The Island Sequence in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’ is Textbook Action Cinema
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By Natalie Pohorski
There are dozens of action scenes that have impressed me over decades of movie watching, but only one combines three different narrative threads with compelling drama, humor, and textbook action thrills.
Here’s why the Isla Cruces fight scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is in fact one of the greatest action movie sequences in film history.
The Setup
Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Ex-Commodore Norrington find themselves at a crossroads on a deserted island competing over three valuable objects: the Chest, which contains the Heart of Davy Jones, and the Key to open the chest.
Will wants the Heart so he can kill Davy Jones out of revenge for what’s been done to his father.
Jack needs Jones alive so he can remove his Black Spot, thus saving him from the wrath of the Kraken.
Norrington wants to buy back his dignity and position by returning the chest to Lord Beckett for a full pardon.
The Supporting Players & Their Motivations
Elizabeth’s heart is conflicted between Jack and Will. But ultimately she wants them both to be safe.
Pintel and Ragetti are on the path to righteousness (or so they see it). They figure they should remove the temptation from the others by taking the precious cargo for themselves.
Davy Jones’ crew shows up looking to return the chest to him and kill those in their path.
The Action
The internet defines the makeup of a good action scene as this: “designed to captivate the audience with fast-paced action, impressive stunts, and dramatic tension. Additionally, action movies often feature a heroic protagonist facing off against formidable adversaries, showcasing their physical prowess and determination in the face of danger.”
Let’s break this scene down to see why it fits that definition to the letter.
…fast-paced…
This island sequence has effectively three different fight sequences going on at once, nimbly cutting back and forth between the groups to keep the momentum going. It doesn’t get much more fast-paced than that.
…impressive stunts and physical prowess…
Bell Tower Bravery — The trio first enters a dilapidated bell tower and continue sword fighting while going up and down the bell ropes.
Wheel of Fortune — Once they’ve fought through the tower, the water wheel breaks off from its holding and begins to roll, with Norrington and Will fighting on top of it while it does. It then catches Jack inside like a hamster wheel while the other two expertly stay upright and the wheel continues to roll. The key goes round and round, but we never lose sight of it.
Rotating Swords — When the pirate duo sees the Jones crew, they begin to run and leave Elizabeth with both of their swords. She fights impressively before they realize they will have to share the two swords between the three of them if they’re going to keep the barnacled battalion at bay.
…heroic protagonist vs. formidable adversaries…
The primary protagonists are fighting each other, thus making them each other’s adversaries. And swords aren’t the only weapons they’ve got: the trio begin slinging words too, forsaking any superficial alliances that may have existed before. The more they are provoked, the greater their resolve becomes.
But Davy Jones’ zombie army is formidable too, and unable to be killed because they’re somewhere between living and dead. They have impressive weapons like chains and swords, and can move through water.
…determination in the face of danger…
Elizabeth is the best example of determination in the sequence. At first, she is determined not to let the trio fight each other, feigning heat stroke and screaming at them. Then her determination transfers to stopping the pirate duo from stealing the chest even without a sword.
But in the face of danger, Elizabeth is most courageous and determined. Left alone, she takes up swords against the entire army.
…comedic relief…
I have to add one more element to the essential action movie recipe: comedy. Typically deployed in the form of one-liners or bumbling bad guys, humor is key to any great action movie and this scene is no exception.
For every two moments of action in this sequence there’s a matching moment of humor. One of my favorites is when Will and Norrington finally make it out of the spinning wheel and they can’t even stand while attempting to fight. (Another special shoutout to the Shell Head, who in a trademark bumbling baddie movie ends up losing his head and tries to coax his body back to him.)
Are you still keeping up?
The pirate duo have taken the chest, then one of the dumbest sea soldiers takes it once they drop it, then Jack sees him running off and knocks him over. Since Jack has the key he opens the chest, takes the heart, and puts it in his pocket, leaving the chest and the key behind. But the rest of the groups don’t know that…
…dramatic tension…
The action pumps through every second of the sequence, but the height of dramatic tension comes in the last couple minutes.
Jack heads back to the beach and reaches the row boat alone, where he left his “jar of dirt” meant to protect him. He decides that will be the safest place to hide the heart.
The Conclusion
At this point, everyone reaches the beach and is fighting each other. But when Norrington reaches the row boat, he finds not only the heart but also the pardon papers. This is the turning point of the film, an epic moment of character choice and the climax of the sequence. It still gives me chills!
He sneaks both before anyone notices. By the time Will reaches the boat and comes to the same conclusion about the contents of the jar, Jack knocks him out before he can find it. Seeing this, Elizabeth goes to him.
Now the whole gang (the humans at least) are all at the row boat with Jones’ crew in front of them. Finally, it would seem, they are all on the same team.
At this point Norrington makes his move by pretending to sacrifice himself as bait, running off with the chest and the army in tow. This provides the gang with the distance they need to make their getaway.
And thus concludes the most epic 10-minute action sequence in recent memory.
Natalie Pohorski is a content specialist at Cinema Sugar.