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MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD (2003, DVD) Directed by Peter Weir Starring Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany Running time: 139 minutes Rating: **** A REMARKABLE cinematic achievement, Australian director Peter Weir's first major feature since 1998's The Truman Show is a rousing period adventure which captures the thrills and spills of early 19th-century seafaring life, giving stunning attention to detail.
The film, adapted from Patrick O'Brian's acclaimed Napoleonic War novels, is so splendidly conceived by Weir and sweepingly shot by Oscar- clinching cinematographer Russell Boyd that you'd be soaked up in it from start to end.
The HMS Surprise, under the command of Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), is on a naval mission in the South Atlantic to pursue and capture or destroy the French warship Acheron.
Creaky and not quite in the best shape for battle, the British vessel is no match for the faster, bigger and better armed French frigate, which almost succeeds in its first Surprise attack.
But Aubrey is no ordinary sea captain. Having served under Admiral Nelson and earning a reputation for valour, he does all in his power to bolster the fighting spirit of his worn and weary crew.
A private man who relies on the...