Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey, renowned as a fighting captain in the British Navy, and ship's doctor Stephen
Maturin are on board their ship, the H.M.S. Surprise, when they're suddenly attacked by a superior enemy. With
the Surprise badly damaged and much of his crew injured, Aubrey is torn between duty and friendship as he
pursues a high-stakes chase across two oceans, to intercept and capture his foe. It's a mission that can make his
reputation -- or destroy Lucky Jack and his crew. In the course of the characters' epic journey, the movie travels
the world -- from the coast of Brazil to the storm-tossed waters of Cape Horn, south through ice and snow, to
the far side of the world, to the remote shores of The Galapagos Islands. Based on author Patrick O'Brian's
series of Aubrey/Maturin novels, the story is set during the Napoleonic Wars.
For more about Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and the Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Blu-ray release, see the Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Blu-ray Review published by Greg Maltz on May 9, 2008 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.5 out of 5.
Since Errol Flynn graced the screen in Captain Blood, the genre of swashbuckling,
seafaring films have enjoyed great notariety. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the
World is a period piece with modern execution. From the standpoint of the story and
cast, Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey is the ultimate star
of Master and Commander. He conveys an authenticity and
charisma that few actors currently possess, which allows him to pull off the Aubrey role so
authoritatively. But there is an even more impressive star of the film--a star you will not
see. Richard King was brought on board by director Peter Weir as "sound designer". His passion
and
technical expertise in audio engineering make the film a powerhouse cinematic experience,
transporting viewers from their seats
to a
place onboard the British Navy ship, Surprise, off the coast of South America almost 200
years ago. More
than any other aspect of the film, the realism and immersive quality of the audio puts the
audience in
the middle of the
action. King won the Academy Award of Merit for Best Sound Editing for his work on Master
and Commander. It was very well deserved, and the DTS-HD MA encode on the BD fully pays
off King's fantastic sonic achievement.
Beyond the visuals, the stunning audio presentation in DTS HD MA achieves perfection
throughout Master and Commander, including this scene depicting a storm off Cape Horn.
Based on Patrick O'Brian's novels about Aubrey's adventures, Master and Commander: The
Far Side of the World follows the Surprise, as it battles the Acheron, a
superior U.S.-made ship in Napoleon's navy. After a surprise attack by the Acheron
during the
film's opening scene, in which the British ship takes nearly insurmountable damage and barely
slips away in the
cover of fog, Captain "Lucky" Jack decides to go after the faster, stronger ship instead of
returning to England. At first, the decision seems foolhearty, as the Acheron again
surprises Aubrey. This time, he escapes under cover of darkness. But the story is more than a
series of chase and battle scenes, entertaining as those prove to be. Several
aspects of naval and ship service are explored.
Part of the story touches on concepts like religion and science in the prism of 19th century
thought. The latter part of the film takes place in the Galápagos Islands where the ship's Irish
doctor and naturalist, Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany) convinces Aubrey to let him explore and
collect specimens in a pre-Darwinian subplot. Unfortunately for Maturin, he makes an unexpected
discovery that leads him to cut short his tour of the Galápagos. One of his
specimens, an insect that looks like a twig, gives Aubrey the idea to disguise the
Surprise, leading to the film's climax, an intense battle, featuring an extended sequence
of intense hand-to-hand combat.
The picture quality of Master and Commander ranks alongside several other Fox BDs,
such as The Day After Tomorrow with near-reference-quality depth, black level, contrast
and detail. Because much of
the film takes place in
shadows and darkness, at night or in the ship's chambers, different viewers will have different
impressions of the video. Those with screens allowing them to see definition in dark areas will be
thrilled with the black level, while others may complain about a lack of definition. The quality of
the brighter scenes, however, is beyond criticism, with extraordinary color vibrancy and
resolution.
As in all the bright scenes, the shots of the Galápagos Islands show dramatic definition in land
surfaces, water surfaces as well as skin tones. Watch the textures of volcanic rock as Maturin
explores the terrain to collect specimens. It's impossible to miss the vibrancy and lifelike detail in
the picture. But even more interesting are the dark scenes that manage to use low-level contrast
to delineate characters and shapes. The night scenes and darkened ship's chambers are where I
expect some viewers to have problems resolving all the definition. The black-level detail is there
to be mined, free of pixellation and excess noise. But not
everyone has a screen capable of resolving the gradients of black and shades of grey. The small
film grain is unobtrusive and should not bother even the staunchest anti-grain videophile. It is
also worth noting that the camerawork is extraordinary and
Overall, the picture was practically reference quality, but Fox may have used some processing
that held it back a smidgeon.
The audio is the real spark that ignites Master and Commander, bringing life to the
action. This was apparent even in the DVD version, but the Blu-ray goes beyond the excellent
sound quality of the earlier release. Now, for the first time, the Blu-ray's DTS HD MA track allows
lossless access to sound
designer Richard King's original mix. This is a big deal for several reasons. First, it shows off the
superior dynamics of lossless audio. Second, the audio engineering of Master and
Commander: The Far Side of the World is a landmark achievement in film history. King's
work was the subject of an NPR Arts and
Culture focus on "All Things Considered", when the film was released in 2003. No stock audio or
prepackaged noises were used for the sound effects, according to King. The attention to detail,
recording and mixing are
reference level.
Listen to the battle scene at the beginning of the film when cannons
fire, the projectiles rip through the air and slam into the hull of the Surprise, splintering
the wood, sending men and debris flying. Modern audio design involves a blend of sounds created
in innovative ways. For example, the sound of a fist hitting someone's face is often created by
recording a head of lettuce thrown onto a hard surface. The roar of dinosaurs in Jurassic
Park was created by carefully blending the sounds of several animals, including birds and
cats, and adjusting the speed of playback. King's work in Master and Commander goes
beyond that in its pursuit of realism. What seems to be a straightforward recording of a cannon
firing is actually a blend of recordings engineered to complement the action and assigned to the
appropriate channel in the mix.
Another excellent scene for evaluating the audio is as the Surprise chases the
Acheron around Cape Horn. Here, the audio conveys the howling winds, torrential rain,
creaking planks of the ship and the crashing waves. Rarely if ever have Blu-ray fans been treated
to an audio mix with this combination of resolution and immersion. Even during quieter scenes,
the audio quality is uncanny in its realism. Sonic cues like the sounds of water and footsteps lend
good presence to the DTS HD MA track. The rich midrange during the Bach viola and cello pieces,
as well as voices and gunshots have a strength and palpability rarely heard in home theater
mixes.
Fox really screwed the pooch on the extras and shortchanged Blu-ray adopters shelling out big
bucks for this title. The two-disc DVD version had several excellent featurettes, including
Cinematic Phasmids and Sound
Design, weighing in at half and hour and over a quarter hour, respectively. Why weren't they
included? Other highly informative DVD supplements, such as The Hundred Days and
In the
Wake of O'Brien are also nowhere to be found. Instead, we get a few deleted scenes in
standard
definition, a trivia featurette, and a ship locator map available at any point during the movie. If you
care a great deal about extras, you'll want to keep your DVD version.
It is worth asking if Master and Commander would have received more attention if it
arrived in theaters at a different time than the much more successful Pirates of the
Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Both feature "Captain Jack" characters, swashbuckling
adventures on the open seas, and impressive battle scenes. But where Pirates of the
Caribbean achieved blockbuster status and Johnny Depp's eccentric Jack Sparrow character
became a sort of cultural icon, Master and Commander barely broke even on Fox's
budget to produce the film. At face value, that's understandable and not a problem. Both films
were very well executed, and it makes sense that a movie appealing to younger audiences would
gross significantly more at the box office. The reality, though, is that audiences chose the
equivalent of a theme park ride over an excellent series of books that easily could have spawned
even better sequels to Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. The biggest
disappointment of the film is that there would be no follow-up Master and Commander to follow
Lucky Jack's exploits in the service of England's navy. Instead, we got two insipid sequels to the
Pirates film, neither of which rose to the level of the first. Too bad. I would much prefer a trilogy
of Master and Commander films, but it was not to be. At least we have excellent Blu-ray
productions of both swashbuckling adventures from 2003.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: Other Editions
1-disc $23.99
Blu-ray bundles with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2 bundles)
Fox Home Entertainment has announced a release date and specs for their upcoming Blu-ray release of 'Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World', as well as 'Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid' and 'Mrs. Doubtfire'. All three titles will be released on May 13th, ...
Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will delay the Blu-ray release of 'Master and Commander: Far Side of the World' from February 5th until June. This was done in order to pair it with other "Father's Day" titles. These titles will include Blu-ray release ...
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Blu-ray, Forum Discussions
