Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) - 240 mistakes

Continuity: 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.

Continuity: In the close-up of young Elizabeth, as she sings on the bow of the ship, she's standing between two posts of the railing. Each post has rope wound around it. In the next few shots of her, the existence, the amount and the thickness of the rope on each post changes drastically.

Continuity: 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. Also, a moment later the ribbon on the sailor hat lying on the tarp changes position in a following shot.

Continuity: In the beginning, after the young Will is pulled on board, when Will says his name, the medallion is protruding out of his shirt. After young Elizabeth tells him, "I'm watching over you Will," in the next shot of Will, the medallion is completely hidden in his shirt, and his position differs between shots.

Continuity: At the beginning, when young Elizabeth is holding the medallion and spots the Black Pearl, we can see part of the medallion's back. It's an Aztec design, not a skull. At Elizabeth's blood ritual, when the medallion is dropped into the chest and spins over itself, both sides of the medallion are the same Aztec skull.

Continuity: When young Elizabeth holds up the medallion, and she sees the Black Pearl, her fingers are positioned differently in the wide shot and in the close-up shot of the medallion.

Visible crew/equipment: In the extreme close up of young Elizabeth's face, when she first sees the Black Pearl, the only things in front of her are 1) sky; 2) sea; 3) Black Pearl. Yet, in her eyes are reflected two big, round objects - filming spots or reflectors.

Continuity: Elizabeth takes the medallion out of the drawer, and in the first wide shot as she looks at it (*before* she wipes away the dust with her thumb), seen to her left in the corner, are a tapestry chair and small table with a candelabra, between the the french door draperies and the louver trim door. The table and candelabra are partially in front of the door's louver trim. However after Elizabeth takes the dress out of the box, behind Governor Swann (who stands in front of the french door draperies now), to his right we see the same tapestry chair, table and candelabra, but the table and candelabra are further away from the door's louver trim and much closer to the corner now.

Continuity: Elizabeth, alone in her room, puts on her robe while standing near her bed, when her father knocks. He walks in with one maid who goes to open the curtains and doors and a second who's carrying the dress box. Yet, as her father inquires, "Still abed at this hour?" a third maid steps out from behind Elizabeth and goes to open the curtains and disappears again. This maid didn't come in with Governor Swann, nor any other doorway including the one behind Elizabeth!! Obviously this was part of a longer shot, but she still appears out of nowhere!

Continuity: Will's facial hair darkens quite a bit in the time it takes him to walk from Elizabeth's house to his blacksmith shop. (The sword scene in the Governor's mansion was the first scene that was filmed with Orlando. His facial hair was not fully grown in because he had just arrived on set. On commentary.)

Continuity: In the foyer of the Swann home, there is a large floral arrangement on the table. In various shots, the flowers are shown either from the front, left or right side. Regardless of the angle it's seen in, the height and position of some flowers and greenery, more so at the top, differ between these shots.

Continuity: When Will delivers the sword to Governor Swann, watch the clock on the wall. While Will is waiting, the time is 09:45am. When Gov. Swann enters the room, the time is 09:40am.

Factual error: When Will delivers the new sword to Governor Swann, look behind Governor Swann. There is an oval painting hanging on the wall. It is a Thomas Kinkade portrait, which would never grace the walls of the mansion. Thomas Kinkade is a modern artist.

Revealing: Will walks down the stairs, after the coach leaves and the cottage to the left of the Governor's mansion isn't seen at all. In this close-up, the Governor's mansion behind Will is only a facade built at Marineland. They only built the facade for the main house, not the two servants' cottages on both sides of the mansion. In the next wide shot, both cottages and the mansion seen, are miniatures used in a CG composite on the hill. Given the proximity of the (miniature) cottages at both sides of the house in the wide shot, the left cottage should've been seen in the close-up, but obviously couldn't because the cottages weren't built. Fuller view of the wide shot in deleted scenes.

Revealing: 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.

Continuity: 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.

Continuity: 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.

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.

Continuity: 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.

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.