Film: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

[alasdairm]

film: master and commander: the far side of the world

i can't believe there isn't a thread on this already.

i'm not the biggest russell crowe fan in the world but i think it's safe to say i've become borderline obsessed with watching this movie over the past 6 months. i estimate i've watched it around 25 times.

now, i have no idea what life was like on a royal navy ship during the napoleonic war but i can't help feel in my gut that this movie got it pretty right.

i love movies which make me feel like i'm truly immersed in the world of the subject matter and this is one of them.

the acting is pretty good across the board - if a little cliched at times. the script is wonderful and the movie is so beautifully shot it hurts. the soundtrack is also worthy of an honorable mention.

rate this movie!

alasdair

 

[Finder]

Hmmm...I saw bits of this the other day at a buddy's place and it didn't pique my interest enough to warrant a full viewing.

 

[Banquo]

outstanding flick. it would have won best picture had it not been for Return of the King.

it's definitely a sit-down-and-watch-start-to-finish type of movie. while russell crowe may be an asshole in real life, he has a knack for creating very believable characters -- LA Confidential also comes to mind. the visuals in Master and Commander are also cool, with a limited amount of nocticeable CGI.

 

[ChemicalBeauty]

I [unfortunately] agree with Finder.

I turned it off about an hour into it.

 

[Finder]

Originally posted by ChemicalBeauty
I [unfortunately] agree with Finder.

I turned it off about an hour into it.

*rubs eyes*

Is this bizarro BL?

 

[GentlemanLoser]

1800's Naval combat isn't one of my top interests, but it was a good flick. I've watched it about 3 times in the last couple weeks when it premiered on HBO. It was a lot better than I'd been told, because a lot of people I know who saw it said "It was slow." and yes, compared to modern naval combat it's rather slow. But the melee scenes were really well done. It did make you feel as though you were stuck on a British naval vessel.

I gave it a 3 out of 4.

 

[glowbug]

I thought the flick was very nicely shot, and it appeared that the filmmakers did a good job with respect to historical accuracy of costumes and props (though admittedly I have little basis for comparison).

On the flip side, though, I couldn't really get into the film because I just didn't sense enough of a conflict in Crowe's character. Crowe was resolute and steadfast, but given that commanding the ship was his life pursuit that should have been expected. The attempt to develop a conflict between the surgeon's goal of advancing the interest of science and Crowe's duty to ship and country just didn't play with me.

Sure, Crowe stopped and let the surgeon explore the Galapagos, but I didn't get any sense that Crowe decided to do that out of any concern for advancing humanity, and I didn't completely buy into the suggestion that he abandoned his duty out of concern for his friend's life. It was merely the right thing to do strategically-the Acheron was apparently uncatchable at that point and having a healthy surgeon on board was a necessity, so Crowe was again simply acting within his character.

Likewise, I didn't buy into any conflict between Crowe's concern with the welfare of his men and his duty to country. Sure, Crowe refused to stop rationing grog, but again this was more out of a sense of pragmatic self-interest than any concern about the hardship of his men. And I didn't buy that Crowe would have anguished about cutting loose the spar around the Horn rather than attempting to save a man who he knew was unsaveable anyway, particularly when he was accustomed to seeing men blown apart regularly and accepted it as part of his duty.

Very nice cinematography, but not much to chew on otherwise.

 

[alasdairm]

i watched this again last night and there's a scene where two hands bring the captain a model of the acheron which they knocked together from memory - one of them had seen the ship being built in boston.

anyway, there's a comment that the acheron, while well protected due to the design, is "vulnerable at the stern" to which aubrey replies "aren't we all?" (or words to that effect.

i was a bit high and i could not decide if this was a thinly-veiled joke about homosexuality in the navy then or whether it was just an innocent comment - by a circumspect military officer - about being stabbed in the back?

opinions?



alasdair

 

[indelibleface]

Russel Crowe is a great actor, one of my favorites. This is a very decent film, not his best, but definitely worthwhile.

 

[fairnymph]

I thought this film was great! It's not among my favourites ever but sitll wonderful. I agree that it is beautifully shot, and had good music.

Also, it has a WEEVIL JOKE!! How cool is that? Best joke ever! Or maybe I'm just unnaturally obsessed with weevils. :D

 

[alasdairm]

the weevil joke comes out of nowhere and is the greatest pun in the history of cinema

alasdair

 

[cletus]

Yeah, loved it here too. I'll be watching it again soon. Then I'll be getting my Dad's boxset of Hornblower. I just love this all at sea adventure stuff. Must have been one of the scariest, most dangerous jobs in history.

Two thumbs up.

 

[L2R]

A wonderfully made film which i have to see again. It's been far too long. I remember my first reaction was the scope of the production may have limited the story in many ways. Something that costs so much to make, even with a top class director like Peter Weir, causes investers and producers to fear "risky" story elements, and generally force the directors/writers to take "safe" options.
Other examples of this: Stone's "Alexander" and Scott's "Gladiator". There are others but my brain aint functioning too well this morning.

 

[SA]

Fantastic film this was. I love naval battle films, old or new. The ending made it feel like it was part of some series though. Could there be a M&C II in the future?

Alasdairm, I didn't see much in "She's still vulnerable at the stern, like the rest of us" quote. There was no pause in the flow of the scene, no exchanged glances immediately following, as there usually are when there's a hidden, deeper meaning behind a just dropped phrase. I think whatever you were having that night was exceptionally good.

Easily four stars.

 

[alasdairm]

well, i was pretty high so you could be right

there are 20 volumes in the aubrey series of books so a sequel is certainly a possibility. i understand that the movie drew material from more than one of the books.

alasdair

 

[Benefit]

Very nice cinematography, but not much to chew on otherwise.

Couldn't agree more.

It's hampered by very one dimensional characters and narrative arc. Some parts were just absolutely uninteresting, mostly the scenes in between battles which seemed like obligatory and shallow attempts at character development just for the sake of filling time. There are many well shot scenes, the set design and production values are extremely high and the film is very nicely scored... unfortunately the lackluster story and average dialogue completely failed to carry this film beyond mediocrity. But most of all, the films suffers from savagely unremarkable acting. Crowe's character in particular is boring, predictable and flatly uninteresting. His inner conflict is hardly compelling and, as glowbug points out, not really believable given the supposed breadth of his experience.

If you want to see a film about the intricacies of English social hierarchy, watch Gosford Park. If you want to watch a film about early 19th Century naval warfare... well I don't have any recommendations for that but I'm sure there must be something better out there. I'm also willing to say that Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow is infinitely more interesting and watchable than Captain Hungry Jack in Master and Commander.

Best Picture material??? Not by a looong shot.

 

[panic_the_digital]

I [unfortunately] agree with Finder.

I turned it off about an hour into it.

+1. Saw this turd in the theater. It's just "Russell Crowe Fightin' Round the World."