FAQ

Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and former nemesis, Captain Hector Barbarossa (Geoffrey Rush), who stole the Black Pearl and somehow lost it, band together to outwit their mutual enemy Blackbeard (Ian McShane) while searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth. Further complicating matters is Blackbeard's daughter Angelica (Penélope Cruz), who has a history with Jack.

On Stranger Tides is the fourth movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, preceded by Pirates des Caraïbes : La malédiction de la Perle Noire (2003), Pirates des Caraïbes: Le coffre du mort (2006), Pirates des Caraïbes: Jusqu'au bout du monde (2007), and Pirates des Caraïbes: Les morts ne racontent pas d'histoires (2017). The franchise is based on Walt Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction at Disneyland park. However, the plot for On Stranger Tides diverges and draws inspiration from the 1987 historical fantasy novel On Stranger Tides by American author Tim Powers. The novel was adapted for the movie by American screenwriters Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who also wrote the screenplays for the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Untitled Pirates of the Caribbean Project is announced with no release date set.

Yes, but that doesn't mean that watching At World's End (or the other movies) is prerequisite for understanding the plot in the fourth movie. On Stranger Tides is a standalone movie that contains plot elements from the previous ones, though they are not so important and thus you can go see it without watching any other Pirates of the Caribbean film. It does help, of course, as you will be familiarized with the main characters of Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa, and Jack's first mate Gibbs (Kevin McNally) as well as the reasons for the animosity between Jack and Barbossa.

The three most prominant characters are: Jack Sparrow, Mr. Gibbs and Barbossa. Gillette and Groves (members of the British Royal Navy and later the East India Trading Company) return as well. Jack the Monkey and Mr. Cotton's parrot make cameos too.

This is the map that shows the location of "The Fountain of Youth". Jack took it from Barbossa, who received it from Sao Feng, one of the eight Pirate Lords in At World's End.

Barbossa lost his right leg in a fight with Blackbeard (before the events of the movie), in which Blackbeard stole the Black Pearl. Blackbeard tied up all the crew with ropes, and Barbossa cut his leg off in order to get free.

Jack Sparrow: It was revealed in the previous film that Sparrow is afraid of death after his experience in Davy Jones's Locker. Thus he set off at the end of At World's End in search of the Fountain of Youth. Jack seems to have actually been to the cave housing the Fountain before (the one with the water on the ceiling), but not to the Fountain itself, as he didn't have the chalices of Ponce de León. Barbossa: Barbossa doesn't want the fountain at all—he merely desires it as a way to get his revenge against Blackbeard. Blackbeard: Blackbeard's quartermaster has forseen Blackbeard's death, and Blackbeard wants the extra years to prolong or perhaps eternally prevent this from happening. King Ferdinand of Spain: The King is a Catholic and wants to destroy the Fountain of Youth because he believes only God can grant eternal life. King George of England: The English monarch doesn't want the Spanish king to have possession of the Fountain of Youth, fearing the power that it might grant him.

Blackbeard's powers primarily come from the sword he carries. The sword, called the Sword of Triton, allows the holder to bring any dead matter back to life. In other words, it allows him to animate inanimate objects, such as the ropes and rigging of the Queen Anne's Revenge and the zombies. The sword does not make Blackbeard himself immortal, however. Blackbeard also is somehow capable of shrinking full-sized ships and their crews down to small size and putting them into bottles. The film offers no explanation as to how he does this. The only other supernatural power Blackbeard seems to control is the voodoo doll of Jack Sparrow. This isn't something he himself commands, but rather anyone who makes or holds the doll, and both Angelica and the Quartermaster can be seen using it throughout the film.

In Blackbeard's collection of defeated ships, magically reduced to miniature and stored in a bottle.

None of them return in this film, it's likely they were in Tortuga, as Barbossa mentions at the end of this film that's where he's headed. Marty, Jack The Monkey, Mullroy and Murtogg all appear in Dead Men Tell No Tales. So it's likely that was the case.

In order to extend life by drinking the water of the Fountain, you have to follow a rite. In particular, you have to place water of the Fountain of Youth in the two silver cups and in one of them you have to place a tear from a mermaid. Then, the person who wants to extend their life drinks from the cup with the mermaid's tear, while someone else (specifically, the person-victim who will "give" all the years he has lived plus all the years he would have lived "had fate been kinder" to the other person) drinks from the other. By repeating this ritual, a person can essentially live forever.

This is the only Pirates of the Caribbean film that doesn't feature the prison dog. Jack the monkey is shown in the Black Pearl miniature in a bottle.

The film never says, although it's possible that when Ponce first sailed to the island, the waterline was higher, allowing him to drop anchor there. Then if the waterline lowered significantly the ship would be trapped on the rocks. This seems to be the most likely theory since Ponce supposedly sailed to the island several hundred years before the events of the film.

Their story arcs were considered completed in At World's End. At the end of the credits, we see Elizabeth return to meet with Will for one day after 10 years at sea. We also see she has a son. On Stranger Tides presumably takes place in those 10 years, meaning Will Turner is still captain of the Flying Dutchman, and Elizabeth Swann is caring for her son. Both Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom decided not to return to the franchise, despite them having positive feelings towards it. However, both Will and Elizabeth return with small roles in Dead Men Tell No Tales.

The majority of the film was filmed in stereoscopic 3D. The only sequences that was not filmed in 3D was any footage involving underwater scenes. Due to the limitations of filming underwater with the digital 3D cameras, those scenes were filmed using analog film, then post converted into digital 3D.