The film was to my eyes a perfect example of a movie that was as great as it was mainly because it was limited in scope. There was no attempt to make the film a trenchant comment on international relations, racism, or anything else. No attempt to introduce a love interest, no attempt to make it multiracial. It was a story about dudes in boats trying to kill each other. It started on a big boat and ended on a boat and was mostly on boats in between. All the effects, money, and effort went into boats, storms to toss boats around, and cannons to shoot holes in boats.
It was, as it were, a movie that did not fuck around. It promised battles on boats, and it delivered. Big time.
I wish they could have added the sloth somehow. Maybe the boats from Brazil could have rowed it out.
I discovered O’Brian when I found the audiobook version of “The Golden Ocean” which is an earlier sea novel of his. The characters are all different, but it’s based on a voyage that truly took place. The ship is out at sea for YEARS, so it’s a big book, and a screaming pleasure to listen to (or read).
Does anyone know if the movie makers had always planned to focus on the French as the enemy versus the Americans? As a Yank living abroad when I first heard of the movie I was disappointed when I heard they had changed the novel in this way. I can see how the producers didn’t want to alienate the US ticket buyers, but I hope that was the only reason (Coalition of the Willing, yadda yadda). I have experienced anti-Americanism first hand, and it didn’t really bother me, I realize not every one likes Americans, including some Americans, but also that there’s not much I can do about it. Why not show the US as the bad guys once in a while, especially if the story calls for it? I think we can handle it; besides, nothing sells like controversy.
I think a Battle of 1812 movie would be very interesting regardless of the perspective from which it was told. “The Capitol Building’s on fire! The US is invading Canada? Who comes up with this stuff?”
I like M&C and dusted off my copy of The Bounty with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. I think both were well made, but I prefer the slower character driven pace of *The Bounty * over the Black Hawk Down style of M&C. To each his own.
They changed the setting, Leroy, so that it didn’t take place in 1812 but in 1806 (when relations between America and Britain were strained but certainly not outright war). Boney, on the other hand, was tearing up Europe.
You’re right and wrong on this point. I know about Darwin and I absolutely hated most of the scenes where they were mucking about the islands. I realize that part of the plot is driven by the doctor’s discoveries on the islands, but I could have done with much of that being trimmed out. A good film, none the less, and I’m glad that I saw it in the theater since you could feel the cannon blasts.
I actually liked that they changed it, not because of the current political situation, but because the French really were the main enemy of the English back then. The war with the Americans was sort of a side thing they had going. If you’re going to do a movie about the British navy of that time, making the French the bad guys just makes sense to me.
Are there any writers here? I’m thinking of starting up a “Finish the story” thread with a naval theme (see my thread, I ain’t worked out how to link to it) and Baker suggested this was a good place to look for like-minded souls.
Here’s a link to exterior shots of HMS Victory and some good interior and exterior shots of HMS Warrior. El Linko No interior photography allowed on Victory. I wish I had hung back from the tour group. That way I could have snapped a shot of the brass plaque embedded in the deck where Nelson was standing when he was mortally wounded.
As for HMS Warrior, you can shoot all the pics you like because the only orginal piece of her is the metal hull. Some years ago in a naval dockyard it was decided to get rid of an old oil storage hulk. Well imagine their surprise finding out that it was HMS Warrior, the royal navy’s first metal warship and first steam powered warship! Ahe was built in 1860 so she is not contemporary with Master & Commander. But still an amazing thing to see. She is still being rebuilt. Almost all of my pics are captioned if you click on the individual image.
I’m hoping to get to Portsmouth in October for the Bicentennial of Trafalgar.
