Master And Commander: The FAR Side Of The World Movie Review Examples

The movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World directed by Peter Weir was screened in 2003. The film casts Paul Bettany and of course Russell Crowe. It is an adaptation of Patrick O’Brian’s novels, which depict the historical adventures of Jack Aubrey. The plot of the film unfolds the details of an order received by the Captain Jack Aubrey nicknamed Lucky. Together with his crew of His Majesty ship Surprise he needs to persecute the French ship Acheron and either destroy or take it as a prize. Captain Aubrey finds the French ship. She is much bigger than his. The fight was unsuccessful for the Surprise. The hull of the Acheron was not even damaged, and the ship leaves. Then it is Jack’s and his crew time to run away. They move to Cape Horn and head to Galapagos Islands. Aubrey is sure to find the enemy privateer somewhere around and to win the battle. He knows that the French ship has innovative construction and wants to take it because it can help and become an advantage in a fight with Napoleon’s naval troops. Meanwhile, captain’s friend and ship’s doctor Maturin wants to explore Galapagos’ flora and fauna. Yet, Aubrey wants to pursuit a ship. The quarrel occurs, and Maturin is much offended by the captain’s attitude to him. On the crew wants to shoot a bird (albatross), but hits the doctor. It makes the captain to turn around and take Maturin back to the island because the surgery can be done on the solid ground only. The doctor carries out an operation by himself with the help of the mirror. The Surprise prepares to the battle with Acheron, she is very close to them. Doctor’s observations help Aubrey to develop a new plan and to capture the ship. Yet, he discovers that the captain is dead. After the renovation of both ships, Acheron moves to Valparaiso, and Surprise stays on Galapagos to provide doctor Maturin with necessary observations. The sudden doctor’s comment reveals that the French captain is still alive and friends and crew start their pursuit once again.
There are only two main characters in this film. Captain Jack Aubrey, played by Russell Crowe, is an example of a brave person, with lots of advantages He is a marine professional, he loves his job, he is clever enough to develop a tricky plan. Also, he is powerful and the crew listens to his orders. Jack Aubrey is the man with his own code, where friendship and duty are the basis of it. The only thing that reveals the tenderness of his soul is the instrumental play with his friend, Maturin. In turn, Maturin is a doctor. He loves to explore something new every time he has time to it. He can be called a “proto-Darwin naturalist” (Bradshaw 2003). He is milder than the captain but it does not ruin their friendship.
The film presents several interesting geographic issues. The nature of the Galapagos Island is shown. It is famous because the species living there are unique and create the inimitable ecological system. The attention to the Island’s flora and fauna was turned by Charles Darwin, the famous English naturalist.
The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars, including the most prestigious one, for the Best Picture, but managed to take only two of them, for Sound Effects and Cinematography. The film had good rates and box offices sales that year but loses his points to the prominent The Return of the King from the Lord of the Ring trilogy by Peter Jackson. Regardless Jackson’s movie, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is worth seeing because of the cast, nice view and thrilling interesting plot.

Works Cited

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Russell Crowe. DVD. 20th Century Fox,
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World." Rev. Of Film, by Peter Bradshaw. 21 Nov. 2003: <http://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,4267,1089474,00.html>