Continuity mistake: After cutting Elizabeth's hand, Barbossa says, "Waste not," and there's a wide back shot of the two of them, Barbossa is holding the knife in his right hand, and the edge of the blade does not have blood on it. In the very next shot, a close-up of the medallion falling from Elizabeth's hand, the edge of the blade now has blood on it. In a later shot when Barbossa looks at the blade, there is blood on both sides. (01:12:15)
Continuity mistake: Will runs down the stairs towards Jack's jail cell. At the bottom of the steps there is a desk and chair. When he first comes down, the chair is pushed into the corner of the desk. As Will says, "These are half pin barrel hinges," behind him, the chair is now pulled out. Will then uses that chair to balance the bench for "the right leverage to lift the door free." (00:42:25)
6th Mar 2005
Continuity mistake: When Simon jumps into the room where Maguire is attempting his suicide it cuts to a shot from above and we see Maguire's foot is hanging over Max's foot. When it cuts Maguire's foot is out of sight. (00:14:00)
Continuity mistake: When Barbossa and Jack are chatting in the captain's cabin aboard the Black Pearl after Elizabeth's blood failed to lift the curse, Jack's eyes are lacking their trademark kohl lining. In the following continuous scene, however, as they rush on deck to see the Interceptor, the kohl is in place, although Jack didn't pause to apply it. [Apparantly, it was the first day of shooting, and after Depp's meeting with studio heads, Depp was forced into making Jack look cleaner and to remove Jack's kohl trademark, during those shots. As heard on the commentary.] (01:19:40)
Continuity mistake: When Jack and Elizabeth are on the island Jack lifts the hatch to the underground cache of rum. In the first shot from below, the top stair is visible at the opening above. In the next shot from above the design/shape of the top stair is very different. Bramble disappears between shots as well. (01:36:00)
Continuity mistake: Cannon fire breaks a hole in the jail wall and inside the cell, the last pirate says, "You've no manner of luck at all," In the next shot from outside, escaping through the hole the pirate takes a huge leap forward and out to the right. After a close-up pan of Jack, in the next outside wide shot, that same pirate is still right beside the hole in the wall and is just starting to climb down the rocks below the hole. (00:35:40)
Continuity mistake: Aboard the Black Pearl, Pintel and Ragetti load the cannon with the chain-link cannonballs. As the cannon fires, in this shot from outside the port hole, the rungs of the steps on the side of the ship are to the right of the port hole. This shot has been flipped. The rungs are really to the left of the port hole, as seen when they load the cannonballs into the cannon and other shots throughout the movie. (01:26:55)
Continuity mistake: After Elizabeth whacks Jacoby and tells him to try wearing a corset, she helps Will to his feet. In the close-up of Will smiling and looking at her, his hair is noticeably wet and very stringy. However when Elizabeth asks, "Whose side is Jack on?" Will's hair is no longer wet. (01:59:50)
Continuity mistake: On the Black Pearl, just before Elizabeth spins the wheel on deck and knock's off Grapple's skeletal head, when she first approaches the wheel, it is fully wound up with rope. As she starts to spin the wheel, there are only about five lines of wound rope, next to the wheel. (00:59:25)
Continuity mistake: When Elizabeth puts the silver candelabra upside down on the door handles, the left handle is hanging down. In the next shot, that door handle is sticking straight out. No one touched it. (00:33:20)
14th Dec 2006
Continuity mistake: After Jack is hung up over the kindling, to be "roasted and eaten", a cannibal carries a torch across the bridge and shouts. In the cannibal's close-up, the painted black/white sticks pierce his left ear, whereas in the previous and following shots the sticks actually pierce his right ear. The close-up is a flipped shot for continuity of face position. (Mostly visible on widescreen version). (00:37:50)
8th Jul 2006
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Will visits Elizabeth in jail, she is rubbing his chin in most of the shots but in one shot her hand is suddenly down and then it goes back up again in the next shot. (00:18:40)
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)