Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

In the early 18th century, Governor Weatherby Swann and his daughter Elizabeth sail aboard HMS Dauntless, captained by Lieutenant Norrington. They encounter a shipwreck and rescue a boy, Will Turner. Elizabeth notices a gold medallion around Will's neck and takes it while he is unconscious, before seeing a ghostly ship sailing away. Eight years later in Port Royal, Jamaica, Captain Norrington is being promoted to commodore while Will works as a blacksmith. A pirate captain named Jack Sparrow arrives in Port Royal seeking a ship.

Norrington proposes to Elizabeth atop a cliff, but she faints and falls into the ocean due to her tight-fitting corset, causing the medallion she is carrying to emit a pulse. Jack rescues Elizabeth and discovers the medallion. Governor Swann orders Jack's execution after he is identified as a pirate, but Jack flees into Will's smithy, where he is caught after Will duels him to a stalemate.

That night, Port Royal is attacked by the pirate crew of the Black Pearl, who are searching for the medallion. They take Elizabeth hostage to meet Captain Barbossa after she identifies herself as "Elizabeth Turner". Barbossa explains that the medallion is one of 882 cursed gold pieces used to bribe Hernán Cortés to stop his slaughter of the Aztecs. After finding and stealing the cursed gold at Isla de Muerta, the crew became undead skeletons who cannot feel pleasure or pain. To lift the curse, the crew must return all the gold with an offering of blood from each member, but one piece belonging to "Bootstrap" Bill Turner, a crew member thrown overboard after the theft, is missing. Believing Elizabeth to be Bootstrap's daughter, Barbossa intends to use her blood for the ritual.

Intent on rescuing Elizabeth, Will frees Jack and they steal HMS Interceptor. They escape to Tortuga to recruit a crew from Joshamee Gibbs, who reveals Jack as the previous captain of the Black Pearl, whom Barbossa mutinied against and marooned on a deserted island. On Isla de Muerta, they sneak into the treasure grotto where Barbossa fails to lift the curse using Elizabeth's blood. Will and Elizabeth escape with the medallion, but Jack is captured and imprisoned on the Pearl, which pursues the Interceptor. Elizabeth informs Will of his true parentage.

The Pearl destroys the Interceptor, with the crew captured by the pirates. Will surrenders to save Elizabeth, but threatens to kill himself unless she and the crew are left unharmed. Barbossa imprisons the crew and maroons Jack and Elizabeth on the same island that Jack was previously exiled to. Jack reveals that the island was used as a smuggling cache for rum runners, who rescued him after only three days. Elizabeth signals for help using a bonfire fueled by the rum, leading the Royal Navy to rescue them. She agrees to marry Norrington if he saves Will from Barbossa.

Jack and Norrington concoct a plan to ambush the pirates at Isla de Muerta, but Jack reveals himself to the pirates and convinces Barbossa to delay lifting the curse until after killing Norrington's men. After Barbossa's crew leaves, Jack frees Will and attacks Barbossa, having surreptitiously pocketed a medallion to give himself immortality. Elizabeth frees Jack's crew on the Pearl, but they sail away without her. Jack shoots Barbossa just as Will returns his and Jack's medallions to the chest with their blood, breaking the curse and killing Barbossa. The remaining pirates are defeated by the Navy.

At Port Royal, where Jack is to be hanged for his crimes, Will declares his love for Elizabeth before rescuing Jack. Jack and Will are surrounded by Norrington's soldiers, but Elizabeth joins Will, forcing Governor Swann to order the soldiers to stand down. Jack falls into the sea and is picked up by the Black Pearl. Norrington accepts that Elizabeth loves Will, and gives Jack a head start before pursuing him. Governor Swann gives his blessing to Will and Elizabeth, while Jack becomes captain of the Pearl.

In a post-credits scene, Jack, Barbossa's pet monkey, climbs onto the chest of gold in the cave on Isla de Muerta and takes a coin from it, becoming undead once more.