PLOT: Captain Jack Aubrey is under orders from the British Royal Navy to have his ship, H.M.S. Surprise, capture or destroy
the Acheron (a French Man of War) before it reachs the Asian trade routes. The Surprise is on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast
of Brazil at the beginning of the movie. The Surprise is ambushed by the Acheron, and the Surprise barely escapes from the
encounter. The Surprise and the Acheron play a game of cat and mouse where only one Captain will win.
ANALYSIS: The ship battles are amazing. The movie puts aout a good impression of what life was like onboard a Naval vessel
in the early 19th Century. Russell Crowe puts together a great performance as Jack Aubrey.
The direction is subperb with a good music score from Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, and Richard Tognetti. The movie keeps
you interested with the lives of the crew while the Surprise hunts the Acheron.
This movie was the first movie to shoot on the Galapagos Islands. It was filmed for $150 million dollars with three studios
co-producing it (20th Century FOX, Miramax, and Universal). Alas it is too bad there will probably never be a sequel. I would
love to see more adventure with Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey.
THE DVD: The movie is presented in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen. The picture is clear and the details are sharp. The fleshtones
are right, and the colors are good.
The audio is amazing and it makes you feel like you're there experiencing it. You can pick between 5.1 Dolby and 5.1 DTS.
Extras amount to trailers for MAN ON FIRE and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and a behind the sceens look at I, ROBOT.
Disc two of the Collector's Edition (aka the two disc Special Edition) will have 6 deleted scenes, several featurettes,
a map, and a 24 page collector's book. Go for the two disc Collector's Edition and don't buy the one disc release. The one
disc version is only good for a rental (unless you just want to buy the movie on DVD without the extras).
MASTER and COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD is one of the most interesting movies of 2003 and definitely one of the
most interesting DVDs of 2004.
this review is (c)3-25-2004 David Blackwell and this review cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to
lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional content (and site updates) at http://wwww.livejournal.com/users/enterlinemedia
