Waiting For the Opportune Moment Quiz

The curse laid upon the gold becomes one of the central elements of the film and, whilst we don't see this take place it is explained by Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush), while he wines and dines Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), after he's kidnapped her and she's on board the Black Pearl.

He explains that Cortes invaded the Aztec Empire, and the Aztecs presented him with a stone chest containing 882 gold coins in the hope that it would appease him and stop his invasion. The gift did not work, and Cortes continued the slaughter. This led to the heathen gods placing a curse on the chest of gold, so that any mortal removing just one coin would become a living skeleton whose plight would be exposed by moonlight. The gold ended up on the Isle de Muerta.

In case you missed it the first time, like I did, and was left wondering... if Elizabeth had stolen the medallion from the young Will Turner, how come she wasn't affected by the curse? You will need to read the previous paragraph a little more closely... Barbossa explains that "any mortal that removes but a piece from that stone chest shall be punished". The two things to take away from this is "any mortal", hence the reason why Jack the Monkey is cursed and "removes a piece from the chest", which is why Elizabeth wasn't cursed. She may have stolen the coin from Will but neither he, nor Elizabeth had physically removed it from the chest.

We are told a number of times during the film that Barbossa led a mutiny against Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), took the Black Pearl from him and left him stranded on a deserted island. However, the timing you needed to work out for yourself.

First up, Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin R. McNally) tells the tale of the mutiny to Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) when HMS Interceptor first arrived at the Isle de Muerta. He indicates that Jack knew where the treasure was (Isle de Muerta), had gathered a crew from Tortuga and was three days into the sail when he was tricked by Barbossa into revealing the co-ordinates of the treasure and, that night, there was a mutiny.

When Barbossa and his crew attack Port Royal, two members, Koehler (Treva Etienne) and Twigg (Michael Berry Jr.), find Jack in a jail cell and the curse is revealed when Koehler reaches through the bars to grab Jack by the throat and a shaft of moonlight strikes his flesh. Jack's response is a surprised "So there is a curse", indicating that he'd not had an opportunity to get his hands on the gold prior to Barbossa and only knew of the curse through rumour. This is further confirmed when Jack is negotiating with Barbossa about how he should reveal the name of the person's blood he (Barbossa) needs to lift the curse, and he indicates to his adversary that he's thankful for the mutiny otherwise, he too, would have had a share of the curse.

This was a hectic day for Port Royal. Captain Norrington (Jack Davenport) is ceremoniously promoted to Commodore and then he proposes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth faints, falls off a parapet and into the sea. When she hits the water there's a small tremor as the coin sends its "calling" across the ocean. Jack Sparrow arrives at Port Royal and rescues Elizabeth from drowning. It is the day they "almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow", and it is also the day that "Jack Sparrow almost escaped". Then, as night falls, Barbossa launches an attack on the town in his quest for that elusive (cursed) gold coin.

Some key things that occur here include Jack's first meeting with Will Turner. It is not a pleasant meeting as the two engage in an entertaining sword fight in the blacksmith's shop. Both display considerable skill with the blade and Jack reveals, before he's knocked out by Will's boss (Mr. Brown played by Ralph P. Martin), that he's carrying a pistol with a single shot and that the shot is meant for someone specific (we are not told whom and that remains a mystery for the time being). Though he hasn't revealed this to the lady in question, we are made aware of Will's strong feelings for Elizabeth Swann. Elizabeth Swann, for her part, reveals courage, daring and quick intelligence before she is kidnapped by the pirates Pintel (Lee Arenberg) and the one eyed Ragetti (MacKenzie Crook). She escapes certain death by calling for a parley with Captain Barbossa of the Black Pearl.

Elizabeth discovers that she's made a poor deal with the Barbossa and, whilst hostilities against Port Royal have ceased, the pirate captain now has her piece of the Aztec gold and Elizabeth as a prisoner on board the Black Pearl.

Will has realized that Elizabeth has been kidnapped and, dissatisfied with Norrington's apparent lack of desperation to rescue her, forms an alliance with, and springs, Jack Sparrow from the prison cell in which he is being held. The pair sneak aboard HMS Dauntless, force the crew onto row boats and make a show that they are stealing the ship. This episode will also show that the wily Jack Sparrow... sorry, Captain Jack Sparrow, is always thinking two or three steps ahead.

Norrington responds by pursuing them in HMS Interceptor, supposedly the fastest ship in the Royal Navy ("But there's no ship as can match the Interceptor for speed." Private Mullroy played by Angus Barnett). While Norrington and his crew leap onto the Interceptor, Jack and Will Turner sneak onto the Interceptor and start to sail away, thanking Norrington for getting it ocean ready for them. Surely Norrington would have left some crew on the Interceptor... but noooooo! "You are without doubt the worst captain I've ever heard of".

I mentioned that Jack was constantly thinking ahead. What hadn't been revealed to us until now was that he'd crippled the Dauntless by disabling the rudder chain, which meant that Norrington could not turn the cannons around to fire upon the Interceptor.

With HMS Interceptor under his control Jack Sparrow and Will Turner arrive at Tortuga with the view of securing a crew and pursuing the Black Pearl to the Isle de Muerta. They first run into Joshamee Gibbs, a longtime friend of Sparrow's and, it appears, the only man that Jack can trust. Gibbs is down on his luck and is found sleeping amongst the pigs in a barn outside the Faithful Bride Inn.

At first he (Gibbs) is reluctant to buy into Jack's plan to pursue Barbossa...
(Gibbs) "From what I hear tell of Captain Barbossa, he's not a man to suffer fools, nor strike a bargain with one."
(Sparrow) "Well, then I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a fool, then, eh?"
... until Jack reveals his leverage, Will Turner, the son of "Bootstrap" Turner, whose blood Barbossa will need to lift the curse.

Gibbs is an interesting character. We first meet him as a crew member of HMS Dauntless (at the start of the film), which is ferrying Governor Weatherby Swann (Jonathan Pryce) and his daughter Elizabeth to Port Royal. He appears to be a good sailor, seems to have infinite knowledge about pirate lore and closely adheres to the Pirate Code. How he came to be a pirate and not just know Jack Sparrow, but have intimate knowledge of his life, is never revealed.

Other things we learn at Tortuga is that Jack seems to have wronged many women along the way and is constantly slapped by them, and that the crew Gibbs cobbled together (remarkably overnight) includes a dwarf named Marty (Martin Klebba), a mute sailor named Cotton (David Bailie) whose parrot talks on his behalf and Anamaria (Zoe Saldana) whose ship (sorry... boat) Jack had stolen "Actually... borrowed".

(Footnote) If you're like me and wondered if Tortuga is an actual place... it is. Situated just off the north coast of Haiti, it was so well placed that it proved to be a haven for pirates during the 1600s. The scenes of Tortuga, however, were not shot there but on the nearby island nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, thanks to their more generous taxation concessions.

Barbossa and the crew have arrived at the Isle de Muerta. The Aztec chest has been opened. Elizabeth is on her knees, head over the chest with the medallion dangling. Barbossa stands over her with a blade in his hand. Will he cut Elizabeth's throat or will Jack and Will arrive in time to save her? Surprisingly, neither happens... Barbossa simply places a cut across Elizabeth's palm which draws blood, touches the gold piece to the blood and lets it drop into the chest.

Has the curse been broken? To find out Barbossa shoots Pintel in the heart... he doesn't die. It's at this point that Jack utters the two lines that will be significant, even pivotal, later in the plot "wait for the opportune moment" and "don't do anything stupid". In the confusion that erupts after the failure to lift the curse, Will rescues Elizabeth and they escape to the Interceptor and Jack gets captured. Jack's ace is that he knows whose blood Barbossa needs and he uses this to buy time.

On board the Interceptor Elizabeth immediately recognizes Gibbs, which adds further mystery to Gibbs' past. It makes one think that Gibbs had been in the Royal Navy longer than originally thought... either that or Elizabeth has an extraordinary memory for a little girl.

The Black Pearl chases and captures the Interceptor...
Elizabeth: "This is the fastest ship in the Caribbean!"
Anamaria: "You can tell them that after they've caught us!"

The Interceptor is blown to bits by the crew of the Pearl and then Will does something stupid... He reveals to Barbossa that he has the blood of "Bootstrap" Turner running through his veins, the blood that Barbossa needs to lift the curse. He uses this to bargain for Elizabeth's freedom and the welfare of the crew. Jack and Elizabeth are then forced to walk the plank and are left to contemplate life on a deserted island.
Barbossa: "That be the same island we made you the governor of on our last little trip."

It is here that the truth about Jack's last escape from this island is revealed, and Elizabeth famously burns the rum, which triggers a rescue by HMS Dauntless...
Jack: "There'll be no living with her after this".

Then, on board the Dauntless, Elizabeth promises to marry Norrington in exchange for the Commodore agreeing to rescue Will. Norrington then prepares an ambush for Barbossa after receiving instructions from Jack... really, you're taking instructions from a pirate, "You are without doubt the worst Commodore I've ever heard of".

As the pirates Pintel and Ragetti are slopping the brig and revealing how the mutiny did not sit well with "Bootstrap" Turner, which they surmise is the reason Turner sent his medallion to Will as a gift, the Black Pearl arrives at the Isle de Muerta. While Barbossa and the crew head off to the cave to spill Will's blood and lift the curse, Elizabeth steals away from the Dauntless and sneaks aboard the Pearl.

She manages to free Jack's crew from the brig and is then staggered that they choose to stick to the Code, leave Jack behind and not help her to free Will. She is then seen rowing alone toward the cave, cursing Jack's crew under her breath.

Jack surprises Barbossa by arriving just in time to stop them killing Will and advising them that it would be their funeral if they did. He explains that Norrington and his men are waiting in ambush (and then utters the key words that alert Will to the fact that something is about to happen), therefore, they should wait for the opportune moment to break the curse. In the process he pilfers a coin from the chest (I wonder why he's done that), strikes a bargain with Barbossa and the crew "go for a walk" beneath the waves to spring their own ambush on the Dauntless.

There's only Jack, Will, Barbossa and three other pirates, Jacoby (Vince Lozano), Monk (Michael Lane) and Weatherby (D.P. FitzGerald) left in the cavern, with Barbossa contemplating the enigma that is Jack Sparrow. Jack responds by saying "Me? I'm dishonest, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you want to watch out for, because you can never predict when they're going to do something incredibly... (and this is the signal to Will) stupid". Jack then draws his sword and attacks Barbossa.

In what is one of the best bits of sword play in the film, Will joins the fray by attacking the other three pirates while Jack and Barbossa are engaged among themselves. Across the waters the skeleton crew (no pun intended) have boarded the Dauntless and engaged the Royal Navy in battle. In the cave Barbossa stabs Jack who reels backwards slightly surprised. As he steps into a ray of moonlight it is revealed that he too is a living skeleton. He draws a gold piece from his shirt and twirls it in his fingers "I couldn't resist mate".

Elizabeth arrives and helps Will subdue Jacoby, Monk and Weatherby. As Will makes his way to the chest, Jack takes the opportunity to slice his palm, blood his medallion and toss it to Will, while slashing at Hector Barbossa and forcing him to stumble. Barbossa draws his pistol and aims it at Elizabeth. As Barbossa's eyes and Elizabeth's meet a pistol shot rings out. Perplexed Barbossa looks at Jack... "Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot." Will responds by saying "No, he didn't", all the while holding a bloodied knife in one hand and opening the fist of his other hand above the stone chest to reveal the last two blooded pieces of gold. Barbossa looks at his chest to see a flow of blood seep through his shirt. He falls to the floor, declaring with his dying breath that he felt cold.

At the same time, on board the Dauntless, Commodore Norrington runs his sword through the pirate Koehler who screams in surprise and pain, before falling down dead. The other pirates are momentarily bewildered then, realizing that they're now mortal, drop their arms and surrender.

The next shot shows Jack Sparrow at Fort Charles, with a noose around his neck, all set to be hanged for his crimes. Will confronts Elizabeth and confesses his love for her and then he does something stupid... he triggers an ill-conceived escape attempt for Jack and, after a brief tussle the pair are captured. Will declares that he's prepared to stand by Jack who, despite being a pirate, is a good man. Elizabeth then stands in front of Will and declares that she stands by him.

Jack steps to the parapet and, as he's about to declare that the "this was the day that you almost...", he trips and falls into the ocean, surfaces and swims toward the Black Pearl that is coming to his aid. Norrington gives Will and Elizabeth his blessing, gives Jack a day's head start and Anamaria gives Jack the Black Pearl. Jack and the Pearl set sail for the horizon.

The End.