"Sorry, no one's ever made me bleed in this lifetime," Luke said, cringing at the cheesy line.
The writers were clearly seizing every chance to build up this character's larger-than-life persona.
But with Luke's stellar acting chops and his knack for delivering lines, even this embarrassing dialogue came off with a cool, lone-master vibe.
"I'll be the first man to make you bleed!" Captain Barbossa sneered with a wicked grin.
Oh, come on, that line had to be intentionally awful.
*Thwack!*
Will swung his sword with precision, sending Barbossa's head flying.
The head sailed off from dozens of feet up, plunging toward the sea—maybe too far to recover?
But Will's hopes were quickly dashed.
The skull didn't even hit the water before it froze mid-air, as if caught by some force, then zipped back and reattached itself.
"I told you, your attacks are useless!" Barbossa taunted. "My turn now. Let's see if you dare block my sword up here on this crossbar!"
Will realized Barbossa had a point.
When their weapons clashed, the recoil could knock them off balance.
If they both fell from the mast, Barbossa would be fine, but Will would be smashed to bits.
"Here's my strike!" Barbossa gripped his sword with both hands, swinging it horizontally with all his might.
On the narrow crossbar, the arc of his swing perfectly cut off any room for Will to dodge.
Faced with the ferocious strike, Will couldn't block. Instead, he leaped high, pulling off a backflip to evade Barbossa's attack.
He landed steadily, knees bent, not wobbling an inch.
"What? Impossible!"
Barbossa, refusing to believe his eyes, unleashed three more slashes.
Will dodged each one with consecutive flips, never repeating the same move twice.
Tucked backflip, straight backflip, side flip—each roll was fresh, thrilling, and sent adrenaline pumping.
This was all happening over 100 feet in the air, with no safety harness.
Will's evasive flips were so light and seamless, they had a natural, almost artistic beauty that was a joy to watch.
The moves looked insanely tough, but for Luke, they were a piece of cake.
Compared to the 4-inch-wide balance beam in gymnastics, the mast's crossbar was plenty wide. For him, keeping balance up here wasn't much different from doing it on the ground.
"Those moves are smoother than a female gymnast on the balance beam," Director Gore Verbinski couldn't help but marvel.
"This guy could probably win gold in gymnastics at the Olympics," Johnny Depp mused, veering off-topic. "I hear gymnasts are super flexible, right?"
"No wonder he's not wearing a safety harness. That'd only get in the way of moves like these," Verbinski added.
"What's really impressive is how effortlessly Luke pulls this off at this height. It's a whole different ballgame up here compared to the ground," Mr. Eisen chimed in.
Everyone got what he meant. Moves that are easy on solid ground become exponentially harder in the air.
During company team-building exercises, even with a safety harness, plenty of people froze up on a 30-foot platform, unable to jump to a nearby ledge.
But Luke wasn't just performing at over 100 feet without a harness—he was also dealing with the ship's swaying.
Every move was perfectly captured by the cameras.
Verbinski was certain that when this scene and its behind-the-scenes footage hit theaters, audiences would go wild.
Filming pressed on.
"You slippery little punk, you've got nowhere left to run!" Barbossa growled.
His relentless advance and Will's repeated flips had backed him to the end of the crossbar. No more room to retreat.
Barbossa swung again. Will clamped his sword in his teeth, leaped backward, and grabbed two rigging ropes, suspending himself in mid-air.
A textbook rings move.
Hanging from the ropes, Will swung, flipped, and launched himself into the air, landing behind Barbossa.
He slashed again, lopping off his enemy's head once more.
"Pointless! You're wasting your time!"
The flying skull cackled mid-air.
While it hadn't yet reattached, Barbossa's headless skeleton stood motionless.
Will, gripping a long rope, darted past the headless body.
He leaped again, flipping over Barbossa's head.
Again and again, he wove around the headless skeleton.
Just as the skull flew back and reattached, Barbossa regained his vision. "Now let's see where you—"
He stopped, stunned to see Will kick off the crossbar and leap into the void.
"I still need your blood! Don't do anything stupid!"
Will ignored him, his body plummeting under gravity's pull.
"Please, let this work!" Verbinski muttered, his fists clenched with sweaty palms, silently praying.
"Safety team, stand by! Air cushions ready!"
"He's got this. He'll pull off a miracle!" After everything, Depp had an unshakable confidence in Luke.
"I'm witnessing every step of your legend!" Mr. Eisen's eyes gleamed with excitement as he watched Luke fall.
*Thud!*
Will's hands clamped onto the crossbar of the sail below.
The 30-foot drop sent a massive jolt through Luke's arms.
But instead of absorbing the impact, he let his body spin around the bar, dissipating the force.
He was treating the two crossbars like a high-low bar or a single bar in gymnastics.
Spinning, Will launched himself upward.
Completing a 720-degree turn in the air, he landed solidly on the lower crossbar.
"Damn it! You're such a pain!" Barbossa shouted, peering down at Will.
As he moved to pursue, Will grinned and pointed at Barbossa's arms.
Barbossa looked down, shocked. While his head was off and he had no vision, Will had used the rope to wrap his body several times.
Now, holding the other end of the rope, Will smirked. "Ever seen salted pork hanging upside down?"
"What?"
Will didn't answer. Gripping the rope, he yanked it downward hard…