Pirates of the Caribbean/Awesome

Curse of the Black Pearl

• Jack Sparrow sailing majestically into Port Royal, despite his boat sinking rapidly under him, and gaining the dock with one perfectly timed step. This is widely regarded as one of the best character entrances in recent cinema.
  • Heck, any one of Jack's big entrances (not to mention the exits) tend to contain a fair degree of awesomeness.
• Jack rescuing Elzabeth from drowning:

Jack: (to the British soldiers beside him) Will you be saving her then? Soldier: I can't swim! Jack: (takes off his weapons and hands them to the soldier) Pride of the King's Navy you are. Do not lose these!

• Jack escaping Norrington near the beginning, by taking Elizabeth hostage:

Jack: Miss Swan, if you'd be so kind? Come on, we don't have all day. Elizabeth: You're despicable. Jack: Sticks and stones, love. I saved your life, you saved mine. We're square. (to Norrington and his men) Gentlemen, you will always remember this as the day that you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!

• Jack's escape from the gallows in the end (with a little help from Will.)
• Jack returns to Barbossa after being marooned just the day prior.

Barbossa: "It's not possible!" Jack: "Not probable."

• This exchange:

Norrington: You are without doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of. Jack Sparrow: But you have heard of me.

• And then...

Lt. Groves: That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen! Norrington: So it would seem.

• In the first film, when both Jack and Barbossa have been made immortal by the curse.

Barbossa: So, what now, Jack? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day, and the trumpets sound? Jack: Or you could surrender.

• And then later on, in the same battle: Jack fires his single shot into Barbossa's chest right before Will drops the final coin into the chest.

Barbossa: Ten years you carry that pistol... And now you waste your shot. Will: He didn't waste it.

• • The cold, steely glare from Jack completely makes this scene.
• Commodore Norrington, when Jack Sparrow asks him how he can forfeit the prestige he'd get by capturing the Black Pearl. "By remembering that I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not only myself." Yes, the strait-laced Royal Navy man smacked Jack Sparrow himself down in a verbal fencing match.
• Barbossa standing under the falling mast, while other pirates scramble out of the way around him.
• One of the film's last lines, and one that sums up Jack almost perfectly: "Now... bring me that horizon."

Made even more awesome by the fact that Johnny Depp himself came up with that line.

• Governor Weatherby Swann's battle with the still-animate severed skeletal hand during the climactic fight sequence.
• "Gents... take a walk." Tell me you did not remember the following sequence. YOU ARE LYING, SIR!

Dead Man's Chest

• When Davy Jones first summoned the Kraken.

Davy Jones: Let no joyful voice be heard! Let no man look up at the sky with hope! And let this day be cursed by we who ready to wake... THE KRAKEN!

• • Another is a Kick the Dog moment that somehow manages to be Badass as well (perhaps because it shows that the fear of Davy Jones is completely warranted). After the survivors of the recently sunk merchant vessel are brought aboard the Dutchman...

Dutchman Crewman: "What of the survivors?" Davy Jones: "There are no survivors." * Cue mass execution*

• • Davy Jones' entrance scene.

"Do you fear death?"

• • • Hell, just the sound of his entrance is enough to give the audience an Oh Crap moment.

*clomp* ... *clomp* ... *CLOMP*

• A random sailor gets a crowning moment, bravely defying Jones and gladly taking death rather than take Jones' Deal with the Devil, facing certain death with nary a hint of fear.

Davy Jones: Do you not fear death? Sailor: I'll take my chances, sir.

• Will Turner stealing the key from Davy Jones.
• The entire three-way swordfight at the climax of Dead Man's Chest, not to mention the two swords, three people fight.
  • As awesome as the swordfight itself is, it's an even bigger Crowning Moment of Awesome for the film editor. Six different parties (Jack, Will, Norrington, Elizabeth, Ragetti/Pintel and Davy Jones's men), two different Plot Coupons (the chest and the key), as well as several other variables (the waterwheel, and often the weapons and who has them) and somehow it's still easy to tell what's going on. This film's editors deserved an Oscar nomination.
• Jack's return to the Black Pearl after it is attacked by the Kraken before shooting the gunpowder and rum to damage the Kraken's tentacles. See also his charge into the Kraken's maw.

"Hello, beastie."

• Norrington, formerly the completely straight-laced navy man, manages to con Jack Sparrow - and everyone else - and make it look like an act of heroic self-sacrifice to boot, escaping with the heart while getting Jack and Davy Jones to each believe they have it. Probably the finest act of trickery in all four movies, and done by the last person you'd expect it of.

At World's End

• Jack's escape from Beckett's ship, if only for the one-liner immediately afterwords:

Jack: And that was without even a single drop of rum!

• And the exchange before he escaped the ship:

Beckett: You're mad! Jack: Thank heavens for that, or this would probably never work."

• And another one for Jack after that scene, even though he wasn't there:

Beckett: Signal the Dutchman to track down Sao Feng. We follow the Pearl. How soon can we have the ship ready to pursue? Officer: (looks back towards a cracking sound, and watches as the large mast falls down; he looks on towards the Black Pearl, admirably) Do you think he plans it all out, or just makes it up as he goes along?

• James Norrington gets fatally wounded while ensuring Elizabeth's escape from the Dutchman and Jones offers him a place in his crew of monsters as a chance to avoid dying. James' response? He stabs Jones — the most feared Eldritch Abomination in the seas — with his last breath as a way of saying "F* ck you!" Talk about an epic way to die.

Davy Jones: James Norrington, Do you not fear death? ... I'll take that as a "no".

• Lord Cutler Beckett's ship being blown to bits.
  • More specifically, Beckett's death scene itself. Despite what he is, the man knows how to die in an awesome fashion. At that point in his Villainous BSOD, it was all he could do. That shot of him going down to the deck, and the final one of him before the flames engulf him, are eerie and, in a way, beautiful.
• The entire battle at the end, where the protagonist pirates battle against Davy Jones and his crew of undead fishmen in the middle of a thunderstorm called down by a furious sea goddess while both ships circle a whirlpool. It does not get more epic than this.
• Davy Jones tauntingly calls Jack "A lost bird that neva learned ta fly!" Jack responds, "Never to late too learn, eh?" and soars straight up into the Dutchman's rigging (with a bit of help from a severed line.) Which leads directly to Jack and Jones having a protracted sword fight on the yardarm. The dialogue right before the duel on the yardarm is noteworthy:

Davy Jones: The chest! Hand it over! Jack Sparrow: I can set you free, mate! Davy Jones: My freedom was forfeit long ago!

• Davy Jones bellowing FIRE! at the top of his positively Lovecraftian lungs, while this magisterial piece plays. Epic indeed!
• Barbossa, when he marries Will and Elizabeth during the middle of the aforementioned battle. "Just kiss!"
  • Them pretty much marrying themselves in the battle. Also the cheesy flood of music and water when they kiss. It's a moment where cheesy works, and works well.
  • Additionally in this battle, as it zooms out and you get the full image of The Pearl and The Dutchmen, locked fighting caught around a swirling vortex of doom with the afore mentioned epic music and the sheer magnitude of the battle hits, what do you hear? Barbossa's cackle. This matches his line from earlier as they went into battle "Dying be the day worth living for!" which was pretty awesome as well.
• Three words: Captain Will Turner.
  • Four more words: Pirate King Elizabeth Swann.
• The Brethren Court. Especially when Captain Teague walks in and everybody just immediately shuts up out of respect mixed with fear. Even Barbossa. Dude's a Badass
• An amazing Crowning Line of Awesome: "It's not just about living forever, Jackie. The trick is, living with yourself...forever."
• The flipping of the ship. Doubles, as often with POTC, as a moment of Funny.
• And the same goes for Jack tipping the odds in the Court.
• Elizabeth's epic "What Shall We Die For" speech. "Gentlemen... hoist the Colours."
  • Doubles as a Crowning Moment of Badass
  • Followed by one of the most awesome Lock And Load Montages ever.
• In the final battle, there's a close up of Jack smiling and aiming a pistol at Davy Jones. That shot is a Crowning Moment without considering he manages to shoot the chest out of Davy's hands successfully.
• The part where Jack guides a dying Will's hand into stabbing the heart of Davy Jones. To elaborate, the captain of the Flying Dutchman is supposed to guide the souls of those who die at sea to their resting place and is immortal so s/he can do it. The downside? Ten years at sea for one day on land. Davy Jones can only be killed by destroying his heart, and since the Flying Dutchman needs a captain, whoever kills Jones becomes the new captain.
• No mention of Jack stealing the map at the end? Obviously he plans it all out.
• Davy Jones:
  • In another crossover with Kick the Dog (he seems quite good at these): the moment when he kills Will Turner (fatally stabbing him with the sword Will made at the beginning of the first movie, no less) and at the same time leaves witty Jack Sparrow utterly speechless.

Davy Jones: "You're a cruel man, Jack Sparrow." Jack: "Cruelty's a matter of perspective." Jones: "Is it now?" jams the sword into Will and twists it around inside of him * Cue a magnificent Evil Laugh at Jack's stunned expression*

• Jack rescuing himself and Liz from the deck of the foundering Dutchman by improvising a parachute from one of the sails. Particularly ingenious since parachutes hadn't been invented yet.
• Elizabeth masquerading as Calypso to Sao Feng. Not only has Barbossa, an old enemy, wagered his entire plan on Elizabeth's ability to both figure out what she needs to do and to do it convincingly, she delivers some of the sexiest, most beautiful lines worthy of any goddess. Tia Dalma would be honoured.
• Elizabeth has an offscreen one as captain of Sao Feng's ship. She chooses to stay with her crew in Davy Jones' brig despite Norrington's offer. When Norrington comes to free them, you realize that Sao Feng's crew look to her and follow her unspoken orders. In a matter of hours, in a brig on an invincible ghost ship, with a crew that has betrayed her friends and that followed a man who was going to rape her, Elizabeth gains their trust and loyalty. Girl didn't becomes the Pirate King for no reason. She's good at it.
• The townspeople at the beginning get one. When they join in the singing of "Hoist The Colors", they actually make the EITC marines back up apprehensively.
• When Elizabeth is accosted by Sao Feng's pirates before they meet with him. It looks like they're going to do something nasty, then Barbossa comes in. As the pirate turns to talk to Barbossa, Elizabeth grabs him around the neck and holds a pistol to his head.
  • Actually, she puts a knife to his throat. Which is even more badass.
• The fight between the EITC and what looks like all of Singapore, causing a city-wide battle that keeps the company busy enough for the main cast to escape unnoticed.
• "Witty Jack is closer than you think" cue Jack inverting his first crowning moment of awesome and standing on his ship as he sails it across land into the sea.
  • The rest of the cast is stunned by this.

Ragetti: "...Boat."

• No love for Tia Dalma, the sea goddess herself? In her first and only real appearance as Calypso, she grows to about 100 feet, delivers what can only be assumed as the loudest and deepest "FUCK YOU ALL" any woman has ever uttered, turns into thousands of crabs and escapes into the sea. She then summons a maelstrom and a thunderstorm, just to piss off everyone. DON'T FUCK WITH THE QUEEN OF THE SEA!!!!
  • According to the PotC Wiki, her words are a distorted and brickwalled rendition of something along the lines of "Across the seas and storms, find the path to him that has betrayed me" (actually, the words are French, but it's mostly ominous nonsense - something about entombing evil-doers at the bottom of the water). And the rest of the scene is her taking her revenge against Davy Jones for showing the Brethren Court how to seal her in the first place.
• Can we just agree that this entire movie was just one long piece of evidence about how Crazy Awesome Jack Sparrow is?
  • No, because his old Arch Enemy Beckett was even cooler when he got his scenes.
• When Will's dad attacks Davy Jones to protect his son who just got stabbed.
• Let's just say it: Barbossa. Beginning to end. Whether he's sailing his ship over the edge of the world or having the time of his life in the final battle, you can alwyas count on him to do something awesome.

On Stranger Tides

• Barbossa, In Stranger Tides, from start to finish.
  • Seconded. Barbossa was Awesome Incarnate in this movie. And so was Jack.
  • The best Evil Is Hammy moment came when Blackbeard declared that "MUTINEERS HANG!" and the entire ship turned on and grabbed the mutineers with living ropes.
  • That entire scene is a crowning moment for Blackbeard. Jack's mutiny seems on the verge of success, Jack declares 'the ship is ours!', and then the doors behind him open. All we see is a silhouette, and that silhouette slowly walks forward to reveal Blackbeard, casually sipping rum while embers burn in his beard:

Blackbeard: Gentlemen. I find myself bewildered. There I be, resting, when I hear an ungodly row on deck. Sailors abandoning their posts, without absence, without leave (clutches his sword's hilt, causing the ship's ropes to coil and twist). Men before the mast, taking the ship for themselves. What be that, First Mate? First Mate: Mutiny, captain! Blackbeard: Again First Mate: Mutiny! Blackbeard: Ah. Mutiny, is it? And we all know what fate befalls mutineers. Mutineers... HANG!

• • One sailor even tries to jump overboard. The ropes lash out and snag him and haul him back in.
• The moment "Mr Smith" enters the courtroom and we guess who it is. And much of the following 20 minutes.
• Jacks escape from the palace as "He's a Pirate" plays.
• One of Gibbs' best moments is when, before his intended hanging, he burns the map before the others can do anything, and he tells Barbossa, "I've had just enough time to memorize it. Every route is saved safely right here."
• The mermaid sequence. Good God, the mermaid sequence. They took down a goddamn ship
  • See also High Octane Nightmare Fuel.
  • This includes the Crowning Music of Awesome during this sequence.
• The swiping of the silver chalices, complete with a very nice Bash Brothers moment between Jack and Barbossa.
• The Queen Anne's Revenge has flamethrowers on it. Coolest thing this troper has ever seen... even if one must weep for the fate of the poor Mook in the longboat
  • Yay for Greek fire.
• Pick a moment for Blackbeard, any moment. No surprise here, considering it's Blackbeard.
  • This troper cheered when she saw the burning coals in his beard. BEST ENTRANCE EVER.
    • Those are historically accurate, incidentally. Edward Teach was insane.
  • Just...Ian McShane, playing Blackbeard! Can it get any better than that?
• "Someone make a note of that man's bravery." Because you know what? It took balls to jump in front of about a hundred Spanish soldiers and claim the Fountain for England.
• In agreement to the above, one must admit that it's definitely a Crowning Moment of Awesome to do that right after the Spanish's own moment of suddenly completely surrounding them - and dressed rather magnificently too, may I add. This troper was murmuring, "Fuckin' Spaniards..." to herself in amazement for the duration of the next scene.
  • For the brief period of time that they appear in the climax, the Spaniards basically steal the entire show. Think about it, they show up, completely kick the asses of two other factions, and willingly turn down immortality because they are that devout to their faith! Impressive.
• Phillip's Shut UP, Hannibal to Blackbeard, just moments after he was strung to the mast for who knows how long. He actually leaves a character played by Ian McShane completely speechless!
  • Topped when he steals a sword from one of Blackbeard's crew just to get Syrena some air, then wedges in his Bible with perfect timing when the man takes his sword back.