5. When the movie came out, morally-gray characters like Jack were actually not really a thing yet in pop culture, and itâs not Piratesâ fault that there are a ton of stupid shitty copycats out there.
6. I run a corseting panel at cons and literally use Elizabethâs lace-up scene as a video clip of what historical corseting was actually like, because the only thing they got wrong in this scene is that tightlacing wouldnât be a thing for about another 200 years (and you couldnât tightlace with the corset style Elizabeth is wearing anyway). Itâs one of the most accurate corseting scenes Iâve ever seen.
8. That scene with all the pirates on the gallows where that little boy starts singing Hoist the Colours? Yeah, thatâs fucking legendary. The rest of AWE was kind of a trash fire, but that scene gave me goosebumps.
9. Thereâs this great shot in the first one where they really drive home the class differences inherent in this time period by having the governor talking about progress and civilization to Elizabeth in their carriage, and then they cut to a shot outside the carriage where a beggar gets splashed by mud from the wheel. Itâs a perfect way to underline that everything is not, in fact, a nice little upper-class fairytale, and to give some weight to Willâs storyline, because he has a lot more in common with that beggar than with the governor.
10. For its time, the CGI was fucking amazing.
11. And letâs not forget the work of the makeup department, which had to actually invent new ways of putting on makeup for this movie.
12. The governorâs death scene. Holy shit.
13. They could have gone with a Jack/Will/Elizabeth love triangle, but they didnât. There are some hints Jack is in love (or at least in lust) with Elizabeth, but he recognizes that she loves Will, and thatâs that.
14. Youâve got to admit that wedding was unique.