OT Master and Commander

t1mpani

t1mpani

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Just wanted to give the heads up. IMO very good film (and yes, this transcends the "movie" category) and I enjoyed it immensely. Despite what the previews may have led you to believe, there is no swashbuckling at all here--the life they lead on the ships is very hard, and the battle scenes are all about brutality and feel less adventurous and more hellish.

Swordwork in particular was very good, all hack and slash, no dancing around or the thrust-parry-thrust-parry-lock swords and give each other a mean look-leap apart-thrust... stuff that you see in pretty much all Hollywood "fights". Wish there'd been even more of it, but there was more blade action than I'd been expecting

The truly impressive part was just the overall feeling it was able to give for what life was like at sea. I highly recommend.
Warren
 
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll have to check that one out. I've become a bit jaded with the movies lately (Matrix, etc.), but I've been impressed with Russel Crowe's stuff in the past, especially Gladiator. And of course Return of the King opens next month. That one is going to be spectacular if the previous chapters are any indication.
 
Just saw this yesterday and thought the movie was almost without flaw. If you can get past the part about an American-made 44-gun Frigate under private ownership it is a very good tale. The cost of such a ship would have been huge and nearly impossible to offset by robbing whalers, but other than that every other shipboard detail was right on.
 
The author of the story started writing late in life (60's I think)and produced a series of novels about his character that are less about battles at sea than life at sea.
 
Originally posted by Thomas Linton
The author of the story started writing late in life (60's I think)and produced a series of novels about his character that are less about battles at sea than life at sea.
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Yes, and they are excellent, but battles do take place in the books. As I said, the feeling of life at sea very much comes across (at least to me) in this movie. Of course, I've spent a number of years studying naval history, so it could be that I was filling in blanks without knowing it. Nevertheless, if you haven't, I'd recommend watching the movie before discounting it. I am a fan of the books, and didn't feel betrayed by the film.

And yes Bruise, sand spread on the decks to catch the blood. ;)
 
T1mpani, I was not discounting the movie. We're going to see it in 45 minutes. And I have read all the books.
 
Thomas, I didn't mean to sound like I was jumping on you. I spent about an hour last night convincing my Dad (a big fan of the books) that the film hadn't got it wrong and that he should watch it, so you may have received leftovers from that argument unintentionally. ;) :D
 
I read the whole Horatio Hornblower series when I was a kid, but haven't read any of the Jack Aubrey series. How do they compare?
 
I read the whole Horatio Hornblower series when I was a kid, but haven't read any of the Jack Aubrey series. How do they compare?
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I am a Hornblower addict, and have only read the first two Aubrey novels. They are much more complex and challenging to the reader than the Hornblower books.
 
The Master and Commander books are written as though they were being written at the time they're about, and being read by people who know navy nomenclature. I very much recommend getting the companion book which explains what all the terms mean. I made use of that for a long time. ;)
 
From what I am hearing here is the author must have been to sea on more than one occasion to know all the terminalogy.:)
 
I just returned from seeing the movie and it is excellent. A nice old fashioned war story that can comfortably take its place with the likes of Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, Gettysburg, and the like. It is gritty without becoming a gory mess, and exciting without surrendering the plot to a CGI fantasy land. Unfortunately, there are no female leads running around in tight vinyl outfits; but, you will hardly notice it as the fast pace plot will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Don't be a land lubber and go see it; you'll like it. BTW, there are swords, axes, dirks, guns, swivel guns, and cannon a plenty. Just put on your best pirate outfit, tell your parrot to hang tight, and set course for your nearest movie theater.

n2s
 
The Jack Aubrey series are phenomenal! I've read each one a couple of times. As far as the ease of reading goes, just plow on from the very get go. It is written in the vernacular of the times, so you have to get used to it. Once you make the transition, it flows beautifully and Mr. O'Brian spins sea yarns that will entertain long after we are gone.

I'm sure that the movie won't be entirely true to the books, but afterall there are 20 of them. It is such a shame that O'Brian passed away, but the series ended probably as well as it could have.

Fair winds and following seas, gentlemen.:D
 
And to all fellow fans of the books, take heart. They have been talking about continuing the movies to go along with more of the books for a long time already. I think this will not be the last Aubrey story to hit the big screen. And now that they've introduced the world and main characters, even more time could be spent in susbsequent films on the character developements and quirks which make these books so great. :)
 
Originally posted by not2sharp
...there are no female leads running around in tight vinyl outfits...
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Thank goodness. Nothing ruins a good sea/naval/pirate movie like women. This is man's territory.

However I did see a pirate movie with Ron Jeremy called "Skulls and Crossed Boners" in which women were absolutly essential.
 
Originally posted by t1mpani
The Master and Commander books are written as though they were being written at the time they're about, and being read by people who know navy nomenclature. I very much recommend getting the companion book which explains what all the terms mean. I made use of that for a long time. ;)
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We saw it late Friday night. The final hand-to-hand battle scenes we intense! When we got home and turned on the TV, there was Russel Crowe on Conan O'Brian's show talking about the movie.:)

He said even he's still not quite sure what a couple of the nautical terms meant (a thuppersomething? I forget), and said he found learning the violin for the music scenes to be challenging, too. He said he played and then they dubbed over the sour notes. Then again he said his vote for the movie's name was "Three Men and a Goat.":D
 
Personally, I think "Three Men and a Goat--The Far Side of the World" has an epic sound to it. :)
 
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