Master & Commander
March 23, 2004Grade: A
Well Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World finally arrived this past weekend at the Village 8, our dollar theater here in Louisville. Well, actually our $2 theater but whatever–the cheap seats. So I went on Saturday night and the place was packed solid–a sold out show. I had to sit down towards the front, closer than I usually like to sit for a movie.
But it was definitely worth it. The story has Russell Crowe playing the captain of the HMS Surprise. The ship gets attacked by a superior enemy, the French frigate Acheron. But Crowe manages to lead his ship to safety, and decides to make repairs at sea and pursue the enemy ship. He claims its to prevent the French vessel from reaching the Pacific where it could tip the balance of power, but there’s definite shades of Moby Dick in his relentless pursuit of the enemy. In the end his friendship with the ship’s doctor leads him to sacrifice his pursuit in order to save the doctor’s life, and in the end that decision actually leads him into a way of defeating the superior French vessel.
This has to be the best historical navy movie I’ve ever seen–the battle scenes were so amazing, even more so because I knew some of them were CGI and yet could never tell when we were splicing between computer graphics and real action. Just very well done in the special effects department.
But the real strength I thought was a strong ensemble of actors–sure Russel Crowe is the headliner but they had such good performances from everyone. You could really feel the friendship, the anxieties, the doubts, the love of country. Highly recommended, I’m looking forward to the DVD version due out in a couple months.
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