Rating: 
Summary: Take that you Frenchies!
Review: Amidst the many faults and errors in this movie, as many reviewers have delighted in highlighting, two undocumented ones stand out as far as I am concerned. The Royal Navy does not let ex-roman gladiators command their fighting ships, and Australian accents are not permitted onboard an English war ship at sea. But despite these most obvious irregularities the movie works. Eighteenth Century Brits were very different folk to the tepid sorts now bred in those green and pleasant lands - they were farm hardened, wiry, calous, easily led and devoted servants to false ideals. And this movie aptly demonstrates these characteristics with some historical accuracy. And the story, by no means cohesive as a singular and enduring theme, is simple to follow and gives ample opportunity to demonstrate the cleverness of the director. Oh, and, by the way, a Royal Marine would never miss his target, he would certainly have shot the albatross and the ship's naturalist dead with one bullet.
Rating:
Summary: Well-done historical movie
Review: Russell Crowe does a superb job of portraying British naval hero "Lucky" Jack Aubrey as he pursues a bigger and better-prepared French ship off the coast of Brazil in the early 1800's. He is an inspiring leader, who keeps his eye on his objective while encouraging and mentoring his crew. Paul Bettony gives a very good performance as the ship's doctor who gives his friend Aubrey his honest opinion about his decisions as the ship's commander. The Dr. is fascinated by the unknown creatures he sees on the Galapagos Islands and is very disappointed when his specimen-collecting expedition is interrupted by the reappearance of the French ship. This is a beautifully filmed movie with lots of action and good performances by the actors.
Rating: 
Summary: its official - the french cant fight
Review: what a lopsided battle at the end. The master and commander himself, charging lead through a barrage of longbarreled shooters is able to stab and hack through all the Gauls with swords themselves - and kill every one of them! no backstabs since the little kids are handling the others with their sidearms and scabbards. Yep the english boys cant miss!
the final score is britain - 20 dead france 100000000 dead. Well thats about all i noticed of the movie since the other two hours of it I was kinda zoned out due to noninterest.
Rating:
Summary: Does anyone care that there is virtually no story?
Review: Yes, yes, yes! Marvelous period detail, accurate to the nth degree of infinite boredom. Weir does SUCH a fine job of fitting in so much unnecessary (but, gee, it's so realistic!) detail that he forgot to add a plot. The flimsy storyline about one tiny ship chasing a bigger one really begins to wear thin once one realizes we're dealing with "Lucky" Jack Aubrey. No Nelson he, not even a Hornblower. His guile strikes the viewer as labored and obvious -- not that Crowe does not do a good job at acting the part. He presents Aubrey in all his luck, his vulgarity, and rather simplemindedness. But after picking out all the fine details and admiring them, I was still left waiting for a grand denouement that never happened with a hero who's less than inspiring. The minor characters are just that, and the subplots are vapid and make the movie longer than it needs to be. This is not the naval action movie that is going to make a believer out of me. And one more thing - nice music but it didn't match the action. That was very jarring in some places.
Rating:
Summary: I should have viewed it in the theater
Review: I knew I should have viewed this movie in the theater, but listening to negative press about the movie, I decided to wait until the DVD came out. What a mistake. This movie ought to be seen on the big screen. Somehow, my TV set did not do justice to Weirs incredible cinematography. Having read almost all of C.F. Foresters Hornblower series, I was wondering if Weir could capture the atmosphere of a 19th century man-of-war. I was not disappointed. Perhaps the greatest strength of the movie was Weirs meticulous attention to detail. It was simply amazing. Weir captured the nuances of 19th century naval warfare- crowded berths, the rotten food, and constant danger due to accident or war. We can learn much about leadership from Master and Commander. Leaders are paid to make decisions and many of those decisions are not easy to make- does Aubery rescue the drowning sailor, or risk his crew to save him? He lets the sailor drown. Leaders just do not make decisions, they must motivate people to follow them. As Master and Commander, Aubery motivates his crew to do the impossible, engage and defeat a much more powerful enemy. Was this a great movie? Not really. The story line was weak, and it seemed to drag somewhat is the middle, but nevertheless, it was a very good movie.
Rating: 
Summary: The only Russell Crowe movie that I've disliked!
Review: This was the worst excuse for a movie! A plot that really made no sense, this movie seemed to be made so that we could see how cute Russell Crowe looked in uniform and enjoy the battle scenes. While I love, and own, several of his other movies, I totally disliked this movie, and will probably not watch it again, let alone recommend it to others. It's so bad, that I'm sure Russell Crowe could not have actually READ the script before he agreed to do the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Fine rendition of O'Brian novels
Review: As "Private Ryan" did with World War II movies, so "Master and Commander" does for the naval warfare genre. Crowe is as good a Jack Aubrey as we could want, and the Steven Maturin character isn't bad, either. For O'Brian devotees, we have to put up with some changes and shortcuts. The movie is really very little "Master and Commander" and more "Far Side of The World", which is one of O'Brian's best. The director did not go so much for literalness than to try to get the feel for life aboard a British ship of war in Napoleonic times. What I always find astonishing is after all the hardship suffered by simply being trapped on one of these leaking wooden tubs, the sailors were expected to fight at a moment's notice with cannon, cutlass and pistol. The only flaw in the movie is it passes over Maturin's very complex character, as a scientist, doctor, Irishman and spy. (Spying is his major occupation; he is also an opium addict). The atmospherics and actions scenes, however, more than make up for this. The books scream for sequels but given the lack of blockbuster success, I doubt this will happen. Still, all in all, a worthy film. Recommended reading: the O'Brian books, of course. Before that, I read Forester's Hornblower series.
Other films: This is not "Captain Blood." The European "Hornblower" mini-series (tracking Forester's first three books) first shown on A&E is good (the Welsh lead is very, very good) but obviously suffers from lack of a big budget, and a ship which is obviously quite smaller than a frigate.
Rating:
Summary: A Rare Film That Is Historically Accurate & Entertaining
Review: MOVIE: This film is about the story of Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew on the HMS Surprise. The film takes place during the times of the Napoleonic Wars at sea. What makes this film a winner is the fact that it was able to stay incredibly historically accurate and still maintain is entertaining value. Most movies that try to be historically accurate tend to fail miserable due to them being . . . well . . . boring! Take Gods and Generals for example. Anyway, the film documents the adventures and journeys of this ship as it fights for their country and themselves. I guess what made this movie so exciting was the incredible sound and visuals. At $150 million, the movie was no cheap fare to make. Unfortunately it did horribly at the box office and was the reason that the movie was split between three different distributors (20th Century Fox, Universal, and Miramax). What really makes this film so enjoyable is the fact that it has such a fantastic ensemble cast. As you've expected, Russell Crowe is the star of the show, but without the supporting cast his performance would have gone to waste. A terrific film, one of the best of its kind, and something that you can take with you to history class and to your home theater. VIDEO: The video of this DVD is incredible. Your HDTV will certainly get its run for the money, mine sure did. This two disc set comes in anamorphic widescreen in a 2.40:1 ratio. AUDIO: Here you get an amazing DTS and Dolby 5.1 mix that will knock your socks off. The sound of this movie is incredible and needs mixes like these. PACKAGING / EXTRAS: I have the two disc edition. I personally feel that the only reason why we have the choice of one disc and two disc editions is because of the poor performance at the box office. So in order to get as much money as they could, they put two discs in a fancy shmancy box and charge a lot for it. Then they give the option of a disc with absolutely nothing on it so buyers of the two disc set feel special. Honestly the extras are nothing to bananas over. It's not a great amount and they are not all that special. In this set you get trailers and tv spots, 70 minute behind the scenes documentary, how they adapted the movie from the books, moviemaking secrets, sound design featurette, cannon demonstration, 6 deleted scenes, multi angle scenes, and a split scene vignette. When someone buys something they always want it to be the better of its kind. So knowing how the human mind works, Fox released a bare bones release and a normal two disc set wrapped all pretty and slapped a big price tag for that. Naturally the consumer will buy the better set. I don't see why the consumer has to suffer just because their marketing failed during the theatrical release. The set is good though, I'm just complaining about how they released it and priced it, that's all. Movie Score: (4 Stars / 5 Stars)
DVD Score: (8 / 10)
Rating:
Summary: Nautical Epic Of War and Family
Review: "Master And Commander" is a masterpiece of a film. It shows an accurate description of Napoleonic-era nautical warfare, as well as the bonds shared between a group of men on the sea. Russell Crowe plays Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, leader of the HMS Surprise. Paul Bettany plays the ship's doctor/Aubrey's confidant. The entire cast does an outstanding job. The story begins with an attack on the Surprise by the Acheron, a French warship that Aubrey is hunting. The rest of the film plays out with Aubrey setting out on a quest to outwit and defeat the Acheron, a ship that is armed with more guns, more men, and a captain that even Aubrey is respectful of. Along the way, we see Aubrey's softer side, his human side, that usually isn't portrayed in a character of his magnitude and position. We are shown the bonds of brotherhood that keep the crew together through good times and bad. We also see how life on a warship can swiftly change from boredom to life-and-death situations, as well as discipline carried out by ranking officials. Overall, I've yet to see a film that reveals so much action, so many emotions, and so much reality into two-and-a-half hour production. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A true five star film
Review: My friends and I have already watched this film several times. Great actors, great story, and another brilliant job of directing from Weir. This movie made me feel like I had gone back in time to 1805. Amazing realism and characterization.
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