Movies: 18470 | TV Series: 3282 | Added today: 0 | Storage: 65898 GB
- Forgot password?
- | Register
- | Support
- | FAQ
- | Help
Download, Watch online Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Movie.
| Genres: | ActionAdventureDr |
| Starring: | Richard McCabe, Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, David Threlfall, James D'Arcy, Lee Ingleby, Edward Woodall |
| Director(s): | Peter Weir |
| Available Quality: | DVD, Hi Def, iPod, Hi Def, Hi Def |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 2003 |
| IMDB Rating: | 7.4 |
The year is 1805. Europe has fallen to Napoleon, and only the Royal Navy stands in his way to total victory. Off the cost of South America, a new conflict is brewing. Captain Jack Lucky Jack Aubrey (Russel Crowe) of the Man-of-War HMS Surprise is under orders to sink or capture the French privateer Acheron, which has been deployed to the region. After seven weeks of uneventful sailing, the Acheron strikes first, all but crippling the Surprise in an engagement in which Aubrey realizes his enemys ship is nautically superior to his own. Along with his close friend and confidant Stephan Maturin (Paul Bettany) who also happens to be the ships surgeon, Aubrey is now faced with the choice of retreating to England and admitting defeat or remaining at the Acherons mercy. Aubrey must now do the impossible if he is to survive, repair his ship, catch up to his enemy and defeat the Acheron--somehow.
 |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (iPod) | Resolution: 480x208 px | Total Size: 393 Mb |
|
|
 |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Hi Def) | Resolution: 852x368 px | Total Size: 704 Mb |
|
|
 |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1920x1080 px | Total Size: 7510 Mb |
|
|
 |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Hi Def) | Resolution: 1280x544 px | Total Size: 3144 Mb |
|
|
 |
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (DVD) | Resolution: 1024x426 px | Total Size: 2796 Mb |
|
Movie Photos: We have taken some photos of "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World". They represent actual movie quality.
Visitor Reviews: (20)
18 May 2012
Misrepresents Patrick O�Brian's books
This movie is supposed to be based on Patrick OBrian's set of 20 books. The book "Far Side of the World" has the British ship pursue an American ship, not a French ship. So, why the switch? In the 20 set collection, most of the naval battles are between America and the British around 1810-1815. The books have very little to do with France.If this was purely a movie made up on the imagination of the people involved then I would say it is pretty good. But, honestly, can we allow the director/producer to distort a writer's work?
Aubrey_and_Aragorn 18 May 2012
A great worth seeing movie! *minor spoilers*
Master and commander is definitely one of my favorite movies, perfectperformances by the cast, Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany make wonderfulperformances as Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturian. Lot's of new facessuch as James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall, Robert Pugh, Chris Larkin and soon. The Midshipman in the movie are very promising young actors, MaxPirkis, Max Benitz, Jack Randall, Richard Pates are very good youngactors, Lee Ingleby also plays a Midshipman. The story is well set,Russell Crowe plays Jack Aubrey, the captain of the Surprise, PaulBettany plays the ship's doctor. Hunting the French ship the Acheron inthe pacific, makes a good movie. 95% of the movie takes place on theSurprise, a stop is made on the Galapgos islands is very beautiful. Theacting is superb, beware, this movie does contain some very sad deaths,one of a young kid. Very exciting, wonderful music, great cast,including Billy Boyd, Pippin from Lord of the Rings. Contains somelanguage, nothing to bad,a lot of Lord of the rings type violence, aboy's arm gets amputated early in the film(the camera is focused on theboys face.), the doctor has to do surgery on himself(a bit graphicmight want to cover the little ones eyes or have them and weak stomachsout of the room), there are dead bodies seen at the end, this might bevery sad for all of us, especially young children. i recommend that 11years and up for kids. A must see!!! 11 out of 10 stars!!!
09 May 2012
it should have been left at sea
The acting was a farce, as much as I like to look at Mr Crowe. He should have given this one a miss and let some one more capable take the helm
James Hitchcock 09 May 2012
A Vivid Picture of Men at War
Possible SpoilersThe late Stanley Kubrick, capable of producing brilliantly original filmsquite different to anything else (`A Clockwork Orange' is a good example),was also capable of producing brilliant work within the confines of anestablished genre. Although `Spartacus' is in some ways a typicalsword-and-sandal epic made at a time when such films were highly popular,itis so well done that it is possibly the best example of that particulargenre, and quite equal in quality to anything in Kubrick's later work.It seems to me that Peter Weir is perhaps the nearest thing we have to aKubrick working at present. Like Kubrick, he is selective about hisprojects, sometimes waiting several years between one film and the next.(`Master and Commander' is his first film since `The Truman Show' in1998).Like Kubrick, he is determined not to become stereotyped or to repeathimself, and tries to make each film different to its predecessors. AndlikeKubrick he can both work within established conventions and produce workwhich is unconventional. `Picnic at Hanging Rock' and `The Truman Show'areboth, in their different ways, strange and haunting films, different toanything before or since (and two of my favourite films of all time, as isanother Weir film, `Dead Poets' Society'). `Witness', on the other hand,falls firmly within the conventions of the standard crime thriller, but isalso one of the best crime thrillers ever made.`Master and Commander' is another example of Weir excelling while workingwithin an established genre, the war film. Weir has, of course, made anearlier film about war, the anti-war `Gallipoli' set in World War One.`Master and Commander' is a different type of war film- the type thatfollows the fortunes of a tightly knit unit of fighting men. The unit inquestion can be an Army platoon or an Air Force squadron, but in thiscase,it is a warship in the British Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. TheBritishcommander, Jack Aubrey, is under orders to intercept and stop a Frenchwarship, the Acheron, which is preying on British shipping, and pursueshisorders with dogged determination, despite coming off second-best in anearlyclash with the French ship.Although this is a different type of film to `Gallipoli', the two filmshaveone thing in common in that both have at their centre a friendship betweentwo young men of contrasting characters. In `Master and Commander', thefriendship is between Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the ship's doctor.Aubrey(an excellent performance from Russell Crowe) is a man of action,patrioticand with a strong sense of duty. Maturin is the contemplative,intellectualtype, fascinated by science, but with little interest in the war. (He-something of a proto-Darwin- would rather spend time on his researchesintothe natural history of the Galapagos Islands). Despite their contrastingnatures, and occasional disagreements, the two are firm friends. Somefilmswould have exaggerated the contrasts between them, but that temptation ishere resisted. It would have been easy to portray Aubrey as an unculturedphilistine, but in fact he shares Maturin's love of music and joins him inplaying duets. Again, there might have been a temptation to play Maturinasa cowardly weakling, but we see that he too is capable of courage andresourcefulness when he is accidentally wounded in a shooting incident andhas to give instructions for an operation on himself. I have not readPatrick O'Brian's novels on which the film is based, but I have heard themreferred to as the `Aubrey-Maturin' novels, which would suggest that thetwocharacters are given equal prominence. In the film (perhaps becauseRussellCrowe is a stronger actor than Paul Bettany) Aubrey seems to be the figureat the centre of the action, with Maturin playing Watson to his Holmes orRobin to his Batman.The film tries to give as vivid a view of life at sea as possible, withgreat attention to detail. It is visually both realistic and exciting,particularly during the battle scenes. At first, I wondered if it wasgivinga somewhat sanitised picture of naval life, but the darker elements becamevisible later. We see the rigid discipline- a sailor is flogged forinsubordination- and the suffering caused by war. (A young midshipman, nomore than a boy, loses an arm in battle, but bears his loss with anextraordinary stoicism, which I would have thought unrealistic, were I notaware of real-life examples of young sailors behaving with comparableheroism). We also see the peculiarly superstitious nature of naval life-oneofficer is ostracised and driven to suicide because he has a reputationforbeing a `Jonah' (one who brings bad luck). Aubrey, on the other hand,although he is a firm disciplinarian, is highly popular with the crewbecause they regard him as lucky.In Britain, the film has mostly been seen as a patriotic adventure story.Ithink, however, there is more to it than that. Although I doubt if it willdo well in France, I do not think that you have to be British toappreciatethe film. Like many films of this type, the audience's identification iswith the men themselves rather than with their country or their cause. Theexclamation `This ship is England!' can be taken as a patrioticrallying-call, but can also be seen as reflecting the fact that manysailors(and many fighting men in general) fight as much for their comrades as fortheir country. This is perhaps particularly true of sailors of thisperiod,who spent many months (or even years) away from home in the hermeticenvironment of the ship. The natural dangers of the sea meant that theyhadto rely upon each other for survival even when they were not facing theenemy. It is not therefore surprising that close bonds formed between themand that comradeship and teamwork are themes running through this film.(Theelement of male bonding is emphasised by the almost complete lack offemalecharacters). This may not be a classic like some of Weir's earlier films,but it is both an exciting tale of adventure and an intelligent study ofmenat war. 8/10.
Douglas M. Keenan 07 May 2012
As exciting as watching sails dry
Get on with it! I wanted to scream at the screen. The eyes hurt as verydark scenes cut away to the blindingly bright. The ears hurt as everyonemumbles naval dialogue unintelligible even under the best circumstances.(The audience I saw it with was audibly complaining about the difficultiesin following the plot.) The few action scenes are not only confusing butalso drown in an overwhelming and uninteresting sea of silly side plots."Overstuffed" is right - there's too much irrelevant detail in the middleleading to a tremendously disappointing finale. I don't know how theyblewit but thar she blows.
Una Isakovic 07 May 2012
Absolutely positive
I vote 10. At first, movie is technical brilliant. I had an impression ofpersonal presence in almost all the scenes, which means that the cameraspositions, light, sound, the other effects and the rest of the technicaltools are well composed, coherent to each other, "catching" the rightmoments to be as close to the reality, as possible (or necessary).Furthermore, Peter Weir`s choice of actors is excellent. O`Brien`s novelneeds such an actors, who can realized their roles with the faces,movementsand characteristics, they already have by their own. Relationships,betweencaptain (Russell Crowe), his doctor friend (Paul Bettany), than the youngboys and their elder colleagues, finally the sailors back to theircaptain -all the circle is description of possible human community, which can becomparable with any other human union, even the state. Russell Crowe asJackAubrey represents classic leader, an archetype of "strict, but righteousking" (captain), so his role justify the title of the movie. On the otherside, Paul Bettany`s character is a typical one who represents other humanspheres, such as mind, sense, hunger for knowledge and scientificresearches. This polarity, between human lack (Dr. Stephen Maturin) andcaptain`s (Jack Aubrey) personal wishes, covered with "hold on tight" ofstate (British Empire) priorities, P. Weir alleviates in the scenes wherethe fear of loss of a close person waking up a hidden love and care (R.Crowe character). That point makes this movie more lyrical, than the epicmale war drama. No matter the scenes of battles are enough rude, as theyhave to be, the lyrical sense is the clew trough the entiremovie.Except the parts at the Galapagos islands, everything is on the ship, butthe feeling of claustrophobic, introvert atmosphere is absolutely absent.Also, the end without end (final issue) makes the movie and protagonists abit like a shadow, which can emerge any time, somewhere at the oceans.Verygood end.I saw many of characters Russell Crowe acting, but as Jack Aubrey, I foundhim the best (for now). Knowing well Australian and New Zealand filmproduction, directors and actors, Crowe is so Australian in this role (nomatter Aubrey is British) - a specific and recognizable acting (likepeoplecan always recognize the Hollywood or European actors and acting styles,which are specific in their own way).Conclusion: Congratulations to Peter Weir, Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany,allthe other actors and the rest of the Master and Commander moviecrew.
classicalsteve 05 May 2012
Master and Commander Is both Masterful and Commanding: A Near-Perfect Combination of Action and Drama in a Period Piece
There is something about a well-done film that is often taken forgranted. You sit in your seat and allow the film to take you away andfor approximately 2 hours, you are taken to another world, to a groupof people you don't know, to places you have never been, and intosituations you could scarcely imagine. And for these two hours, you areenveloped in this world, forgetting for a moment that you are notreally there, only experiencing illusory images on a screen. Goodmovies do this to you. But it all depends upon an outstanding script,convincing actors, realistic sets, and superb direction. If any ofthese pieces are weak, the cinematic experience is compromised.Luckily, Master and Commander has all of the elements in spades.Instead of watching a movie, you feel you have boarded a military navalvessel at the very beginning of the 19th century. Your ship is loyal toEngland. And your commander is Jack Aubrey, played with stunningrealism by Russell Crowe.Based on the novel by Patrick O'Brian, Master and Commander beginsright in the middle of the action. It is as if the viewer suddenly wokeup on a late 18th-century naval vessel amidst the conflict betweenBritain and Napoleon Bonaparte. You see the workings of the crew, theirtasks, and their relationships. You see the hierarchical structure,from lowly ship hand to the officers and the captain. And, moststunningly of all, you experience being out on the wide open seas justsouth of the Caribbean islands along the eastern coast of SouthAmerica.You mostly get to know the HMS Surprise's captain, Jack Aubrey (Crowe),and his struggles between his duty to and orders from the Crown ofEngland and his love and responsibility for his crew. He must managethese interests while trying to capture the fastest ship known to theworld in service to Napoleon Bonaparte. And of course, he can't allowthe French to defeat him in combat, and he can't lose his ship at thehands of the French, other foes, or the destructive power of the sea.Aubrey is like the juggler at the circus, his hands juggling his menand orders, while his ship is balanced on his nose.The film begins in 1805 with the HMS Surprise and its crew sprintingdown the coast of South America. They are in hot pursuit of theFrench's prize possession, the Acheron, which can out-gun and outrunthe English ship. Fighting erupts, momentarily crippling the Surprise.The officers suggest finding a port, but Aubrey does not want to losesight of his prey. The story becomes episodic as it chronicles theconflict between these two titan vessels. Softening the stern objectivesensibility of Aubrey is a naturalist-doctor, Stephen Maturin, whoserves as both the ship's surgeon and an enlightenment-style scientistwho wants to study biology off the coast of the Galapagos Islands. Butnot even science can stand in the way of war and military conflict. Ormight it be his ally?As usual, Crowe's performance is outstanding as he finds that subtlearea where he is a compassionate and yet hard-nosed commander with atouch of wit and humor. Maybe slightly ideal, but we tend to run withit. Peter Weir's direction is masterful in the sense that hepurposefully avoids drawing attention to itself. His goal is to giveyou this story without breaking new ground in cinematic technique whichcould distract from the unfolding of the epic drama. He wants to tellyou a story on the high seas, not comment on the skill of "directing".And that is the mark of a truly great director.The relationship between the script, the actors, the setting and thedirector appears seamless. The action and the drama both coincide insuch a way as to be believable without it getting too sentimental.Everything is seen from point of view of the ship mates, which keepsthe viewer honed in on a particular point of view which appears to beby design. The story wants the viewer to take on the hopes and dreams,the prejudices, the hates and the fears of the crew. Whether or not itis moral or immoral to play war with the French is not the point.Rather, the filmmakers want you to understand the conflict from theEnglish perspective. This is the kind of film-making that succeeds uponjust about every conceivable level. I think Crowe makes an excellentCaptain Aubrey, and would like him to recapitulate the role and makefurther O'Brian stories. A high-mark of pure cinematic entertainment.
05 May 2012
Good, but a little boring
This movie was very well made. The scenery was beautiful. Yet I feel at times that it dragged on and there wasn't as much action as you would think. Over all though, it was a good movie!
ddsterrell 03 May 2012
Satisfying Voyage
This film was well-reviewed, but hasn't jumped off the video rental shelves.No surprise there because it isn't the usual no-brainer-actioner withspecial effects overkill and lots of explosions for the mass movie-goingpublic. Taken from a series of classic books, the movie feels a lot likegood reading-literature, studied and paced and surprisingly intelligent. Anadventurous start leads to a longish seafaring saga in the middle, and wrapsup with a bang-up ending. The final battle brings you right back to theedge of your seat. How one reacts to the central movie - the voyage - mayhinge on whether you enjoy thoughtful, well-done storyline and characters,or need hype and manic pacing to sustain you. My personal feeling is thatthe sea voyage that occupies the center of the film is thoroughlyinteresting and dramtically well-filmed. I came away from M&C feeling that Ihadn't been insulted or maniputated by a lot of what fills many movies thesedays, but rather told a good story. This film isn't an instant classic, Ithink, because for 3/4 of its length it moves at the thoughtful and studiedpace that it does; but, it's still a quality film with excellent acting,interesting characters and overall superior story-telling values. Goodfilm-making!
baroskim 02 May 2012
One of the Best Sea Dramas Ever
Great film all around: great acting, great visuals, great action andmeaningful dialogue. Crowe and Bettany and the supporting cast are in topform, and it would be a travesty if this film doesn't take home more thanafew Oscars. A true tribute to O'Brian's novels and probably one of Weir'sbest films. One note: yes I know the US frigate Norfolk(based on the USSEssex, 32 guns) from the novel Far Side of the World , was changed in themovie to a French 44 gun frigate(which did not exist in 1805)called theAcheron. While you might argue that this change was made to appeaseAmericanaudiences(since we Americans are all blindly chauvinistic), I would offeranother, more artistically based explanation. First of all, the novel FarSide of the World, despite its American adversary, was a best seller hereinthe States when it came out and no one complained about its plot.Secondly,when trying to establish an increased sense of drama around the chase ofanenemy frigate, making the enemy vessel a privateer of an enemy who isthreatening your homeland and has a more oppressive government than yourown(Napoleonic France in 1805) is far more effective than having an enemywho is still fairly weak militarily, has neither the intention or abilitytoinvade your country, and has a more democratic form of government thanyourown(the USA in 1813). Imagine Aubrey's far less dramatic final speech `Doyou want to make James Madison your President? Do you want the LibertyBellin Picadilly?'. While the O'Brian novels certainly can, and do, pull offthetension and drama of the chase and destruction of the Norfolk effectively,it must be remembered that we the reader get to know and root for JackAubrey, Stephen Maturin and their crews over a series of novels, a seriesthat, not surprisingly, started with Aubrey and Maturin's experiences intheNapoleonic Wars. A two hour stand alone movie probably could not pull thisoff as well since most moviegoers probably had not read the novels andhencedo not have the background with the main characters. All in all this filmisone of the best sea dramas, and war dramas for that matter, evermade.
JakeAhlquist 01 May 2012
Not bad *possible spoilers*
Well okay I went to go see this movie today because while I don't likeRussell Crowe that much, at least as a person, it was getting excellentreviews and one of my friends told me it was really good. So okay themoviestarts and before you know it we have a battle at sea. Okay now whilethisbattle was really cool, I do have one question. Why didn't they bother totell us which character was which. As I watched this movie I got betterintroduced to the characters, but like by the end of the movie I stilldidn't know what half of the characters names were. But this is the onlyreal flaw in this movie. After that the movie gets going. The locationsarebeautiful, the acting is excellent (particularly Paul Bettany), and thebattle scenes are incredible. Now of course this is a long movie and willprobably have some people running to the bathroom every ten minutesseeingas almost none of this movie takes place on land. Another warning, thosewhoget motion sickness, take dramamine before this movie. But otherwise thefilm is wonderful entertainment, and should do very well in the longrun.
suncruiser44 30 April 2012
The Joke Is...
Having read all 20 volumes of the Aubrey/Maturin series (3 times; my wifeisnow half-way through her first reading), having seen the film on the bigscreen (8 times... all 8 times with my wife, laughing, crying, tears,grins,clenched teeth), having thoroughly digested the DVD Collectors Edition (wedevoured it the first evening it came out in the stores, it took us 5hoursto get through it with all the too-and-froing, and with all the slo-mo andstop-action), AND having read all the reviews and critiques, (both fromthepros and the wanna-be hacks alike) I have come to the followingconclusion:...Peter Weir and company made this extraordinary filmspecifically fordie-hard O'Brian fans... to all the rest of you who "just don't get it",thejoke is on you.
Axel-9 25 April 2012
Highly recommended viewing, both gripping and educating
There is a line in Master and Commander, uttered by Russell Crowe's Captain"Lucky" Jack Aubrey, to his friend and Ship's doctor Stephen Maturin (PaulBettany) who is setting off an an expedition of the Galapagos Islands (themovie's one sojourn on land), where he asks for a plant to be named afterhimself, "one that is prickly and difficult to eradicate". It's a niceexchange between the two men, and seems apt, in that it sums up Aubrey .This is a ship's captain after all who has taken his men on a voyage acrossto the far side of the world, chasing what seems to be his own Moby Dick, aFrench frigate the Acheron, which he has been assigned to stop from takingthe war across the world. The film opens with Aubrey's ship HMS Surprisetaking a pummelling from the French, but having managed to evade this attackhe sets of in pursuit for the rest of the film.This is absolutely cracking stuff. The aforementioned opening salvo is sorealistic I thought I was there, each cannon blast ear shatteringlyauthentic. Proceedings settle down thereafter, with time given forcharacters to come to life. As well as Aubrey and Maturin, there is thesecond in command Tom Pullings and the midshipmen Callamy, Hollum and theexcellent Max Pirkis as Blakeney, as well as numerous sea dogs (includingHobbit Billy Boyd as the coxswain), too numerous though I'm afraid for me toremember them all. We are treated to a feel of what life on board must've been like, with allconcerned interacting wonderfully with each other. Aubrey is always incommand though, and Crowe portrays him as strong and at times authoritarian,a man who doesn't lie down and say no. His relationship with Maturin iscrucial, and Bettany provides a perfect foil. A smart man of science, who isour view into this hard world. The first scene of the two of them playingtheir violin and cello together, is almost ironic. One of the movie's bestscenes has the two of them discussing whether or not they should becontinuing the chase, and it's well played by both men.This is genuinely classy stuff. It's inevitable that comparisons will bemade to the other sea-faring movie of the year, Pirates of the Caribbean,but it's not vaguely in the same class, and face it, if the pirates had beenup against Aubrey he'd have sunk them in the first five minutes of themovie. I don't like to compare when they are so different though, but ifit's authenticity you seek, and the feel of what it was like to be in theBritish Navy circa 1805, Master and Commander is the film foryou.Hmmm, lemme see, I'd give it 9/10.
dave8436 25 April 2012
Surprise - Surprise
Surprise, of course, is the name of the British ship and I had beenforewarned this was a marine version of Gladiator. I was pleasantlysurpised that this was not so. The plot was a pretty straight forwardtelling of an epic naval sea chase and battle in the early 19th centurywithexceptional attention to detail of life on a three masted warship of thetime. (I swear I felt a little seasick during the storm scenes). Therewerea couple of holes in the story: medical miracles from on-deck brainsurgery, all-to-quick-healing gunshot and sword wounds, and the seeminglyinstantaneous shipboard repairs after the battles. A realistic timelinewasprobably 6 months or more but it seemed more like six weeks in themovie.All-in-all, excellent entertainment value for the price of admission andmost will not be disappointed.
19 April 2012
One of the best movies I have ever seen in my life!
...and I'm not young! This is just a stupendous movie made that way by it's apparently slavish devotion to exquisite detail of life on board the ships of that time and the very real effort put in by the actors to inculcating the very culture and mannerisms of the time also. It's not just a bunch of transparent 20th century actors playing the roles, one can clearly appreciate their efforts to even behave, speak and relate to each other in the ways of the time - it is often intellectual and does require paying attention to, but the rewards are very real and credible characters in a relatively simple, but extremely well written, storyline. It is violent in parts but not gratuitous, and you're amazed to come to the end of the movie and realise that you have to think about whether you actually heard any swearing whatsoever (there's only one word that I caught on a second viewing, but it's even easily missed). It's also insightful to realise that the realism of the movie suffered not at all for that lack. This movie leaves you with the sense of your money and time very well spent - the warm fuzzies well served!
18 April 2012
Not worth the rental
The movie was poorly produced. The plot stinks and you have action at the beginning and end and not a lot in between. If you like naval warfare movies then maybe this is your thing but it is not something I will be adding to my DVD collection.
marxi 13 April 2012
A Good Movie With One Major Weakness
******** SOME MILD SPOILERS ******* Master and Commander is an adventure on the high seas. It gives us thedepiction of a cat and mouse game between the captains of two ships. It's agood movie with one weakness. The major weakness of this movie is that it ultimately looks at everycharacter in an analytical way. The result is that I admired the charactersbut never became attached to them. This might not be bad news for acharacter study, but it isn't particularly beneficial to an adventure movie. The perspective of Master and Commander is from the captain and crew of oneship. The captain is played by Oscar winner Russell Crowe. There istremendous attention to detail and the actors give marvelous portrayals oftheir characters. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany (together again from themovie A Beautiful Mind) shine as do several other actors especially theactor who played the young officer who lost his arm. It is interesting to see what the quality life of the sailors was like inthat time period. Beautiful photography and lavish sets abound.There are numerous men aboard the ship living in tight quarters and the menfrom different walks of life with some being officers, one a doctor and therest crew men on the ship. This naturally leads to some conflict andtension. For adventure movie lovers, Master and Commander is a good choice. You'llprobably be satisfied although not swept away (no pun intended).There is another difficulty, however, for this movie. I believe it isovershadowed by Pirates of the Caribbean which is a tough movie to competewith. There will be inevitable comparisons, and Pirates of the Caribbeanwill come up the winner.I rate this movie a C. It was better during the second viewing and I thinktime will be kind to this movie.
Bones Eijnar 13 April 2012
A fine piece of Ocean movie
Russell Crowe had done LA CONFIDENTIAL before he did GLADIATOR that reallykicked his career onto the top notch of Hollywood. GLADIATOR was a hugemovie that captured Oscars and was simply a way too convisning, big,dramatic and epic movie to not draw itself attention, so when Russell Croweheaded for his next big movie it was a adaptation, this time; set at sea.MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD is a highly exciting dramaabout a Captain and a crew that's having a hard time handling a aggressiveship that keeps attacking them. Director has done a fine job but I must say that the movie's finest detailsis; mood, music and general scenes going threw it. The movie is very finewatching, photo is beautiful and everything is very in place, although themovie did draw it's running time a bit too long at the middle of the movie,the end is so good that it is very worthy waiting on. Russell Crowe does afine performance after he had to live up to his Maximus character. MASTERAND COMMANDER rules a lot of the time, with big ships firing canons, swordsbeing drawn, genially made viola / bass music, fine photo, gooddialog...very much of it goes very well on, another problem is; there's notmuch of originality or pure entertainment, so it gets a bit "dry" as themovie goes threw minute after minute. The end is fine and maybe the movie's best scene. As Crowe and his crew isdone nailing the French boat Crowe starts looking for the Captain, but sadlyenough he finds the Captain dead with a depressed doctor claiming the fact.Crowe tells his assistant to take the French boat and that they shall meetlater. It all seems finished and Crowe and the doctor is playing musictogether when they get on the topic of the Captain and the doctor tellsCrowe that the French doctor was already dead, so Crowe understands that hehas been tricked...and that the "doctor" was the real captain. So, they turnaround and heads for another fight...although this one we don't get tosee...STARS: 4/5
rbpriv 10 April 2012
Real and well performed, a must see.
Even if the plot is not so dense of facts, to tell the truth everythingstarts from and goes on - from the beginning up to the closing titles -withthe seek for the Acheron to the point that, at first sight, the spectatorwill come to think that every other scene has been added in order to makethe movie a little bit longer, this is one of the movies that won't deludeyou. It's superbly shot (probably the director will receive a nominationtothe Oscars, in case he won't we will know that critics are blind) and wellbalanced. Although the plot is centered on a battle, in fact, we have moreby this movie: we can enjoy the true meaning of friendship, a relationshipthat endures despite opinion divergences and that eventually overcomesevennavy orders, we will be light up by our commander firm authority just ashiscrew and finally we will win the fight against Acheron.Involving and real as never seen in movies of this genre, this is not afilmeveryone can look at: scenes like the surgeon's self operation are nottolerated by someone, so if your neighbour puts his hands on his own eyesyou'll now why he acts like that!About the cast there's nothing to say except congratulations. Everyone hasplayed his character in the finest way. Russel Crowe could really havebeena frigate commander, even if sometimes he smiles too much for anauthoritative Jack the Lucky. Anyway he should gain another Oscarnominationfor his skill in playing such characters. We've yet seen him in "TheGladiator" and here he's not changed too much, impressive. Paul Bettany isthe perfect companion for Crowe and as he did in "A Beautiful Mind" evenhere he is perfect. The surgeon isn't of easy interpretation since it's adouble faced character. He cannot understand why his captain can be sowayward in following his orders so that he cannot forgive his friend tohavebroken his promise, but he is able to recognize the true friendship thatlinks them when he finds himself on the Caymans shot and near to death. Hecannot share the same views of his friend but he doesn't hesitate to setaside his interests when needed. These opposites find an unique harmony inhis performance and this makes the surgeon so fascinating.Photography is enchanting and gloomy as needed in such a realistic sailingmovie. Every shot is orchestrated so that the spectator feels part of thecrew, struggling with them to obtain another victory for their commanderandmaster of life Jack the Lucky.No one can say, after Master and Commander, it was easy to be on a frigatebut everyone would love to have been on it, at least one time, at least asaspectator.
Carycomic 09 April 2012
Yo-Ho-Ho! And, a bevy of Oscar nominations!
*Spoilers, dead ahead!* I'm stuck for lavish praises, so I'll try tomake this five sentences long, at least. It's very faithful tomainstream Euro-history, especially 19th-century sailing jargon andtechniques. Not to mention, the costuming. It's also very humorous,what with Aubrey's pun concerning weevils. Not to also mention, Fate'sconspiracy against Dr. Maturin being the first naturalist to report onthe fauna of the Galapagos! *Can you say, "Charles Darwin?"* But, ofcourse, being a guy, the best part for me was the climactic showdownwith the captain and crew of the French privateer "Acheron." Man! Did midshipmen (a.k.a. work-study naval cadets) have to grow upfast, back then! Otherwise, they literally wouldn't live to grow up, atall. I guess what I'm trying to say is: it's a good thing "the BlackPearl" never went up against "the HMS Surprise." Lucky Jack would'veblown Mad Jack out of the water! Two thumbs up!!