Funny this thread popped up. I just ordered my copy from Amazon yesterday.
When I saw the movie in the theater, I expected to like it. What a pleasant surprise to find that it was even better than I had thought it would be. I really liked the techno stuff-- where they go to great pains explaining the state of the art technology of 1805 (or thereabouts).
I could never understand anyone who thinks this movie is “boring.” With all the action, adventure, story, conflict, deaths, wounding, drinking, swearing, friendship, the thrill of the chase, etc., I don’t see how there’s even time to get bored.
Okay, I’m biased, having seen it eight times already (on my special edition 2 disc DVD set, of course), and having read most of the books and being a nautical nut anyway. And I’ve been on the Rose/Surprise twice. It’s being kept indefinitely at the Maritime Museum in San Diego. It’s an amazing thing to stand on the deck, at the wheel, cling to the ropes, or go below and check out all the cool stuff, props, costumes, etc.
I also met the guy (a docent now) who played the small role of master-at-arms. He looks salty and gruff but is actually quite nice.
I hope they get a chance to use it again but I guess that depends on whether they made enough money from the first film.
It’s got a great soundtrack, too.
I think the title of the movie is inaccurate, though. At that point in his career wasn’t Aubrey a “post captain”, and not a “master and commander”?
Wasn’t there a Brazilian lady in a boat, fairly early on in the movie?
Yes, he was in fact a Post Captain at the time of the movie, as evidenced by (a) commanding a frigate and (b) wearing epaulletes. Two of them, therefore he’d had his rank for more than three years.
Agreed–the soundtrack is worth buying as well. It nicely complements my promo posters and postcards.
yes, the Brazilian lady is holding a parasol and smiling at Jack while the natives and sailors do some trading.
I, too, will sing the praises of this film. Two things that struck me as fantastic:
The Jonah. The fact that his life, and the life of everyone around him, was -so- impacted by the superstition, and what it lead to. The ‘end’ of that plotline just blew me away.
The doctor, and his little bit of complicated surgery on the island. My GHOD! After the scene was over, I said to my buddy, “And next, I will remove the six or seven extra testicles I obviously have!”
Movie was fan-friggin-tastic.
It’s moored in San Diego Eh? Been to Boston and Baltimore to see the Constellation and Constitution maybe time to go to the left coast.
If you haven’t read all the books three times, 
HBO did a 1/2 hour behind the scenes show that described the filiming, between that and the goodies in the box set you can lean a lot.
Anybody hear a hint or a whisper of another chapter?
I was down in San Diego last year, and was lucky enough to get an unguided tour of the boat. I stuck a bunch of my pictures here.
The best part of the tour, of course, is seeing the hidden pilot’s room below deck, where the hydraulic assisted steering is located, as well as the controls for the twin caterpillar diesel engines. I think they took some liberties with historical accuracy in that section of the ship. (Yes, I did take a picture.)
Great film, I took my father to see it at the theatre and he still raves about the storm scenes!.
I think the ‘boring’ tag comes from the substory of Dr. Maturin’s quest to get onto the Galapagos Islands and his discoveries/travels there. Unless people are familiar ijn some way with Darwins’ voyage that a lot of the sublties and implications (which I loved) would go unnoticed.
As of a few months ago, you can also tour this yar little warship:
http://www.inetours.com/San_Diego/Images/MrtmMusm/Frm-Hyatt_6154.jpg
That is so, so cool. I would die to see that ship up close.
Great film btw.
My wife finally convinced me to see it last weekend. I really enjoyed it a lot: normally historical dramas don’t do much for me, but this one was great. (And yeah, I know it’s not strict history, but you know what i mean, I hope).
One of these days, I’m going to get around to reading the books: she positively raves about them.
Daniel
Leviosaurus: Wow, your pics are great! Beautiful ship.
I don’t post pics on the Net, but I have a cool one of the guy I mentioned plus another dude (a visiting teacher on vacation, actually) who was a dead ringer for Russell Crowe; they posed for me holding on to the wheel.
Mr. Goob: It looks like the ship will be in SD for at least another year or so. I assume they’ll then take it out for recreational sailing or sailing school once it’s seaworthy again:
D’oh! No grog for me; wrong link. (Oh well, at least you get to see the moichandize…)
The right page:
Any news on a sequel, or will Russell Crowe cost too much?
Nicely put!
I heard a story on NPR about Patrick O’Brian at the time that he was releasing Blue at the Mizzen. It was the first time I’d ever heard of him, or his series. I vowed at that time that I’d pick up one or two and see how I liked them.
Fast forward a couple of years (during which I completely failed to live up to my promise). I was at the theater watching the previews before some movie (can’t remember which one) and saw the trailer for M&C: tFSotW. Though I wasn’t overwhelmed by it, I felt the movie had some potential. Then, at the very end of the trailer, as the usual production credits popped up, I happened to catch the name Patrick O’Brian. A couple of neurons fired, I remembered about the books, and I decided that I would definitely see the movie when it came out.
I though it was magnificent – one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. Catching it in the theater probably had a lot to do with my appreciation, because I clearly recall sitting on the edge of my seat through much of the film. Even at the lighter moments, such as the scenes at the captain’s table, I kept expecting cannonballs to come bursting through the stern windows. The only problem I had was the sheer number of characters that I now had to keep straight, but for me, that’s a given.
I’ve been reading the books in my copious spare time. I’m up to number 13, The Thirteen Gun Salute, and have been amazed at how authentic the film was – if not to the actual plot, certainly to the characters and details of shipboard life. I agree that the actor playing Maturin was not ugly enough (and dressed too well), but otherwise carried the part quite well. Russell Crowe was as good an Aubrey as I think anyone could possibly have been. The ones who really shined, though, were the ones in the smaller roles. Killick was PERFECT. Old Joe Plaice was PERFECT. Hollar was PERFECT.
An excellent movie in every respect. The greatest seafaring movie of all time? Can’t say. Haven’t seen them all. But it’s the best seafaring movie I have seen, without a doubt.
This movie made me fall in love with Paul Bettany, who plays Maturin. Then I saw A Knight’s Tale, where he plays Chaucer, and it was this English nerd’s dream come true. He’s replaced Patrick Stewart in my heart, I’m sad to say.
I can tell you that the costumes are pretty dang historically correct. Even down to the shoes. Check out Maturin’s in the first battle scene, when they show the blood on the deck. Those shoes made so very happy when I saw them. They told me to what lengths the costumer went in researching the period. It’s the little things like that that make costuming great.
Overall, the movie was excellent. It was so wonderful to see that the books weren’t dumbed down for the audience – they didn’t, say, put in a silly love story with a female refugee from the French ship or a midshipman with no teeth but a heart of gold. The filmmakers told a story and they told it beautifully, trusting their audience to understand.
When I visited the ship, one of the caretakers told me that they would be using the it for a sequel sometime this year. Last time I checked IMDB, though, there was nothing listed, and Crowe appears to be booked through to '06.
The guy also told me that Fox owns the ship outright, and were likely to invent other reasons to film the boat. Smart thing too - it’s impossible to take a picture of the thing that doesn’t look impressive as hell (as my shots demonstrate :))
Thanks for the compliments on the pictures. I am ashamed to say I had left my camera on one of the lower resolution settings without realizing it… I got back to Seattle planning to have some of the shots framed, only to find none were print quality :smack:
I think I remember director Peter Weir saying that if there was a sequel, it would not involve him. Which, to be perfectly frank, would make all the difference in the world.
In the mid-1980s, the Rose was being refitted and rebuilt at a marina in Bridgeport CT, local to me. In my life before marriage and children, I had the time to do some work on her. Beautiful vessel, I’m sad that I can no longer visit her any weekend but I am happy she’s working again.