Pirates Of The Caribbean: The 10 Greatest Sword Fights

The Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise is one of Disney’s greatest, and really is a brilliant look into the world of pirates. It has everything you could want from action and comedy to romance and plenty of mythological characters along the way. But of course, it really is the action scenes that drive these movies. Whether it be a battle between ships or a Kraken tearing things apart this is what people wait for. The main highlight is always the classic sword fights though, as this is what pirates are so famous for and it is something that the franchise gets right.

Within this list, we will be looking specifically at the many sword fights that have taken place over the course of the five movies, ranking the 10 best.

10 Dueling Doubles

The sword fight between Angelica and Captain Jack Sparrow from On Stranger Tides kicks things off on this list, with this being an entertaining fight, but one that relied a little too heavily on comedy. Angelica was working almost as Sparrow’s double here in every sense, which meant that it felt like a mirror image of Sparrow fighting himself.

It was interesting in that respect because they were able to go back and forth quite well, and it does really highlight just how good of a fighter Jack Sparrow can be. However, the setting just felt a little too similar to another great sword fight from the original movie.

9 Sparrow Meets Salazar

The epic battle between Captain Jack Sparrow and Salazar was another that relied a little too heavily on set pieces and felt more like a live parkour of a ship than a classic sword fight. However, when they did finally get down to business there were plenty of positives to take.

As well as that, this moment saw the two crews come to blows as well, with Captain Barbosa battling things out on the deck in a more traditional sense. That helped this particular scene out, as it cut between the two moments.

8 Barbossa Vs. Blackbeard

The fourth installment of the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise might not be the most popular, but it does have plenty of redeeming qualities. One of those is the epic sword fight between Captain Barbossa and the legendary Blackbeard.

While neither man is in their prime when it comes to this fight taking place, it is like two old gunslingers having one last big blow out. With all the brawling going on around them, there’s plenty of kinetic energy in this scene, while the two veteran pirates tell the story.

7 The Navy Get A Spook

The Curse Of The Black Pearl is full of brilliant fights, both in terms of individual one on one brawls, but also major group fights. One of the best is when the Navy ends up making its way onto the Black Pearl, only to find out the crew are all skeletons.

It leads to a brilliant nighttime fight with the gun-fire and moon being the only real lights present, which just make all of the skeletons flash up in an even scarier manner. The brawls aren’t quite highlighted in as much detail as others on this list, but the visuals really are amazing.

6 Singapore Sword Slashers

The scenes that take place in Singapore really are fantastic for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it is the journey to Singapore that really opens up the pirate world to more than what had already been shown, and it also creates a really great fight scene.

There’s a real mix of things going on in this one as there are guns, fist-fights, and even major fireworks to contend with. But at the heart of the action is also some great sword fighting, with this being all the pirates’ weapons of choice and it leads to some fantastic scenes.

5 A Wedding Brawl

Weddings in movies and television shows rarely go without a hitch, but few of them can lay claim to having an all-out pirate battle taking place in the midst of one. However, the marriage between Will and Elizabeth certainly did, taking place during the main battle of At World’s End. 

The hammering rain and constant sword fighting being mixed in with a really romantic moment made this a very unique sword fight, but it’s one that really worked. Seeing the two of them have to break up in between lines to fight off enemies was classic POTC comedy, all while somehow managing to keep the necessary tension and drama.

4 Jack & Jones

The build to this epic encounter took two movies to get to, but when Captain Jack Sparrow and Davy Jones finally locked swords in a major fight, it was worthwhile. Battling it out all over the Flying Dutchman as the war comes to an end was truly masterfully done.

Both pirates were well matched in their mind games and they were equally well-matched when it came to the sword fight as well. The only thing holding this back was a lack of stakes, simply due to the fact that Jones couldn’t technically die this way.

3 Two Immortals, Locked In A Battle

The original Pirates Of The Caribbean movie still stands up as the strongest of the franchise in the eyes of many, and the film does a great job at building towards the epic encounter between Captain Jack Sparrow and Captain Barbossa.

As both men are immortal at that point, they have an incredible fight, hopping in and out of the light inside the cave to showcase their skeleton features, which is an amazing visual. It also provides the incredible line from Barbossa as he questions what the purpose of the fight is.

2 A Welcome Introduction

This sword fight might not quite have the same stakes that others on this list do, but it is incredibly well choreographed,  has some brilliant dialogue, and is also how Will Turner and Captain Jack Sparrow first meet each other.

Will, as the upstanding citizen that he is, attempts to apprehend Sparrow after he is caught as a pirate. After a brilliant back and forth battle, that serves to showcase how skilled they both are, Jack has the upper hand by pulling out a gun, reminding the world he is still a pirate.

1 The Wheel Keeps Turning

When it comes to the best sword fight of the franchise, it is quite hard to look past the epic encounter during Dead Mans Chest. This takes place on Isla Cruces and pits James Norrington against Will Turner against Captain Jack Sparrow in an amazing triple threat brawl.

Norrington and Turner really provide the excellent swordsmanship here, while Sparrow entertains as he gets lucky to avoid death. They really utilise the set pieces well, climbing all over ruins, and of course, the epic scene inside the wheel, which just sums up the franchise perfectly.

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