Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World (Full Screen Edition)

This is one of the best movies ever made. Perhaps the best period. It shows a fine epic of naval warfare that is well worth the watch.There are few things bad to say about it. The special effects are splendid and well crafted. The plot is great and the characters are sympathetic. It is a sophisticated movie-one which will not patronize over you with a lowest common denominator appeal. On the contrary it exercises the mind as well as stirring the heart with discussions of nautical technology, sailor folklore, music both classical and folk, and even a smattering of philosophy. But it also has as much action as any movie, without the action being stupid or cartoonish. It has no sex(except a couple bawdy jokes). There is little swearing. The violence is as much as needed but it is not sadism porn, nor does it deceive anyone into thinking that violence is not real. It needs none of those things. It reminds people that war is not a game, but not by superfluous gore, but by showing tragedy. It does not "glorify war"; it glorifies heroism. It needs none of these crude attractions and is to fine a movie to stoop to them.It is a very good movie for young people, for it shows friendship, honor, leadership, and a masculinity that need not be barbaric to be manly. And it shows boys growing up in an adult setting and looking for men to emulate. A boy can identify with one of the young midshipmen and be improved rather then degraded. Yet it will appeal to his natural emotions by showing how to harness them rather then repressing them or giving in to them. If he desires a role model and desires to imagine himself a hero this will go far toward showing those things in a healthy way. And if it strains the mind a bit it strains it no more then needs to be strained. It is an intelligent movie but not an overrefined one and it is a great display of the kind of tale that has always stirred humanity when done well. As I said it shows tragedy but tragedy is not the dominant theme. Heroism is.It is also realistic. The hardships of life at sea and the horrors of Napoleonic warfare are shown well. Combat scenes look just real enough to strike home. Splinters fly when shot hits the ship, and hand-to-hand fighting bears little resemblance to Errol Flynn. And there are few historical errors and those can be tolerated.All in all it is a terrific movie and should be watched. And watched again.

"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" adapts material from several of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series of novels set during the Napoleonic Wars. In doing so, writers Peter Weir & John Collee and director Peter Weir craft a story that's accessible for those who haven't read the book while including plenty of nice references for O'Brian fans. Russell Crowe as Capt. Jack Aubrey, Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin, and James D'Arcy as 1st Lt. Tom Pullings are great as their respective characters with others admirably adding to the ensemble cast.20th Century Fox released this film in 2003 and, fifteen years later, appears unlikely to adapt any of the other 19 novels. This is sadly unfortunate as the film has the right blend of action, comedy, and drama amid a faithfully reproduced historical setting. O'Brian was a stickler for historical details and this film captures that spirit. Most movies would avoid using real ships in favor of CGI, but this films real things whenever possible, which adds to the overall quality. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a treat and check it out.

Great retelling of the same story that at least three Hollywood movies and two series of novels were written about. O'Brian's novel, "Master and Commander" is the putative source for the story here, but C. S. Forester's "Beat to Quarters" included elements of the same real-life incidents and was the first of his Horatio Hornblower novels written). Both authors borrowed heavily from events of the naval career of Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (the real-life officer responsible for the capture of the far-larger Spanish ship in the film and both novels).The pastiche of thrilling adventures stitched together into the career of a single fictitious officer makes for wonderful storytelling, although O'Brian and Forester used different "patches of cloth" to make their story "quilt" the feel is much the same and this movie does a wonderful job of bringing that world of men doing manly things across just fine.

Master and Commander holds a special place in my memory. Having seen it multiple times in theaters alone, I can safely say that its only real glaring flaw is the timing of its release. It was nominated for 10 Academy awards and lost the bulk of them to The Return of the King. While I do love LotR, I still firmly believe this movie could have claimed best picture had it not been forced to compete with Jackson's masterpiece. Why, however is where it gets interesting.Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, it follows the story of the captain and crew of the HMS Surprise, a frigate in the royal navy tasked with hunting down a powerful French Privateer Acheron, intent on carrying the war into the Pacific. However the French ship turns out to be much larger and more advanced than the Surprise and the Surprise and her crew find themselves in a lopsided battle against a superior ship and a seemingly impossible task of taking her. Still, Captain Jack Aubrey of the Surprise will stop at nothing to complete the mission.Perhaps the greatest thing about this film is the atmosphere. It simply oozes it. This is one of the few films that can literally take you to another place and time. It feels less like you're watching a film and more like you're watching what some time travelers recorded on a trip back to 1805. It also holds the record for the most realistic depiction of Napoleonic Wars era naval warfare. The battles are brutal slug matches and the hand combat is just as savage. The first 20 minutes of the film have sequences a step below Saving Private Ryan. If the opening sequence doesn't grab you then this film just isn't for you.

I love historical adventure, and I love the young Russell Crowe, so what's not to like?We saw this at the cinema on its release and loved the attention to detail and the storyline. the visuals are perfect and the tale of Brits against the French in the Napoleonic wars is a great background for sea battles and trickery. Background social history is fascinating e.g. the role of boys as young as 10 years old serving as officers, travelling to the Galapagos islands when the flora and fauna was unknown.A real gem.

Almost everything about the film earned 10 out of 10. The one flaw was the over-emphasis and excess of the heated argument between the Captain and ship’s doctor when the captain decided not to stay for a few days in the Galapagos Islands, as promised, for the doctor to pursue his naturalist hobby. The scene should have been reduced by 50%. Nevertheless, a touch of pure magic was added in another scene when the captain and ship’s doctor played a duet on violin and cello, for which each were given a few months tuition by master musicians prior to filming. The film certainly deserves a sequel.

Russell Crowe's finest hour, in Peter Weir's wonderfully authentic ship battle story between the British & French. The ship which was built by hand especially for the film, creaks and labours through the Pacific ocean as The British try to re-group from a surprise attack on them by the French. Crowe is superb, he allows a softness to Captain Aubrey, but still commands the utmost respect from his crew. Paul Bettany is also commendable in his portrayal of Dr Maturin. and it's his friendship with Aubrey which the story focuses on. It's not a pure action film, and dispenses with the hysterics of Crowe's previous hit Gladiator. This probably dented its success at the box office, as a sequel has never been filmed, despite the wealth of Patrick O'Brien stories to base it round. However, we are left with a splendid film that can be enjoyed again and again.

I honestly found "Master and Commander" a really fascinating and absorbing movie.The action and acting depicted the grim reality of wooden hulled men of war.To me there was no sense of looking at distant ship models , the boats/ships included in themaking of the movie are of the period . To sum up I think this film is brilliant .

A fabulous film of ‘the old school’. A great seafaring yarn, full of action and a good story line. If there had been any justice, more would have been made. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany are both excellent. The 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-Ray brings the action scenes to life. A great ‘boys own’ watch!