Master and Commander--Is it worth the cruise?

[Taur]

After reading the Pre-Review thread about "Master and Crowe"; I was wondering what are the actual reviews on the movie itself.

Is it worth an evening out? Or, will it quickly become known as "That other ship movie" of 2003

[BishopMVP]

Haven't seen it, but according to www.rottentomatoes.com, which averages the reviews of different websites, it is getting an 86% success rate right now, putting it between Mystic River (87%) and Kill Bill (83%) among major releases. Pirates of the Caribbean received 78%.

Interesting to note that Matrix Revolutions (34%) is lower than Radio (35%.) It was disappointing, but it wasn't nearly that bad.

Here is the site for Master and Commander alone http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/MasterandCommanderTheFarSideoftheWorld-1127359/ Overall, looks like it is very good for both grown-ups and teenage boys. Besides, who doesn't love swashbuckling epics?

[amdaily]

I've heard nothing but good things. I think it's going to bump the Matrix down on my list of things to see.

[the_meanstrosity]

I saw Master and Commander last night and was disappointed. The battle scenes are good, but very limited. A very slow moving movie with too much singing.

The acting is good, but the story is bland.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

I have to agree that M&C wasn't as good as I thought it would be but still an entertaining ad thought provoking movie about ship
life back then .... though a bit sanitized in many fronts ...was real surprised to see a clean ship with no crew diseased with scurvy.

[Leonidas]

As the self-proclaimed "Biggest O'Brian fan" on the board, I went to this movie Friday ready to hate it. While not perfect, I'd say it was a good movie.

My big question is, why bother calling part of it Master and Commander? 80% of the story came from Far Side of the World and the other 20% was from bits and pieces of all the other books. That was very dissappointing because I consider M&C the best of all the books and wanted to see that story.

Anyway, for what there was I saw no Hollywood sensationalizing or dramatic changes. For the most part everything there (with the exception of mixing the plot around) was something, somewhere from an O'Brian book, portrayed about as accurately as Hollywood would ever dare do. I can understand non-readers being bored by it. Those of us who have read these books can have fun trying to figure out which book the scenes really came from and be enthralled by how it looks on the big picture.

Russell Crowe gave an uneven performance. I bet if I went back and watched three or four times I can figure out what order the scenes were shot in. You could see several scenes where he just didn't have the character down, then there were a few more where he hit it right in the head. I suspect it took him some time to get into the role.

I was most prepared to hate Paul Bettany as Dr Maturin and must say I was pleasantly surprised. He did a very good job getting the Doctor's character.

As for Chemical Soldier's questioning the cleanliness of the ship and the scurvy issue, the Royal Navy were bigtime sticklers for having a clean ship. When not fighting, the crew spent most of the time cleaning. This is something O'Brian frequently addresses in the books, about how clean British ships are and what comparitive slobs the French are on their ships. And Capt Aubrey in particular demanded a clean ship. I actually think the ship was dirtier than it should have been. For the scurvy, this took place off South America. Fruit was plentiful for this voyage from various port calls. There are other books in the series though where it becomes an issue.

Overall I give it a solid 3 of five stars. A good, honest Hollywood depiction of the genre, but not great or Oscar worthy.

[thealmighty]

I enjoyed it for the most part. Go to the matinee and pay half-price and you will enjoy the show. (most of you, anyway)