Rating: 
Summary: Buy for the sound effects alone!
Review: This is a great movie as many of the other reviewers have stated. Id like to comment on the sound quality. The quality is astounding, making you feel a part of the ship and in the middle of the battles. One negative is that the intimate dialogue can be too quiet at times and the contrast between loud and quiet is too much. All in all a great movie. Ive found that some people who found it boring were in the wrong frame of mind for this type of adventure.
Rating: 
Summary: EVERYTHING --& more!!
Review: 1. this is THE cute guy movie. from 8 to 80, small, tall, thin or round, this movie will have someone for you. i can only imagine my sister, who once had a list of 254 men she Truly Cared About that included people like the guy 3d from the left in the second scene of Star Trek 2, drooling like a pet of pavlov w/in the first 3 minutes.2. & speaking of star trek----- russell crow _IS_ Captain James T. Kirk. this is the most postmodern movie i have ever seen!! here is an actor playing a captain playing an actor playing a captain!! i think captainhood has been forever embedded in the mind of anyone young or old & privileged enough to see the _real_ & _only_ Star Trek as meaning one thing: William Shatner. watch the timing!! watch the _gestures_!! watch the way he looks at the camera. the likeness is uncanny!! my partner watched this movie a couple of days before i did & when i said to him, "you know who that is--" he said he had thought the same thing. amazing!! dont worry, i LOVE Captain James T. Kirk. when i was a very little kid, even younger than any of the little kids in this movie, my parents & i saw him (the actor, not the captain) screaming at his girlfriend at a folk dance festival. that image is embedded in my brain as well!! anyway. Captain Kirk, in order to be Captain Kirk, MUST have his Spock. & here, of course, he does. but oddly his Spock is only the entrée into........ 3. the Monty Python element. think John Cleese, younger (much much younger), w/ a lot of freckles & a slightly skinnier jawline. think his uppercrust gestures & the way he often looks up at you (thru the camera) w/ those eyes..... right here. Mr. Spock as a naturalist-warrior-sailor-doctor who also, on the side, runs the Ministry of Silly Walks. but thats not all!! you also get, in this movie that was modeled on "Star Trek transports itself into Monty Python & the Holy Grail on the High Seas" --the old guy. you remember the Old Guy. he is embedded in yr brain too. i know he is. & it will be very very hard for you to watch a scene wherein he appears w/o thinking of eric idle, hanging on a dungeon wall & singing. every single time. but nobody is singing "la marseillaise" b/c when you finally do meet those french types, they are too busy yelling things like: "oh you english pig-dogs!!" --you get that too!! i almost expected a bunch of fruit & a cow to come flying over the side of the boat. & theres more-- so much more-- it makes ones brain itch trying to remember it all..... 4. &, speaking of an itchy brain, in addition to heroic self-surgery, one also gets: trepanning. woohoo!! personally, i recommend amanda fielding's video (worth looking up) as she is doing real-life, real-time self-trepanning, but this one works as a little preview. & besides, she doesnt stick a quarter into her skull. 5. &, wait, there is so much more!! poop on the poopdeck (rewind or you will miss it. my partner, who worked on lots of boats made us rewind so i wouldnt miss it)-- & LOTS & LOTS of animals. i LOVE this movie!! but probably not in the way that peter weir intended. which is why i gave it 4 stars. it is the most postmodern movie i have ever seen. the whole thing seems plotted, directed & acted as if it were a bunch of archetypal television programs strung together or laid on top of one another (lets not forget marlon brando (rip) in "mutiny on the bounty," although that might just have been inspiration for the costumes) (& do remember "the poseiden adventure" & undoubtedly "titanic" (i havent seen it)) w/ unbelievably fabulous images of oceans, islands, ground & ships-- just gorgeous stuff from the director of "the last wave." & yes, it is a roiling barrel of entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it for the soundtrack alone!
Review: Can I rehash what 477 other people said about this film? Not really, except to sy that I enjoy it every time I watch it (just finished).
I haven't noticed anybody mention the sound track, which is made up of timely fiddle music and orchestration mixed. Absolutely a winner!
I know that this is not an amazingly helpful review. Let me just say, if you're sitting on the fence- BUY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing!!
Review: Come on people how can you stand this movie. I have a cousing who hasn't ever seen more than 20 minutes of it because he falls asleep. It's not worth the time. theres no plot, no real purpose to the movie!
Rating:
Summary: As good as could be hoped.
Review: I write this as a devoted fan of both the O'Brian novels and of great filmmaking.
Master and Commander is an extraordinary piece of work - a tribute to the vision of the director, the skill of the actors, and the brilliance of the screenwriters.
Nothing is perfect here. There are some annoying technical errors - the Surprise sailing quickly with her sails essentially backed, for example (non-sailors won't see it, but it will rankle those who know sail). Paul Bettany, who gives a marvelous performance as Steven Maturin, is just too damned pretty to play O'Brian's prickly surgeon/spy. It's a concession to Hollywood, I suppose.
This may prove to be the finest performance of Russell Crowe's career. Crowe has always impressed me with the upper end of his range, but he's never impressed me with the incredible subtlety he displays here; the level of detail in his work here is mindblowing. He IS Jack Aubrey, who may be one of the most intriguing characters in modern literature. Aubrey's compassion, hubris, arrogance, passion and sensitivity are positively nailed in Master and Commmander.
Now, a word on the writing. O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin tales are too complex to be rendered on film - think Lord of the Rings, five times over. So instead, Peter Weir chose to crystallize the essence of the O'Brian books into one movie. He and co-writer John Collee succeded beyond hope. The movie takes its primary guidance from two of O'Brian's books but grabs snippets from all of them - and comes up with gold. There are visual throwaways throughout - this is as reverential and, in its way, faithful a screenplay as I can think of, and it manages to be so despite the fact that the source material is a challenging and daunting read.
This is not a movie that will appeal to everyone. Small-minded O'Brian fans may feel cheated by some of the shorthand; there are some technical and continuity errors; people who believe that movies should contain romance will feel cheated; those who look for continuous slam-bang action will get bored and if one really wanted to parse one could probably find lots of other things wrong with it - considering what passes for great movies nowadays (I confess I read a number of the one-star reviews here and just shook my head - this ain't Star Wars, folks - there's a real story here).
So be it. Look for a thumping wonderful yarn, real emotion, an impressive presentation on the hardships of life at sea in the 19th century, great writing and above all, incredible performances from everyone in the cast.
This is an amazing piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Master and Commander
Review: Director Peter Weir (Gallipoli, The Truman Show) has created yet another powerful, innovative, and exciting picture. Using state of the art technology and beautiful camera work, Weir has captured the essence of the Napoleonic era at sea. With interesting characters and Oscar winning Cinematography, you can't go wrong with this high seas adventure.
Rating:
Summary: A fine movie about sailing warships
Review: As a student of naval history, it is gratifying to see a movie from the perspective of the whole ship's company -- men and officers. It is much easier to sail in today's naval vessels compared to what is depicted in this film. And the film offers a gritty, harsh, realistic view of what it was like to sail for months on board an early 19th warship.
I'd rank this film up there with the Hornblower series. Capt. Jack Aubrey (played by Russell Crowe) shows his stuff as quite the renaissance man -- playing a string duet with his friend, the doctor, supervising the lashing of a wayward sailor, girding his men for the tough battle to come with a formidable French frigate, and weeping when reading over his men who died in battle.
All in all -- a fine movie about ships of war that sailed the oceans about 200 years ago and a strong performance by the wole cast.
Rating:
Summary: the far side of innovativeness
Review: amazing cinematics
Russelle Crowe is amazing in this one
I'm speechless
all I can say is I loved watching this on dvd
and when I can
since I bought it of course
I can't wait to see it again and again and again
it's really a timeless piece of work
and the plot is moving and genious all at once
Rating:
Summary: Maritime Bliss
Review: It's a rare thing to combine truly exciting action with characters one can feel deeply about. And we get both in this film. Despite a rather simple plot, this allows ample room to develop the characters, relationships, and allows a glimpse into 19th Century Naval life for the audience. It is a truly rewarding formula.
I held my breath so often in anticipation, shed so many tears (I *sobbed* at one point), and felt so much for these characters throughout the entirety of the film, that I might as well have been acquainted with them for years.
The acting is all around, hands-down superb, and with such a fantastic cast, it makes this triumph even more complete.
This is what adaptation is all about. Weir takes all the great elements from O'Brien's fantastic novels (no less than three, by my count) and seamlessly creates a rousing story one delights in immersing himself in.
The resulting script is even and satisfying, the effects stupendous, the music gorgeous, the costumes absolutely meticulous.
From its slow opening, the film's momentum very quickly picks up. A film ultimately about friendship and loyalty (on different levels), one should prepare for excitement, surprises (since we're aboard the HMS Surprise, this is fitting!), shocks, and thrills.
The DVD extras in this edition are great. (The extra map of S. America and behind-the-scenes booklette is very nice, too)
I only wish there were a director's commentary on the feature - it would have rounded out the extras nicely. Nonetheless, this beautiful 2-disc collector's set is well worth your money!
A worthy, worthy viewing. Splendid. I can't find a single thing I didn't like in it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: If you want great, you must see the A&E miniseries "Horatio Hornblower"...HH has better story lines, more intelligent action and more endearng characters.
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