The movie was great! Russel Crowe was a pretty good Capt. Aubrey though I don't think he's anywhere 13 stone! Steven Maturin wasn't what I expected. He wasn't small enough, looked too good to be Steven. After having read the Aubrey, Maturin series over six times (there comes a time when you loose count) I've come to know Steven and Jack as friends. I kind of hoped the movie would have followed the books a little closer but again the movie was great!!

Excellent movie . well acted and for the most part a good script . Supporting actors (ie. the crew) were in a word, "outstanding" . The below decks secnes were also well done . Also ,interesting to note the scene of the young crewman using the "heads"-- nice touch of realism - LOL -- Just my 2 cents worth .

Great movie entertainment-wise. In fact my boys gave me the DVD this last Fathers Day :banna: . But I can't think of a movie that lives up to a great book and this is the same.
I suppose we have our own imaginations from the book transplanted with the directors imagination.
Still... it is a must get for your DVD collection..

Craig

I liked the movie very much and am still hoping for a sequel. I do like Russell Crowe but he is not my image of Jack Aubrey. Paul Bettany was better as Stephen Maturin. What I really objected to was Bill Boyd (the hobbit) as Barrett Bonden. Ridiculous. Russell Crowe would make a good Bonden.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, however did not find Russell Crowe to be a believable captain of a ship. He seemed to be too quiet of a person, too laid back, not authoritative. Just my opinion of Crowe in this movie. It was great to see a "real" sailing ship in action as I have never seen one in person.

Does anyone have plans to see the upcoming movie: Elizabeth: The Golden Age? The previews of the ships doing battle look really good although you would probably have to sit through an hour or two of boy/girl relationship drama and dialogue just to see that part of the movie.

Are there any other movies out there on DVD that have good film of sailing ships in action? Would like to get some more. I am land locked in Colorado and cannot go visit sailing ships on the coast so movies are the only way that I will get to see one.

Richard

Never mind. I found the forum for sailing ship DVD's on this website! #-o

Richard

Re: Master & Commander:
I enjoyed the movie except for the ending which seems to require
a sequel.
HOWEVER:
1) In one shot the ship was moving along at a fair clip, but
obviously under power as the sails were taken aback. Careless.
2) In the early part of the movie when Surprise was being chased
by the French ship, and losing ground, she used an elaborate ruse
involving a raft with a light on it to escape. She then looped around
and chased the Frenchman. She was now able to keep up, due
(as I understood the dialogue) to the fact she was upwind from the
Frenchman and thereby had an advantage, namely the "weather gauge".
Of course this is nonsense, but maybe I misunderstood. Well, I'm
78 and somewhat deaf........

Denis J

I liked the movie very much and am still hoping for a sequel. I do like Russell Crowe but he is not my image of Jack Aubrey. Paul Bettany was better as Stephen Maturin. What I really objected to was Bill Boyd (the hobbit) as Barrett Bonden. Ridiculous. Russell Crowe would make a good Bonden.

I agree with you on all these points. I thought Crowe was OK as Jack, and better cast than the other two that you mention. A couple of other casting choices mentioned on POB interest boards include:

- Nick Nolte (in his younger and more sober days) as Jack Aubrey. He's got the rugged looks and big mane of blond hair for it.

- John Malkovich as Stephen. I particularly like this, as he could match Stephens "reptilian gaze" and "croaking laugh."

- A number of better choices for Bonden. Billy Boyd doesn't exactly look like he'd be the "boxing champion of the fleet," does he?

Too bad also that there wasn't time enough for scenes on land so we could see how they would cast Sophie and Diana.

Great movie, and the only recent Hollywood effort I'm aware of that seems to do a good job of being period accurate as far as the ships go.
Russel Crowe was a pretty good Capt. Aubrey though I don't think he's anywhere 13 stone! Steven Maturin wasn't what I expected. He wasn't small enough, looked too good to be Steven. From the purely physical descriptions in the books, I tend to agree. OTOH, and Peter Weir mentions this in one of the extras, on film that combination could come dangeriously close to having a ludicrous "Laural and Hardy" effect, which definitely would've ruined the tone of the movie.
After having read the Aubrey, Maturin series over six times (there comes a time when you loose count) I've come to know Steven and Jack as friends. I kind of hoped the movie would have followed the books a little closer but again the movie was great!!I thought the movie did a great job of paying homage to the series; it seems I'm in the minority though in thinking it did justice to the books. I measure that not by the fact of trying to compare them directly, which seems difficult with such separate medium, but instead by the fact that the movie enriched my subsequent readings on the books rather than detracting from the experience. I felt they did a great job bringing the "feel" of the A/M world to life, without slavishly trying to duplicate any of the books directly.

2) In the early part of the movie when Surprise was being chased
by the French ship, and losing ground, she used an elaborate ruse
involving a raft with a light on it to escape. She then looped around
and chased the Frenchman. She was now able to keep up, due
(as I understood the dialogue) to the fact she was upwind from the
Frenchman and thereby had an advantage, namely the "weather gauge".
Of course this is nonsense, but maybe I misunderstood. Well, I'm
78 and somewhat deaf........The weather-gauge would give the windward ship the advantage of having the ability to choose their best point of sailing when approaching the leeward chase, thus potentially shifting the balance as to which ship would be faster. I don't remember off the top of my head if Surpise is depicted as sailing on a different line on the second day (when they have the weather gauge) from that of the first (when being chased). If not, this may just be one of the finer points of sailing missed by the movie-makers.

I liked the movie, but as the cliche goes, "the books were better." I'd have to say that the fantastic descriptions of 18th century warships were the inspiration for my modeling bug. I've only read the first four, so don't spoil it for me if you know the whole story.

Dregs -

Excellent movie . well acted and for the most part a good script . Supporting actors (ie. the crew) were in a word, "outstanding" . The below decks secnes were also well done . Also ,interesting to note the scene of the young crewman using the "heads"-- nice touch of realism - LOL --

The sound, photography, acting were all very good, but having read the books - they tried to jam 2 of O'Brians novels into 1 movie and did neither justice.

:thumbup: definately great entertainment and that what we went for. The two young grandsons were entranced with the film. The sound effects were "ace" made me think that "smell effects" would add to a film. The Viking Museum in York has a section with the smells relevant to a Viking settlement. I not give the details, but the smell of fish was the least offensive.

But think of the smells on board, at sea, in battle and in the aftermath.
Aw ell, just a thought.
rgds.
John
ooh, the smell of sea spray and black powder :banna:

if you like sailing ships, you have to love it....since their is so little else left to watch :(

I liked the movie very much. Found that the more times I watched it, the more I picked-up about the construction of the ship.

I count the movie among my 3 or 4 favorite movies.
I also believe that it was a good entry for many viewers into the books by Patrick O'Brian.
It was also able to bring across the atmosphere, although some of the details were wrong.
To sum up: It is an excellent movie due to the atmosphere it portrayed (helped out extremly by the actors of the lower decks) and it brought Patrick O'Brians world to all those who havnt read the books.

JD

I loved the movie. Still do. It's obvious that the producers and screenwriters actually read the O'Brien books. I think Crowe and Bettany did a fabulous job of portraying these two characters. There was somthing for everyone in the film; action, music, humor and tragedy. I just wish they'd make another one with the same cast.

Actually the film was adapted from three novels in the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian.

All the books are by far better than the movie, but saying that, I must admit I enjoyed the film as well.

I wish they would make another. It's to bad they had to ruin the chronology of the books as they would have made for an outstanding series of films.

Agree also that the Hornblower series is first rate. Love em.

Steve