As Hollywood progressively loses touch with its audience, finding a genuinely entertaining, non-propagandizing movie made after 1997 is a rare treasure indeed. One such overlooked gem graced theaters in 2003 to critical acclaim but disappointing box office. Yet it remains a sterling exemplar of its genre and even has wisdom to share. Today, I offer a brief review of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
Watch the trailer:
Based on not one but two novels in the beloved Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O’Brian–Master and Commander and The Far Side of the World–this Age of Sail war film refreshingly gives viewers exactly what it promises: high adventure on the high seas, spiced with swashbuckling action and masculine conflict.
That second element is what makes Master and Commander stand out. It can rightly be called the most masculine film of 2003 without exaggeration, even compared to the movie that beat it for Best Picture, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
If you doubt me, consider that unlike Return of the King, Master and Commander does not have a love story subplot–or even a female lead. It is 100 percent pure black tar masculinity.
The film’s premise is simple. Captain Jack Aubrey, commander of the frigate HMS Surprise, is ordered to hunt down a French privateer off the coast of South America. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, wherein Jack must confront an external enemy whose seamanship matches his own, while at the same time balancing his personal honor, his duty to king and country, and his loyalty to his friends.
As in the novels, the friendship between Jack Aubrey and his polar opposite chief medical officer Stephen Maturin forms the heart of the movie. Whereas Jack is a man of action and a paragon of leadership, Stephen is Jack’s conscience–the voice of reason that tempers his flights of pride.
Leadership is a central theme of the movie and a major source of conflict between characters. A lesser film would mishandle this conflict by making Jack a cartoonish autocrat whose tyranny foments unrest among the crew. Thankfully, Master and Commander shows a deeper, more accurate representation of male power dynamics. The viewer buys Jack as an able leader because he acts decisively after considering his subordinates’ advice, he praises in public but rebukes in private, and he maintains a firm line between himself and the men under his command. It’s lonely at the top, the crown weighs heavy, and real men want a real leader worthy of their respect–not a buddy to pal around with.
The film emphasizes Jack’s skill as a leader by contrasting him with a junior officer who’s his polar opposite. He tries to befriend the crew instead of leading them. The result serves as a grave warning.
Vying for the crown jewel with the movie’s excellent portrayal of male hierarchies is its rare respect for Christianity. Master and Commander garnered universal praise for its historical accuracy, and accurately staging a period piece set aboard a Royal Navy ship in 1805 means portraying Christian men who take their faith seriously. Aubrey presides over more than one funeral–it’s a war movie, after all–and naturally offers invocations to God, including leading his crew in reciting the Lord’s Prayer. Other instances of prayer, snatches of Scripture, and the pious–and sometimes impious; again, war movie–use of the name of Jesus Christ occur as a matter of course.
Even Dr. Maturin, a naturalist in the mold of Charles Darwin, takes it as a datum that God created the newly discovered species of the Galapagos Islands. And in a subtle but masterful touch, he easily reconciles natural philosophy and theology with the Thomistic principle of secondary causation.
Which goes to show that this movie is surprisingly deep.
Like its namesake novels, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World contains lavish attention to detail. The production used not one, but two, full-scale sailing ships. Both are replicas of HMS Rose, the first of which was built in the 1970s based on authentic Admiralty plans. Fox bought Rose and refitted and renamed her to portray HMS Surprise on film. They then built a non-seaworthy replica of the replica in the same giant wave tank used for James Cameron’s Titanic.
Surprise’s adversary, the Acheron, is largely a digital creation. However, she is based on painstaking scans of USS Constitution. The novel’s American antagonists were changed to French at the studio’s insistence–another rarity in our increasingly woke age.
Master and Commander comes highly recommended. It’s worth owning, especially if you can find a used copy. This disappearing species of masculine military fiction should be given a prized place in every Western man’s collection.
The same goes for high-T adventure set in the post-future.
Masculine military fiction isn’t really disappearing. It’s just shifting from swashbuckling seamen like Jack Aubry and Horatio Hornblower to coffee addicts like Talker and the champion of trigger nukes, Tyrus Rechs.
Brian
I recommend the novels too. I have the first one and enjoyed it very much.
It’s a treat
xavier
I never actually saw this one for whatever reason, but it’s going on my dwindling list of movies to collect before the bottom falls out.
As for non-propagandizing movies made after 1997, my list is a very limited, but I would highly recommend a few. I also wouldn’t mind some other recs, if anyone has them. I’m only going to cover between ’97 and Master & Commander’s release.
Blade (1998)
Dark City (1998)
The Mask of Zorro (1998)
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Ronin (1998)
Galaxy Quest (1999)
The Mummy (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Thirteenth Warrior (1999)
Almost Famous (2000)
American Psycho (2000)
Frequency (2000)
Pitch Black (2000)
Unbreakable (2000)
Mulholland Drive (2001)
The Mummy Returns (2001)
Adaptation (2002)
Blade II (2002)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
Kung Pow! Enter the Fist (2002)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Road to Perdition (2002)
Signs (2002)
Big Fish (2003)
Kill Bill (2003)
Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
The Rundown (2003)
Secondhand Lions (2003)
After this point is when most of what I like became Bourne knock-offs, stoner comedies, or endless takes on cape flicks, so I slowly drifted out of movies over time.
I’m also not head over heels with all of them, but I think they are worth seeing for those who want something to watch. And they don’t contain heavy anti-human messaging.
Thanks for posting the list. You pretty much summed up my sentiments. The first Matrix film merits consideration, though Dark City beats that whole series at its own game. Likewise, Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek, and the Mothman Prophecies is the best X-Files film.
Mulholland Drive has me the most torn. On one hand, it has the best executed jump scare ever. On the other hand, the sexual degeneracy verges on being a deal-breaker.
It’s not one of my favorites of his, but I do have a soft spot for David Lynch. Few directors would make me want to get through such things to get to the actual meat of the story.
Though I would certainly suggest Lost Highway or Blue Velvet over it, I have to admit.
Again, I concur.
In fairness, the early 2000s were an aggressively patriotic era. Trying to portray non-American heroes fighting American villains just two years after 9/11 would’ve provoked a severe backlash.
Good point. The patriotism surge is easy to forget now that our elites have switched villains from overseas sandbox denizens to their own people.
I watched this movie with some friends back around the time it came out. We all liked it a lot, though it was very different than the usual type of thing we’d consume at the time. At the time, I didn’t realize what made it so enjoyable, but what you’re saying makes a lot of sense. I’ll have to give this a watch again.
Good to see you got a little traction on the Blab with this one.
Thanks. It’s a good platform, but I’m still figuring it out.
> no mention of the real life Thomas Cochrane and the HMS SPEEDY
http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/915/652/b49.gif
>became a war hero by taking on an enemy ship that far outclassed his & winning
>cashiered out of the service following a dubious conviction for stock market shenanigans
>went mercenary in Chile, Brazil & Greece
>pardoned by the Crown
>promoted to Rear-Admiral of the Blue
>died as Admiral of the Red.
Own M&C. Any love for Black Hawk Down?
That’s one I haven’t seen, actually.
You mention the Lord’s Prayer scene at the funeral; it’s an amazing, subtle piece of religious historical accuracy that one can see Stephen stop just before the line “for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory…” Because, not mentioned in the movie but stated in the books, he’s Catholic, and Catholics didn’t use that line with the Lord’s Prayer till after Vatican II.
Which goes to show why the recent conniption fits over supposed changes to the Lord’s Prayer were historically illiterate nonsense.
I can’t in good conscience agree, but I was only making a point about the accuracy of the film so I’ll leave it at that.
Caveat, Catholics did hear that line, but is was only said by the Priest after the collective prayer, and not by the faithful.
That’s why in Tolkien’s translations of the Lord’s Prayer into Elvish, neither the Quenya nor the Sindarin version include the Priest’s line.
That’s how it is in the Novus Ordo Mass of the Missal of Paul VI, issued after Vatican II. The line was certainly not in the Mass of the Missal of Pius V, which was in use at the time the film is set, nor in the Mass of the Missal of Pius X/Benedict XV, which Tolkien would have attended for most of his life.
I have to check this movie out. From your description it sounds somewhat similar to “Crimson Tide” from 1995 which also deals with male hierarchy in military setting. The submarine commander in the story is the antagonist but not a villain; just an alpha who is dedicated to his duty. The ending is one of my favorites: protagonist and antagonist salute each other and part ways with respect.
Having watched it on your recommendation, I have to say that one of my favourite scenes was when Jack relates a story about Lord Nelson, wherein he was standing out in the cold rain without a coat, saying that his love for King and Country alone kept him warm. Jack admits that coming from anyone else that line would seem ridiculous, but coming from *Nelson*, you could actually believe it.
At least some of those conversations really happened. Admiral Thomas Cochrane, the real-life inspiration for Jack Aubrey, met Nelson in 1800. Cochrane recorded Nelson’s advice “Never mind maneuvers; always go straight at them” in his diary.
The Youtube documentary I watched about Thomas Cochrane’s life was *better* than most movies. Man was a legend.