I just saw this movie a few days ago. I *think* that Jack only got the curse when he took a piece of the gold out of the stash and kept it -- before then, he didn't have it, because he'd been marooned before they got into it.

Did Captain Jack Sparrow have the curse all along, or did he just incur it when Barbossa stabbed him?

Neither. He picks up a piece of the gold during the sequence in the cave, thus bringing the curse on himself at the eleventh hour, as it were. (Can't remember atm exactly when he does it, or indeed even whether we actually see him doing so or just have a good idea of when he had the opportunity.) He twirls it through his bony little fingers and flashes it at Barbossa after he staggers into the moonlight. Which you probably saw, but no, he didn't have it all along.

What I still want to know, however, is how he survived the curse being lifted. ;-)

Funny thing is, I knew he palmed one, but (a) it didn't occur to me that the curse would fall on him instantly and (b) I never saw him flashing it. I'm just dense that way. :-P

For some reason I was expecting him to use a delay in the breaking of the curse rather than the power of the curse. (e.g., palm one, let them think the curse is unbreakable, go on a rampage, then toss it back in and shoot Barbossa while his guard is down. As it happeened, that was close to it, but he needed the curse to survive the melodramatic little duel. :-))

--
Banazir

That's what it is. I knew it was something like that, but it's been several months since I watched it.

There's something there, yup.

I have no idea why I was alert to it, but there you go.

Sadly, it's been months since I saw the movie and I can tell you why you're alert to it; I'm not sure of exact numbers but this is the sequence: He holds out his hand showing 4 gold pieces, trickles three of them back in (noisily, so we subconsciously 'count' them), then he does that "just did magic" flick of his hands and shows them empty, which gesture we've all been trained since childhood to interpret as, "I made it disappear!"

OK, I wondered that, too. Did all of his crew drop dead?

It's a little on the hand-wavey side. It seemed like some who incurred their wounds while the curse was still on started bleeding and dropping when it was broken, while others who had been severely injured earlier seemed fine.

It's possible that only those wounds inflicted within a certain amount of time before the curse was broken stayed, but if so it was a pretty short amount of time to apply to Jack. :-)

It's also possible that it really is only the wounds that actually happened after the curse was broken, and they just didn't realize it until they started dropping. That makes the most logistical sense for the curse, but isn't entirely consistent with the timing as the movie is edited. I suspect it's probably the intent, tho.

Question: If a cursed pirate is in the moonlight and is dismembered and separated into widely dispersed skeletal bits, is the pirate still alive? I was wondering.

With the agility that we saw the pirates-as-skeletons had underwater, I highly doubt that his dad was stuck at the bottom of the sea for ten years and did nothing about it. I'm pretty sure he got out and was just hiding. Though that's just my theory cause I want to see him in the next film. ;)

And frankly, no matter how crushing the depths, if anything that could move and and grip was intact (say a hand or a jaw), that part could then pick at/gnaw at the bindings, reassemble the parts, and get the whole out of there.

*nods* Exactly.

As for who to play him...good question! I think I heard that Jack's father will be in it, though I could be wrong. Either way, should be very very interesting.

*nods* That's how I figure it's supposed to be. Whether they edited it that way is slightly fuzzy. After backing it up and watching it about a gazillion times, I finally came to the conclusion that the last piece is replaced in the chest at the same time the shot hits Barbossa. That, I can live with.

There was only one pistol shot that I heard, and it was before Will dropped the (bloody) coins into the chest.

I have many of the traditional English carols in mp3, if you would like them.

Not sure which one of Jack Sparrow's fights I like better:

The highly stylized dance with Will? Loved everything about it. The footwork, the banter, the way the clang of the swords matched the music. Okay, the cocoa powder was a bit odd. But hey, if the only thing I can complain about is that Orlando Bloom prolly shouldn't have smelled like CHOKLIT, I should shut up right now.

The less stylized, more over-the-top fight with Barbossa? The slash-and-hack choreography, the play of light and shadow, and the resulting mosaic of skeleton and flesh?

Can't tell. Love 'em both.

That film is such eye candy. Yum!

Did Captain Jack Sparrow have the curse all along, or did he just incur it when Barbossa stabbed him?
If he had it all along, what made Barbossa think he didn't have it? Just that he marooned him before taking the treasure?
Edit: Ah, thanks, nobuddy69, spoothbrush, and wiliqueen. I get it now - I saw him play with the coins and apparently nick one; I was just not expecting him to use it to acquire invulnerability.

*shakes head* You still weren't watching, were you! I know everyone else already replied and stuff but yeah. As for expecting him to use the coin to acquire invulnerability, as you put it, he has no choice in the matter. He takes the coin, he's therefore cursed and is immortal. Not sure why else he would take the coin unless:

I believe he took the coin as a sort of bargaining chip. 1) He has insurance in case fighting Barbossa or whoever goes sour (as it did and he got stabbed though sometimes I half wonder if Jack did that on purpose just to see what it was like). 2) He's in control of when the curse is lifted once and for all in case it comes in handy in controlling the pirates. (Say they really did try to kill Will and he could say it won't matter if you do, the curse will still be there.) I think he was trying to be sure and wait until all the pirates were engaged fighting the British guards and...it would also make Barbossa lazy in his fighting. Jack's goal was to not only get revenge on the pirates but to kill Barbossa himself. If Barbossa went out against the guards or was arrested that would never happen. So, Jack has a coin to make sure the curse can't be broken until he's READY for it to be broken, i.e. when he shoots Barbossa, and Will is also at the chest ready to drop his own coin in.

Though I need to watch it again, because trying to figure out what Jack is thinking throughout all of that makes my head spin. He's always got a plan, a back-up plan, which is important to remember.

As for the pirates dying -- I think they only died if they had received a mortal wound after, but also right before the curse was lifted -- like that huge black pirate (had a sword in him, we see him drop), and Barbossa -- had just been shot by Jack and the bullet was still in his heart when Will dropped the coins.

Gah. I need to go watch it again. And finish writing my own sequel and see how close it is to Disney's. ;)

Glad you enjoyed, though - You need to watch!!! And stop chatting when you're watching movies! :) If there's an IM that I have to answer I pause whatever I'm watching. Take a break from helping your students and watch a movie. ;)