Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, 2003.
Directed by Peter Weir.
Starring Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany.
SYNOPSIS:
Would Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World count as a cult classic, given its tepid box office performance but popularity in the home video world? However you want to look at it, this digital release offers the new 4K restored version of the film (yes, I’m sure the physical disc outperforms the stream) along with most of the bonus features that were found on the old DVD set but didn’t make their way to the new edition. Yes, the new edition includes a digital code, so everything described below is available if you buy the new 4K Ultra HD release.
For whatever reason, I missed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World in theaters and never caught up with it on home video, either. I’m glad I finally did, even if it’s in the form of a streaming digital copy, not the new 4K Ultra HD release that’s apparently selling at a premium right now because of a product shortage (I imagine the reports of many people receiving damaged Steelbooks don’t help the situation either).
Directed by Peter Weir, this film is an adaptation of one of the 20 books in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian. I’m not familiar with those novels, but I should seek them out at some point, based on the excellent adventure found in this film.
Russell Crowe stars as Captain Jack Aubrey while Paul Bettany plays his ship’s doctor, Stephen Maturin. The year is 1805, and Aubrey’s ship, the HMS Surprise, has been tasked with hunting down the French privateer frigate Acheron, which is faster and more nimble than such a ship would normally be.
The point-of-view stays almost entirely on the crew of the HMS Surprise, save for a few shots from the point-of-view of a telescope on the Acheron, as the two ships play a cat-and-mouse game with each other. The action-packed, harrowing set pieces are held together by a string of wonderful character moments as Aubrey and Maturin navigate disagreements with each other and resentments among some of the crew.
I know I’m not the first person to note that the Aubrey-Maturin relationship is reminiscent of Star Trek’s Kirk-Spock friendship. While it would be tempting to use McCoy in place of Spock, given the fact that he was the head doctor aboard the Enterprise, the reality is that the enjoyable elasticity in Kirk’s push-and-pull friendship with Spock is very similar to Aubrey and Maturin’s back-and-forth situation.
In fact, Maturin is more than a doctor: he’s also a naturalist who is thrilled by a stopover at the Galapagos Islands, which at the time were a hotbed of new species discoveries. Of course, his desire to stop and investigate is at odds with Aubrey’s insistence that they plow ahead in pursuit of the Archeron, and the way that conflict plays out is delightful.
Aubrey has a “man’s man” air about him, but there are clearly layers below the surface, as I imagine O’Brian’s books lay out. It’s a shame Master and Commander: Far Side of the World didn’t get a sequel or two, but it ended up swamped at the box office by Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which is a perfectly fine movie that didn’t really need all those sequels.
Oh, and before I get into the extras found here, yes, the battle between the Surprise and the Archeron is reminiscent of the Enterprise and the Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The naval overtones that Nicholas Meyer inserted into the beloved sci-fi franchise were always obvious, of course, but they’re even clearer after watching this film.
So, the bonus features. I don’t have the 4K Ultra HD edition for a comparison, but the digital edition seems to have more extras than the physical copy does. Yes, I appreciate the desire to own movies on disc and will pick this one up when the prices become more reasonable, but it’s nice to know that the bonus features missing from the new release can be found here.
The extras lead off with the 68-minute The Hundred Days, which is one of those great making-of documentaries that we don’t see much anymore. Yes, that’s because this documentary dates back to the golden era of DVDs, when studios were much more willing to spend money on extras, but at least it’s preserved in digital form.
Clocking in at 20 minutes, In the Wake of O’Brian gets into the meticulous historical details O’Brian researched when writing his books, which are, of course, reflected in the movie. While The Hundred Days gets into this topic a bit, this featurette really digs deep.
On top of that, we get three featurettes running 72 minutes total: an HBO First Look, an examination of the sound design, and a glimpse into the visual effects team’s work, which complemented the actual ship they filmed on at sea, along with the sets for the below-decks areas. The name Cinematic Phasmids is a reference to Maturin’s fascination with stick bugs, which blend in with tree branches to hide themselves.
Finally, we have 24 minutes worth of deleted scenes, all of which could spark arguments regarding whether or not they should have been included, a series of multi-angle glimpses into the climactic battle, three trailers, and a version of the film that displays various facts on the screen. It looks like the stills galleries have been omitted.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
