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Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World

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Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World

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Summary

Period adventure drama based on the novels by Patrick O'Brian, starring Russell Crowe. In 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, British frigate HMS Surprise is out-gunned by a French warship and badly damaged. Despite severe injuries to his crew and his opponent's greater fire power, uncompromising captain Jack Aubrey patches up the Surprise and sets off to seek revenge.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Adam Smith

Like the much-loved series of novels by Patrick O'Brian, to which this adaptation will no doubt be scrupulously compared, Peter Weir's film immerses the audience in the day-to-day life on board a 19th-century British warship as it pursues a "phantom" French vessel with the avowed intent of sending her to Davy Jones's locker. Purists will endlessly discuss the casting of Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey (here deploying his self-described "RSC two pints after lunch" English accent) and Paul Bettany as his ship's doctor and best friend, Maturin, but both give full-blooded performances. It might have been a little repetitive, but thankfully the likeable characters, Weir's meticulous attention to period detail and the stunningly realised action (The Surprise's rounding of Cape Horn is as exciting a seaborne sequence as has ever been committed to celluloid) more than make up for the slightly anorexic story. Sadly for the placated fans, the film wasn't enough of a box-office success to generate the sequels that it seemed to promise.

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7.5/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameCaptain Jack AubreyRussell CroweDr Stephen MaturinPaul BettanyBarrett BondenBilly Boyd (1)First Lt Thomas PullingsJames D'ArcyHollomLee InglebyJoe PlaiceGeorge InnesMr HoggMark Lewis JonesCaptain HowardChris LarkinMr HigginsRichard McCabeMr AllenRobert PughKillickDavid ThrelfallLord BlakeneyMax Pirkis

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Crew

rolenameDirectorPeter Weir

Details

Theatrical distributor

20th Century Fox

Released on

2003-11-21

Languages

English | Portuguese | French

Guidance

Violence, swearing

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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