Master & Commander (2003) - Page 2

Well according to reports, it was Crowe who didn't like the concept of the original script, and wanted the "Robin Hood Begins" approach.

True or not, I don't take issue with Crowe's performance in RH. He did as good as he could with the script and the direction that he was given. That discussion is for the RH thread, though.

You guys have inspired me to dig out the DVD and watch it tonight.

Funny, I just happened to be watching the blu-ray of the film last night when someone brought this thread back to life.

It's such a REAL film in so many ways. It sounds amazing as well. I love any moment when Crowe is teaching the young boys his way of life. They're really more moments than scenes, but they just feel so warm and true.

Just watched this tonight and had to dig this thread up. I'd seen it before, but it was back around when it was released, and I was younger and stupider then. I didn't remember much about it, though I had this vague recollection that it was kind of long and slow.

 

Well, younger me was a dumbass, cause this film is flat-out great. Honestly, for what it is I thought it was just about perfect. Crowe's performance is completely captivating, managing to be both larger-than-life and very human. It's also kind of amazing how much levity they're able to inject into the movie. It's certainly not a laugh riot, but there are tons of little character moments or clever lines that make you chuckle and keep it from becoming too dour an affair. It's just so perfectly balanced, and feels both epic and sweeping as well as letting you feel the claustrophobia of the ship. Fantastic, can't say enough good things about it.

Tonight, you become a man.

 

Mazel tov.

Yeah I'm almost due for a rewatch of this gem. I don't do much rewatching these days, but M&C is an exception to that rule.

I just go by drinking game rules: anytime someone mentions M&C, I drop everything & watch it.

 

It's a good system.

A totally exhausting film, in a good way.  Feels like you've been through the whole Battle of Trafalgar and a few Hornblower books at the same time.  I seriously had to pause afterwards, the first time I saw it, just to remind myself that this was only really two ships.

 

I was going to bring it up in the other thread, but here's better;  why do people think it didn't do so well?

I know a few people who were into Hornblower and Pirates at the time who were keen, but came out finding they didn't like it because it was too realistic.  Seafaring had been TV/Disney-fied for them.  So I'm sort of stuck on that explanation personally.

I need to see this damn movie.

I would like some feedback from an honest-to-god female who has seen this movie. Does such a thing exist? My wife refuses to watch it. Out of ignorance, I say!

I've seen it, and I love it.

Yeah but Lauren, you're awesome.

Why wouldn't honest-to-god females like this movie? It's really just a perfectly balanced film. Usually I don't really give a fuck about naval warfare, but the battle scenes work for me here. So tough to pick a favourite part, but I love the whole "Is that his brain?" "No...that's his brain" exchange.

How could someone who actually likes good movies not like this?

 

Crowe's "lesser of two weevils" joke was my most embarrassing moment in a theater ever. You see, the joke does not work at all in Greek. And for some reason the translators didn't even try. So in a theater that barely reacted to this I just started cackling uncontrollably. I could just feel everyone's "what is this idiot doing?" looks boring a hole through the back of my head. Which led to me laughing even harder.  

One of my favorite Blu-Rays, solely for the audio. Crank it up and the whole house will shake. One of my favorite films of the 2000s.

 

As for it not doing well, how much of it was due to Crowe fatigue? Wasn't this around the time of his "Fightin' round the world" peak?

There was a last minute delay, bumping it from June to November. They were getting out of the way of Pirates, but no one expected it to be the monster hit it turned out to be--so when M&C came out later, the public dismissed it outright as "second fiddle". Those that did go complained that there were only two battle scenes (it was marketed as a rip-roarin' swashbuckler). Word of mouth turned it around, and a soft re-release after it racked up a dozen Oscar nominations (thought I still contend that Bettany was robbed of a nod), got it over the $100 million mark stateside, and it did pretty OK overseas, but this was before the studios were using that as a measuring stick. Thus, no sequel.

 

But that all is actually OK for me. That ending is so damn perfect that it makes my heart swell every time I watch it. "Subjects to the requirements of the service." Crowe telling them to beat to quarters without hesitation. Crowe and Bettany on their string duet, and the ship comes around for its next mission, their work never done, their target just visible on the horizon. Fucking. Perfect.

Does anyone actually remember what the Best Picture of 2003 was? My brain keeps saying it's M&C...but that can't be right.

 

Are you being sarcastic or do you really not know?

 

Fixed. Just for you.

Heh, I just didn't want to answer and then get "I know, I was being sarcastic."

Too bad Fellowship, which is the best of the series, didn't get it in 2001.  To give it to A Beautiful Mind was a crime against nature.  That could have opened the door for Master and Commander in 2003.

 

(Or, in an even better alternate reality, the actual best film of 2003, Irreversible!)

I'm sure it's been said before, but in a just world we'd be looking forward to the fourth in the franchise this fall and speculating who'll take over the Aubrey role from Crowe now that he's getting a little old for it. (I mean, by this point in most franchises we're happy to lay it to rest, but when each installment is at least as good as the last, if not better, and performs handsomely at the box office, as my fantasy M&C series obviously does, why not let the good times roll, right?)

Is it time for the reboot with Hardy and Cumberbatch yet?

Aubry's the kind of role that can age with the actor! No need to recast! Crowe 4Evah!

 

Though I hope Bettany doesn't think he's too big a name to keep on with the franchise. I know he hit the big time in 2005, after the one-two punch of Constantine and Kingdom of Heaven, but a little brand loyalty never hurt anyone, Paul!

Love this movie, but it's never getting a sequel. Although Crowe is keen.

Give Rothman credit where it's due, he greenlit this and hired Peter Weir. In fact it was his idea to begin with.

Stelios, I'm curious, are movies dubbed or subtitled in Greece? I assume dubbed as nobody got the joke, and many people in the cinema probably spoke English.

Subtitled. Nothing is dubbed unless it's for children. And still then, half of the showings are subtitled. Unless we're talking about some third grade "Barbie goes surfing" bullshit.

 

And even if a lot of people here speak some English, easily getting that joke would assume too much of them.

Barbie went surfing?! How am I only hearing about this now!?!

Movie theaters around here are doing close captioning with special glasses during regular screenings. I would almost wish that foreign films were done the same way here. I like subtitles, but wouldn't mind watching a film again without them. My Spanish is decent enough that I can understand most conversations.