"Lucky Jack" Aubrey (Russell Crowe) is the Captain of the Royal ship Surprise, a British sailing ship sent to capture the Acheron.
"Lucky Jack" Aubrey, it seems, has some sort of insane, intense need to capture the the Acheron at any cost. Captain Jack and will stop at nothing hunt down and destroy the privateer ship...
There were two "sailing ship" movies up for oscars in 2003: Master and Commander and Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Although Master and Commander was good, Pirates was much better, and deserved more Oscar nominations and the Best Picture nod. It seems to me that the Academy had to choose between the two films, and Master won out.
The plot of Master and Commander was slow to develope, and there is more diologue than action in a movie touted as a "swashbuckling epic." Certain films, like Clerks for example, can be diologue-heavy and work. This story, however, focuses more on character interaction, which, good in it's own way, has got to be balanced with action in a film of this type.
If you have to choose between Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, take the better one: Pirates.
Plot: 
The plot of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is hardly established at all. The only thing we really know about what's going on is that the British ship is chasing a French Privateer Ship. We don't know why they are chasing this ship. Does Captain Aubrey have some personal vendetta? Was he ordered to catch the ship? They never do say.
Visual Effects:
Master and Commander won the Oscar for cinematography, but the cinematography was good at best. There weren't many special effects aside from the battle scenes, which to their credit were well done.
Sound:
There is a decent score to the film and adds to the feel of the picture. Sound, what the film won it's other Oscar for, like cinematography, was good at best. There was nothing special about it.
Character Development: 
One thing I did like is the detail put into each character. For the most part, each character has their own little back-story. We learn something about them or we see something happen to them.
Atmosphere:
Realism:
This film is based on a series of books, and was done up very well. In the books, the americans, not the French, are the enemies. They started to use the Americans as the enemies, but changed early on. This has created a few anachronistic goofs, some which are clearly visible.
Warren’s Rating:
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
*Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, (2003); Lost in Translation (2003); Mystic River, (2003); Seabiscuit (2003)
7.29/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
05-12-04
