Continuity mistake: After her anchor is lowered, there's a front shot of Interceptor as it splashes wildly and a crewman that is dressed as Will is seen up on the port side of the rigging. After Elizabeth shouts, "Let go!" the crewman dressed as Will is up on the rigging, but now he's on the starboard side of the rigging. This is not a flipped shot, the sails are different in both shots too. (01:24:25)
Continuity mistake: At Jack's hanging, as the official says, "Impersonating an officer in the Spanish Royal Navy," in this far shot, we see the scaffolding and the Marines walking on wall behind. In the next shot, he says, "Impersonating a cleric of the church of England," and we still see the Marines. Then in the next shot, a close-up of Jack, we also see the Marines. These are successive shots, yet the Marines are NOT in positions of continuous walking. (02:05:05)
Visible crew/equipment: Elizabeth comes up from below deck and asks, "What's happening?" and Anamaria answers, "The Black Pearl, she's gaining on us." Anamaria is alone at the wheel at the stern of the boat. Elizabeth then steps up and leans over to get a better look at the Pearl. In the next shot, the side of Interceptor can be seen, and in the distance is the Pearl. In this shot, on deck behind the rigging we see a crew member's leg and some other hand movement, it is not Anamaria's nor Gibbs' leg. (01:21:30)
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 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: 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)
Continuity mistake: At Jack's hanging, there is a shot of Mr. Cotton's parrot landing on the flag post, that Mullroy is holding. In this shot, there is a gruff looking man and a woman with her hand on her hip, standing there. Those two particular people are in the middle of the crowd near Will, when Will first walks through the crowd, to stand in front of the scaffolding. (02:04:45)
Continuity mistake: The rope leading to Jack's noose is wound around the wood beam six times in most shots. When Norrington runs shouting, "Move," as Will is duelling with the hangman and his axe, the rope is seen behind the hangman and it's wound only five times. In their next close-up, it's six again. (02:06:45)
Continuity mistake: Will walks through the crowd at the hanging and stands in front of the scaffolding looking at Jack, as the official reads the list of Jack's crimes. The rope wound around the beam is wound differently here than in the close-up shots. The rope that leads up to the noose is in front of the beam. In the next semi close-up of Jack, when he smiles at the hangman, the rope that leads to the noose is now on the opposite side of the beam. (02:04:50)
Continuity mistake: The hangman hits the rope on the wood beam, but the blade doesn't embed itself in the wood, the way it's in the subsequent shots. After Norrington looks up to see the hangman's about to fall on him, in the next front shot, Will pushes the hangman toward the crowd and he starts to raise his arms. Here the axe is embedded perfectly perpendicular in the wood beam. As Jack and Will run with the rope, the axe is seen behind them and it's not at all embedded in the wood as in the earlier shot. This is not because of the angle of the camera. (02:06:50)
Continuity mistake: When the hangman's axe actually hits and cuts the rope, in the very next shot the view of Jack is between the hangman's right leg and the wood brace. In that shot, we see Jack start to go down and on the right, we see Will getting up right next to the hangman. Next are close-ups of the rope coming loose, Jack falling and Norrington pushing through the crowd. Then in the next shot of Will, he is just now getting up and then lunging at the hangman to push him over. (02:06:50)
Continuity mistake: As Will duels with the hangman he knocks Will's sword out of his hand. In that shot, Will is standing in front of Jack near the lever and the camera pans down as the sword hits the floor. Will doesn't move and in the next shot, Will is now standing to Jack's immediate left near the rope. This was either cut from a longer shot or set up in the second shot deliberately. This has nothing to do with the angle of the camera. (02:06:50)
Visible crew/equipment: When Will and the hangman go at it, there is a close-up of Jack. In that shot, when Jack turns to his left it's very apparent that under his shirt at his shoulders and back, there's an apparatus holding the actor up, in order to help him swing back and forth, and so the false noose wouldn't harm him in any way. (02:06:40)
Continuity mistake: At Jack's hanging, Will draws his sword and shouts, "Move!" The next shot is of the crowd in front of him parting and there is a clear view of the hanging scaffolding. Then in Will's next shot, we see the same crowd from the front, parting again as Will throws the sword into the falling trap door. (02:06:15)
22nd Jan 2004
Continuity mistake: When Legolas lets loose the final arrow into the Troll's mouth, at Balin's Tomb, and the Troll drops down. The things lying on the ground near the Troll's right arm, are in different positions in the close-up and wide shot. (00:33:25)
Continuity mistake: After cutting the corset, Jack picks up the medallion in a close-up shot of Elizabeth and her hand is next to her head. In the next wide shot, as Norrington rushes over, her arm is stretched out, up past her head. In this wide shot, the neckline of her slip is different than the two close-ups, before and after. In her next close-up, her hand is back near her head again. (00:16:45)
Continuity mistake: Murtogg and Mullroy rush over to help lift Elizabeth onto the pier. Murtogg drops his gun behind the two posts and Mullroy drops his gun in front of the two right corner posts. In the wide shot, Jack's holding the medallion and Norrington rushes in. Mullroy's gun isn't behind him, at the posts, and Murtogg's gun isn't positioned the same way he dropped it. When Norrington grabs Jack, Mullroy's gun is lying in front of the posts again. Also, the ropes' position changes in these shots too. (00:16:30)
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)
22nd Jan 2004
Revealing mistake: At Helm's Deep, Theoden says, "I want every man and strong lad..." behind them is Gimli, who has a conspicuously reddish face, and his beard is split down the middle into two braids. Éowyn confronts Aragorn, she apologizes and hurries off, walking between Legolas and Gimli, who looks the same as in the earlier shot. It's obviously Brett (scale double) in both shots, the beard with its two thin braids are completely different when next we see Gimli, in a close-up at the armory. This time the beard is full, with hair between the two very thick braids, and his face is a normal color. (00:51:50 - 00:52:55)
22nd Jan 2004
Continuity mistake: At Helm's Deep, in this opening wide shot, soldiers call out, "Come on, keep moving. Quickly now," as the people walk towards the Glittering Caves. We see the soldiers standing up against the wall, as the people go past. Next, in a side close-up, Aragorn talks with Legolas as they walk past the soldiers, and other people. In the next shot from the front, as the conversation continues, they're still walking past the guards and people. In the second and third shots the people around them differ and in all three shots the guards differ too. (00:50:45)
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.