Best Pirates of the Caribbean movies

644 duels later, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End remains #1 in the Pirates of the Caribbean ranking, with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl close behind.

At World's End wins 67% of its duels and edges out The Curse of the Black Pearl by 25 ELO points, a narrow margin that reflects the community's attachment to both films. The original trilogy occupies the top 3 spots, with Dead Man's Chest at 1284 points in third place. Then comes a drop: 219 ELO points separate Dead Man's Chest from On Stranger Tides, which sits at rank 4 with just 32% of duels won. Dead Men Tell No Tales closes the ranking at 1037 points and a 24% win rate. The sharp divide between the trilogy and its sequels shows where the franchise lost its way. The first three films cluster together at the top, while the fourth and fifth installments trail far behind, unable to match the original's magic or the sequels' ambition.

The ranking draws on 644 duels submitted by 91 players across 5 contenders. Updated on 11 October 2026, it maps the preferences of a community that clearly favors the original trilogy over the later installments. Whether you stand with Jack Sparrow's first adventures or find merit in the franchise's later chapters, cast your vote and push your favorite up the list.

Updated on October 11, 2026

How this ranking is computed

Every duel won lifts a contender and every loss drops them, by an amount that depends on the opponent's strength: beating the leader is worth more than beating the last. It is an ELO, the same principle as in chess. Duels are not drawn at random — an adaptive entropy sort puts the least predictable match-ups first, which settles the ranking far faster than a full round robin. A worldwide ranking is only published past 30 completed plays. Known limit: a contender who has faced few opponents keeps an approximate score, and the bottom of the table moves more than the podium.

How our rankings are made →