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Master and Commander is an adventure on the high seas. It gives us the depiction of a cat and mouse game between the captains of two ships. It's a good movie with one weakness.
The major weakness of this movie is that it ultimately looks at every character in an analytical way. The result is that I admired the characters but never became attached to them. This might not be bad news for a character study, but it isn't particularly beneficial to an adventure movie.
The perspective of Master and Commander is from the captain and crew of one ship. The captain is played by Oscar winner Russell Crowe. There is tremendous attention to detail and the actors give marvelous portrayals of their characters. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany (together again from the movie A Beautiful Mind) shine as do several other actors especially the actor who played the young officer who lost his arm.
It is interesting to see what the quality life of the sailors was like in that time period. Beautiful photography and lavish sets abound.
There are numerous men aboard the ship living in tight quarters and the men from different walks of life with some being officers, one a doctor and the rest crew men on the ship. This naturally leads to some conflict and tension.
For adventure movie lovers, Master and Commander is a good choice. You'll probably be satisfied although not swept away (no pun intended).
There is another difficulty, however, for this movie. I believe it is overshadowed by Pirates of the Caribbean which is a tough movie to compete with. There will be inevitable comparisons, and Pirates of the Caribbean will come up the winner.
I rate this movie a C. It was better during the second viewing and I think time will be kind to this movie.
Master and Commander is an adventure on the high seas. It gives us the depiction of a cat and mouse game between the captains of two ships. It's a good movie with one weakness.
The major weakness of this movie is that it ultimately looks at every character in an analytical way. The result is that I admired the characters but never became attached to them. This might not be bad news for a character study, but it isn't particularly beneficial to an adventure movie.
The perspective of Master and Commander is from the captain and crew of one ship. The captain is played by Oscar winner Russell Crowe. There is tremendous attention to detail and the actors give marvelous portrayals of their characters. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany (together again from the movie A Beautiful Mind) shine as do several other actors especially the actor who played the young officer who lost his arm.
It is interesting to see what the quality life of the sailors was like in that time period. Beautiful photography and lavish sets abound.
There are numerous men aboard the ship living in tight quarters and the men from different walks of life with some being officers, one a doctor and the rest crew men on the ship. This naturally leads to some conflict and tension.
For adventure movie lovers, Master and Commander is a good choice. You'll probably be satisfied although not swept away (no pun intended).
There is another difficulty, however, for this movie. I believe it is overshadowed by Pirates of the Caribbean which is a tough movie to compete with. There will be inevitable comparisons, and Pirates of the Caribbean will come up the winner.
I rate this movie a C. It was better during the second viewing and I think time will be kind to this movie.