaria's left hand is the one pointing at Jack's face. (01:02:20)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

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)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

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)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

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)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Jack removes Anamaria's hat, in the front shot her hair falls down, and in the next back shot, her hair falls again. Also, the striped scarf around her forehead changes in the arrangement of the stripes in different shots. In the front shots the yellow stripe is on top, but in the side shots the grey stripe is on top. (01:02:05)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As Elizabeth says, "Lower the anchor on the right side," Mr. Gibbs' right white collar is under the leather strap buckled correctly and Will's neck scarf is crooked. In the next shot, when Elizabeth says, "On the starboard side," Mr. Gibbs' leather strap is not buckled properly, his right white collar is over the strap and Will's neck scarf is straight. When Mr. Gibbs says, "Daft like Jack," his white collar is under the strap again and one end of Mr. Gibbs' neck string is much longer than the other end. Also, Will's right white shirt collar is over his vest. Yet when Mr. Gibbs says, "Do it, you gobs..." the ends of Mr. Gibbs' neck string are even and Will's right white collar is under his vest. (01:24:00)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

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)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Aboard Interceptor, the boom slams into Will and takes him out over the water. In the close-up shot of Will hanging there, the rope lines that are between Will's arms on the boom are not in the close-up shot of the boom, before it hit Will. Just the line to his left, can be seen in the boom shot. (00:49:35)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

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)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: As the boom slams into Will, there's no pile of rope lying at the stern, only one line. In the next shot, Jack reaches down to pick up Will's sword and now there's a pile of rope lying on deck. When Jack swings the boom back and Will drops on deck, there's no pile of rope on deck again. This doesn't refer to the rigging lines attached to the boom. (00:49:35)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In the blacksmith shop, Will grabs a sword out of the fire and fights Jack with a red-hot blade. Jack flings the end of his handcuff chain around Will's sword which IS still glowing red, grabs the blade, and yanks it out of Will's hand. The blade is no longer glowing red as it flies out of Will's hand and through the air. The blade could NOT have cooled that quickly. (00:24:25)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture

Deliberate mistake: As was admitted on the commentary, the angle of the moonlight in the stateroom, which has a deep overhang outside of the doors, was deliberately vastly exaggerated, to enhance the shots with Governor Swann battling with the disembodied skeletal arm. (01:56:25)

Super Grover

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl mistake picture Video

Visible crew/equipment: Just as Jack says, "On deck, you scabrous dogs," to the very left edge of the screen over Jack's shoulder is a grip crew member with a tan cowboy hat, white short sleeve tee shirt and sunglasses, just standing there looking out to sea. (02:12:35)

Super Grover

More mistakes in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Barbossa: You best start believing in ghost stories, Miss Turner. You're in one!

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More trivia for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Question: There are numerous mentions of the fact that Depp based his performance as Jack Sparrow on Keith Richards. But I'm sure I saw an interview/making-of programme where he said that Jack Sparrow was a combination of two real-life 'characters'; one was Keith Richards, and try as I might, I can't remember the other one. Did anyone else see this? Who was the other inspiration for Jack Sparrow? (It may have been another actor e.g. Orlando Bloom talking *about* Johnny Depp's influences etc.).

Answer: On Disc 3, Johnny explains, "Take something as solid as Keith Richards and combine it with Pepé Le Pew... I felt... he would resemble a modern day Rastafarian..." Pepé Le Pew is a Looney Tunes cartoon character, based on Charles Boyer's romantic character, Pepé Le Moko. Pepé Le Pew, however, is a romantic amorous cartoon skunk and he has a huge flaw - his 'odor', which he emits in a grand way.

Super Grover

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