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| Master and Commander DVD Review |
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Order this DVD from Amazon.com
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Master and Commander
The Far Side of the World
Collector's Edition
(Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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| DVD Release Date:
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April 20, 2004
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| Length:
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138 mins.
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| Rated:
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PG-13
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| Format:
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Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1)
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| Audio:
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English 5.1 DTS, English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Spanish 2.0 Dolby Surround, French 5.1 Dolby Surround
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| Subtitles:
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English, Spanish, Closed Captioned
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| Extras:
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"The Hundred Days" Comprehensive Behind-the-Scenes Documentary, "In The Wake of O'Brian" Featurette, "Cinematic Phasmids" Special Effects Featurette, Sound Design Featurette, Interactive Cannon Demonstration, HBO "First Look" Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Multi-Angle Battle Scenes Studies, Art Galleries, Trailers
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Before its release, Master and Commander wasn't one of the movies I was really looking forward to seeing. From all the images and trailers, there was nothing about this movie that I was interested in. Number one would have to be the title - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Could the title be any longer? What's with Hollywood and the rash of long titles lately? Master and Commander aside, there's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and a few others that slip my mind right now. Having to write these titles over and over, quite frankly, is beginning to annoy me. Even forgetting the title, I'm not the biggest Russell Crowe fan. Sure, he's been in some of the bigger and better movies of the last few years, but there's something about him that grates me. And finally - there's the subject. Some history teachers in high school did their best to turn me off of the subject, so unless the movie is really something I'm really interested in, I'm really not too fond of the genre. But, after seeing the movie, I have to admit - I kinda liked it.
In Master and Commander, Crowe plays Jack Aubrey, captain of the HMS Surprise. The movie is set in 1805, during the time of the Napoleonic Wars. (The story is actually based on the series of books by Patrick O'Brian - specifically, book 10, The Far Side of the World.) The Captain has his orders to capture the Acheron, the flagship of the French Navy. However, when he's caught off guard by an unexpected counter-attack, Lucky Jack makes the decision to pursue the Acheron across the South Seas, despite heavy damage to his ship and crew. What ensues are some great chases, gun fights and sword battles. Under the direction of anybody else, this movie could have been completely different, but what separates this movie from any other action epic is the the story, the drama and the characters - and director Peter Weir makes this difference. I guess that's why he's a five-time Academy Award nominee. If it weren't for a little movie called The Return of the King, he might have won this time around.
For the DVD release of this movie, we get two different versions. The first is a single-disc edition, consisting of the movie only. The second is a two-disc Collector's Edition. The first disc is exactly the same as the single-disc edition, plus, we get a second disc loaded with some great features.
First up, there's a great behind-the-scenes documentary titled "The Hundred Days", which refers to how long it took to make the movie. Made exclusively for this DVD, the documentary, running just under 70 minutes, covers all aspects of the making-of the movie, including most interestingly, the creation of the HMS Surprise (two different ships - one that could be taken out to sea and one that would remain stationary). Other parts of this feature include looks at the film's characters and casting and how the filmmakers tried to remain true to the characters from the book, teaching the actors "the ropes" about life on a ship, make up and costumes, the challenges of shooting at sea, filming the Galapagos scenes, the climactic final battle and finally (and least interesting) the film's music. For the most part, this feature is must-see. It really makes you appreciate all the work that went into making this movie.
"In The Wake of O'Brian" is a look at translating the literary work to the screen. It starts out rather interestingly with director and co-writer Weir telling us about how he worked on the script and how he used historical artifacts to help him get into the time. Soon though, this feature gets a little tired. However, if you're interested in a history lesson, this might be worth viewing.
Next up, we get three featurettes. The first, is titled "Cinematic Phasmids". (Don't ask me what a Phasmid is.) Running at 30 minutes, this is a decent in-depth look at the film's visual effects. Second, we get a look at the film's Sound Design including an interactive sound featurette. These two featurettes are good in that they cover new material that we didn't get in the behind-the-scenes documentary. The final featurette is an HBO "First Look" at Master and Commander. This is your basic run-of-the-mill documentary that you'll find on any DVD. If you don't have the time to sit through the first making-of feature, this one, though not as interesting, may do.
The special features also include 6 deleted scenes. Given that Peter Weir was such a big part of the making-of and script-to-screen features, you'd think he'd contribute here with scene commentaries or introductions. Unfortunately, that isn't the case. As a result, these deleted scenes aren't really as interesting as they could have been.
Next, we get a feature called "Multi-Camera Shooting". This feature is great for any wannabe filmmakers out there. Here, you can harness the power of your DVD player and watch a couple of different scenes from the movie using the multi-angle feature.
The special features are rounded out by some picture galleries and theatrical trailers. Surprisingly, there are no audio commentaries.
I should also note the Collector's Edition DVD inserts. There's a great companion booklet and a map of South America with a Captain's Log. Two nice additions to the package that really provide that extra touch.
If you are at all skeptical about Master and Commander, don't be. This one is definitely worth checking out. It is equal parts action, drama and fun. And, if you really liked the movie to begin with, be sure to grab Collector's Edition. The extras included will make you appreciate the movie that much more.
| The Movie: |
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8/10 |
| The Extras: |
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8/10 |
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Master and Commander
Liam Cullin - Editor
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