The movie is somewhat 'difficult' for a historian to watch, however. They get bits right, but then you notice massive errors like the English ships carrying Union flags in 1666, 41 years before the Union even occurred! The ships should have had crosses of St George, and even then only as cantons on the 'ancients'!
'Ancient (aka ensign), jack and pendant' were the naval flags - being aft, fore and top respectively. The first had a red cross of St George as a canton, the second was just the cross of St George proper. That jack, of course, became a 'Union Jack' after the Union of 1707.
I never will understand why film makers out such errors. So easy to get right. Indeed, I wholly believe that the film makers often know they are errors, but do it deliberately because they don't think their audiences will understand. They dumb movies down to the point of huge historical inaccuracies, even in petty matters like getting the right flags. They assume stupidity.
