Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Disappointing DVD
Review: There's not much I can add to the reviews of the movie itself, which was spectacular in my opinion.However, it's pretty disappointing that there are no extra features on the DVD. It's the first DVD I've ever seen without anything extra. I guess they want you to buy the two-disk collector's set.
Rating: 
Summary: Well Worth The Watch, But Maybe Not The Buy....
Review: To be honest, I'm usually not crazy about movies like this, but this is a total exception for me. It reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean and Pearl Harbor to some extent, but otherwise is totally original. There are a lot of little stories going on in the main story, which is pretty cool. There's the main story, about the rivalry of the two ships, the friendship story between the doctor and a young boy, and a few others that run on and off in the movie. If you liked movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and Pearl Harbor, this movie is a 'must-watch'. Even if you didn't it's still worth watching. I wouldn't buy it before you have watched it, because it's one of those 'make-or-break' movies, but it's without a doubt worth a five dollar rental.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent film
Review: What I loved most about this film is that it doesn't insult the intelligence of the audience but asks the viewer to make the connections. Peter Weir is a brilliant filmmaker who allows the camera to unfold the story. From the opening scene to the final battle, he doesn't allow a lot of exposition where the characters go into lengthy explanation to a dumbed down audience. Every scene is organic and the rich details tell the narrative. The acting is just first rate and Crowe is miraculous when depicting the character's inner conflict. I also love the fact that the dialogue had not been watered down. Sailors exchange with lightning fast speed authentic nautical jargon. By the end of the film one feels fully immmersed in the experience. Great stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Tried to watch it twice..... unable to sit thru it
Review: Okay, okay I know there are fans of this movie that will want to make me walk the plank for this review...BUT...... I was unable to get interested in this movie in the least !!!!! I tried twice to sit down and watch this movie but each time my mind wandered to other things. The movie simply did not grab my interest or attention in the least. Naval battle.... get drunk and eat... naval battle... get drunk and eat... that got old real fast. I found myself grabbing magazines to read and other things to distract me while this movie played. The second time I turned to my wife and asked... "Do you mind if I stop this movie ?" Her reply.... "Go ahead. I'm not watching it anyway. I fell asleep first time and this time I'm doing needlepoint. This film is lame and boring." So we never made it past about 50 minutes before just giving in to pure boredom and the mental torture of dragging thru this bloated artsy-fartsy film. Great cinematography... great costumes.... great historical accuracy... but if I want a documentary I'll watch History Channel and actually enjoy a real history lesson.... not Hollywood's attempt at being cerebral or whatever.
Rating:
Summary: I love this film!
Review: Ten years, three studios later, Peter Weir managed to bring off "Master and Commander"--a sea battle film set in the Napoleonic Era. The film is based on the books of Patrick O'Brian, who created a series of historical adventure novels rather like the "Sharp's Rifles" novels of Bernard Cornwell, also set in the violent age of Napoleon. Who better to direct this film than Weir, whose ability to film battle ("Gallipoli") is equalled by his ability to create a character study ("Dead Poet's Society", "The Year of Living Dangerously.") I like the work of this Australian director, and never liked it more than in this stunning film. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany team up again (Bettany was the imaginary friend in "A Beautiful Mind") as the captain Lucky Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin, the Irish naturalist and reluctant military ship's surgeon. The scenes between the men are a fine interlude between incredibly realistic storm and battle scenes. The rounding of the Horn, some of the worst waters on the planet, had me gripping my chair and wondering how men could be physically able to survive the wind, ice, snow, waves and do the dangerous work of sailors on a fragile wooden ship powered by sheets of canvas. The contrast of the force of nature versus the daring of man was never more starkly filmed than here. There is a lot to like in this film; the supporting cast is superb, especially Max Pirkus, who plays the ingenu Lord Blakeney, a mere child grown up quickly in a man's world. The scene where Blakeney sits at the officer's mess, woozy on too much wine for his child's body but manfully taking part in the officers' cameraderie, was absolutely stunning acting. And it prepared the viewer for his role in the coming battle, making a 13-year old midshipman totally believable as a leader. The story itself is full of twists and turns, though the plot is simple enough; find the phantom-like French privateer and take her. The filming is realistic, the military strategy is outlined with great detail and the cannons, the damage to the ship, the close-quarters fighting on deck, all done with exquisite realism. The music is restrained and used to tell the story, not wash over it--war drums and silence, or very well-chosen string music to add heart and atmosphere. This film stays gripping to the very end. If you like sea stories, you will love this adventure film. I loved every moment.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Movie!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Finally a good made movie, and not trash that runs in theaters nowadays such as Swat or Fast and Furious. This movie is like a movie should be, spontanous, character development etc... I cant see why some people are turned off by the dialogues and the music. Crowe did another masterful job in portraying a real hero, who is able to admit mistakes. If you cant pay attention more than 5 mins this movie is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: Gritty, realistic high seas action.
Review: This is an amazing action movie set on the high seas, and I especially mean high when they are rounding cape horn. I had watched the movie through once and felt I had missed a lot because much of the dialog seemed gibberish. I immediately watched it a second time with closed captioning on and it helped a lot. This movie has humor action and a certain reality of sea warfare. Imagine a 12 year old officer, son of a lord commanding a group of low born navel sailor. If you had a hard time imagining Luke Skywalker leading Rogue Squadron at age 16 and Princess Leia leading the rebels at age 19, how about age 12. This was the royal navy in 1805. A 16 year old was a third Lt. ranking high enough to join the officers mess and lead men into a battle. And the navy men followed. The movie is PG13 but the violence was not gory. There is no nudity or cursing that we recall so we judge this movie to be family friendly. More evidence that a director can make a great movie with a superior script, great acting and outstanding cinematography and special effects. The opening battle with the sound of projectiles flying by makes you feel you are right there.. Makes you want to duck down. Russell Crowe is incredible as the extremely bright, creative naval tactician and captian of the HMS Surprise who leads his men with a positive, confident swagger. The men have nicknamed him Lucky Jack Aubrey. So many things make this an outstanding movie that I must give it a, rare for me, 5 star rating. The one annoyance of the unclear dialog, actually helps the viewer feel like they are in 1805 British times.
Rating:
Summary: Huzzah!
Review: I was at my friend's birthday party, and she and the other guest wanted to watch a movie with Billy Boyd. Luckily, it wasn't Lord Of The Rings. It was, of course, M&C. I loved it. The battle scenes were suspenseful, and the cinematography was stunning. The scene on the Galapagos islands took my breath away. The movie had to have some violence, but it wasn't too gory. The acting was superb- Russell Crowe was great, and Paul Banetty (sigh) deserved an Oscar nom. Max Pirin was great as Midshipman Blakeney, and he and The Character Whose Name I Have Forgotten made the suicide scene extremely suspenseful. Kudos to Billy Boyd too, though he only had about two lines. The film was so authentic and felt so real.During the battles, I felt like my friends and I were ducking down on the deck of the Surprise, debris and ocean spray hitting us- but that turned out to be the dog sniffing us. My only complaint was my friends shrieking hysterically every time Billy Boyd came onscreen and my friend's brother repeating "Nobody likes the Frenchies". And of course that was pop culture's fault. M&C maybe didn't win Best Picture, but to me it is.
Rating:
Summary: "Master" storytelling that "Commands" your attention
Review: It's not done as often as we would like to think but, here is a movie that is a perfect marriage of style and substance. This is especially hard to find in American films, foreign directors such as Federico Fellini or Akiria Kurosawa had the ability to do many times over. When "Master and Commander" was first released I didn't want to see it. It's not that I thought it was good to be a bad film, but it just simply didn't appeal to my senses. I wasn't until I noticed both of the critics for our papers here in Chicago placed the movie on their "top ten" lists that I decided to see it. "Master and Commander" is just a visual feast for the eyes. This is one of the few times I completely agree with the Academy. This movie deserved every nomination it received, well maybe except "best picture". But still, this is really an enetertaining film from beginning to end. The cinamatography, the sets, the production designs, visual effects, and the music, these are the real stars of the film. Without these things I'm not sure I would have enjoyed the movie as much as I do. All of these things come into place. They all add to the mood the film is trying to create. Almost everything here seems believeable. The plot in a movie like this really doesn't matter. The important thing to do is just sit back and relax. In fact I'm disappointed I didn't see this movie on the big screen. That must have been an experience. Russell Crowe plays Capt. Jack Audrey, a likeable captain who has the respect of his men. They soon find themselves under attack from a French ship. One that is bigger and has more men. That is a vague over view of this film. As I said the plot doesn't matter, I don't want to spend too much time discussing it. All of the acting is convicing. I found the relationship between Crowe and Paul Bettany (Dr. Stephen Maturin) to be very interesting. They are old friends and to me seem to be fighting for the other's respect. The doctor has no command on the ship but sometimes Aubrey listens to him. I've heard people say this is a masterpiece, one of the greatest films they've ever seen. I wouldn't go that far. But, this is a good old-fashion piece of Hollywood storytelling. Director Peter Weir has really accomplished something here. Bottom-line: Nominated for 10 Oscar, the film almost deserved every nomination. A perfect marriage for style and substance. Wonderful to look, but it also has a story. Believeable characters and situations mixed with visual eye candy make this a must see.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't understand a word they said...
Review: My husband and I bought this and eagerly sat down to enjoy it. We found the noise level in the movie coupled with the heavy British accents made it impossible to understand what they were saying. We are not old or hard of hearing, either! This definitely detracted from our enjoyment to the point that we were glad when it finally ended. The cinematography is exceptional. The story was hard to follow (mostly because we couldn't understand the dialog). If there had been subtitles it would have helped! Maybe we are the only people reviewing this who had this problem, but I am reporting honestly our reaction.
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