I loved Master and Commander, Oddly, I think it's better if you've read at least
some of the books, even though they didn't stick to any one of them. The movie is
a pastiche of two or more of the books' plots (the title, Master ad Commander: The
Far Side of the World) is from the first and tenth books. In the movie, they have
two fights, a boarding, several assorted deaths, two of Maturin's more spectacular
surgeries, a bit of his naturalist studies, some reflections on the nature of
authority and friendship, a flogging, a couple of religious services led by the
Aubrey, a severe storm, hot weather, cold weather, and anecdotes about Nelson. In
other words, it's almost a Greatest Hits of the series, which made this one
wonderful, but made me suspect that the sequel will be a rehash of the same.
Unless they're smart enough to address some of the more landbound plot elements
that were left out of this one, like Aubrey and Maturin's marriages, Maturin's
spying, and the political ups and downs of Aubrey's career
ladder.
The filming was incredible, and we couldn't spot which scenes
were shot in tanks and which on open ocean. Crowe was a perfect Aubrey, and the
actors playing Maturin, Pullings, and a couple of the young midshipmen were also
impressive. They also did a very good job of using fast and furious clipping to
convey a sensse of violence and gore when appropriate without actually showing a
lot of it.
No romance at all, and there's a lot about friendship and
duty and the conflict between the two - like the books, it's very much a man's
story but in the best of ways -- open to any woman interested in the virtues of
pride and honor and duty that men have so long tried to pretend are especially
theirs.
One review I saw called it slow, but I didn't find it so at
all and I am not a patient woman in a movie theater - not much of a film buff at
all, in fact. It may have helped to be familiar with the mileu from the books.
They managed to stick astounding close to the spirit O'Brian created considering
how far the plot departed from the letter of his writings. I recommend it highly.
Sit back away from the screen if you're prone to seasickness.