Master and Commander: Far Side of the World
(Collectors Gift Set)
Picture: A- Sound:
A Extras: A- Film:
B+
To be honest, when I first
heard about a film starring Russell Crowe and one of my favorite directors
Peter Weir, I had to laugh. It seemed
right that these two Australian talents should work together, but in the same
breath, Weir makes movies that are moody, artsy, and deep, which was not the
direction it seemed that Russell Crowe was headed. After working with Ridley Scott and the success
of Gladiator, most pinned him as being a ‘tough’ kinda actor who would end up
doing countless action ventures for the remained of his career, but this was a
wise decision on behalf of both men to work together.
Not only was working
together a great choice, but the content of their film was also well
planned. There have been very films made
that deal accurately with the history around the Napoleonic Wars, especially
movies that deal with sailing or the exploration of these men fighting for
their lives, while expanding their native homes into further territory,
essentially the America’s. Speaking
of Ridley Scott, his 1492: Conquest of
Paradise was the last film with such depth and scope that explored the
realism of life on a ship, but that was not the focus of that film, though it
could be argued that Scott's White
Squall was also did.
Master and Commander puts us right in the middle of the Napoleonic wars
as the British HMS Surprise is at stand with a much larger, more powerful
French warship, the Acheron. The setting
is off the coast of South
America with HMS Surprise
being led by Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and the agenda for the Acheron
is to take his ship as a prize, but that won’t be as easy as the French
think. What is particularly great to see
with this film is that Aubrey is given real human qualities as a leader. He is stern, strong, and has courage, but he
is also flawed. He is a well-revered
leader and must make some hard decisions on their quest. This is war and what better place to show man
at his best and weakest moments.
2003 was a very poor year
altogether in terms of above average filmmaking. A few films stood out such as Kill Bill Vol. 1, Lost in Translation, The
Last Samurai, and even Master and
Commander, but none of these films ended up getting the attention that they
deserved mostly due to the Academy delivering its respect to the final
installment to The Lord of the Rings:
Return of the King, which everyone knew was going to happen anyway. Master
and Commander, like The Last Samurai,
fits the bill of an epic adventure through a historical time that by today’s
realities is so far removed. Few of us know what it is like to live without the
necessities of life or to live the life aboard a ship, but this was the price
that was paid for the advancement of civilization and control that happened
just over a hundred years ago.
Fox really knows how to do
things right when they want to and with Master
and Commander they have made the decision to release the film to DVD in
2-separate versions. First there is the
basic edition, which simply contains the film and no supplements. This of course is for people that enjoyed the
film and might watch it a few times, but are not impressed further than
that. However, for those that really
enjoyed the film and want all the goodies that go along with it, be
prepared. Fox also issued a Collector’s
Edition for the film that will earn the respect of a few as being one of the
best DVD’s released this year. Before we
get into all those extras lets focus on the technical qualities assessed to
Disc One, the film.
The only other extra on
Disc One however, is an exclusive look into the production of I, Robot. The film is presented in its anamorphically
enhanced widescreen 2.35 X 1 aspect ratio, giving a very lucid look for Russell
Boyd’s Oscar-winning Cinematography.
Boyd is a regular in Peter Weir’s repertoire and here he captures
something different than his usual. Master and Commander is a dark film
with many of the scenes taking place with little sunlight. There are times when the skies are gray and
the palette has a lackluster look, but the brilliance is that his camerawork
gives the shakiness and uneasiness that would coincide with being on a
ship. Not only that, but keeping the
colors as controlled as possible with naturalistic lighting schemes. The DVD delivers with a really nicely
rendered transfer and is one of the best examples of a darker film done right. Contrast levels are very good and whites are
never blown out or uncontrollably bright.
Given the few disadvantages with where the DVD format is right now this
is certainly a fine example of one of the better discs in terms of picture
quality.
Sound-wise the film is a
real stunner! Fox gives us the option of
both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, with the DTS being a sure pleaser! What is perhaps the most impressive about the
sound design for this film is that it can be subtle and still pack a huge punch
all in one. Even the quiet moments of
the film you can hear all the little cracks and pulls of the ship going through
the water. When the ship is at battle
the entire soundfield becomes extremely engaged with cannons being shot, which
travel through the surrounds with a highly impacted feel. The last Fox film that really stood out like
this on DVD was From Hell, starring
Johnny Depp.
Since the DTS offers the
higher 748 Kbps rate versus Dolby’s 448, the fidelity, clarity and compression
are not a problem, where Dolby becomes far too substandard and the mix feels
too front and forward. After listening to the heavy engagement of the DTS 5.1
mix, the Dolby will almost sound like it’s in 2.0 stereo. While the film does not contain a center rear
channel, the left and right surround almost create a phantom center position
and render a really nicely balanced surround feel. Some other qualities include a super low-end
frequency range in the .LFE channel with lots of actively placed in both the
higher and lower frequencies. Dialogue
is centered nicely in the middle of the soundstage and comes across very
natural and appropriate.
I would even offer that
this is a fantastic film to use as a demo disc for both picture and sound, plus
its PG-13 rating allows for it to be mildly family safe. The goodies associated with the Collector’s
Edition also make its value quite immeasurable because very few DVD’s anymore
offer this type of quality. First the
packaging is a really rustic looking cardboard case, which contains both Disc’s
inside and a 28-Page Book that details the films production and the stars. There is also a foldout map, which shows the
places around Africa that the ship traveled so that a better visual is
created for the journey. While these are
not necessarily ‘useful’ they are quite cool and a nice addition.
The real supplements
however include a 70-Minute behind the scenes documentary, which is a
comprehensive guide to the film and was designed just for this edition;
therefore it is aimed at the true fan.
More of the production can be analyzed in the Multi-Angle Battle Sequence Study or the Interactive Cannon Demonstration.
These are both very helpful in going back to watch the film again and
gain a better appreciation of how the battle scenes were put together and also
further information on the cannons.
There are over 20 deleted
scenes collected here as well, which were pretty decent scenes, but only added
unnecessary weight to the film. Most of
them took a focus off the film and since the film ran over 2 hours anyway, they
were cut in order to have a more mass appeal.
There is also a HBO “First Look”,
which I am never a real fan of because they are so amateurish in their
content, but at least it is here, but really after going through the other
extras, this one will seem like a no-brainer.
In the Wake of O’Brian’s is a section in which Director Peter Weir covers
all the challenges of recreating the novel written by Patrick O’Brian, but his
translation of those novels was an attempt to be as realistic and faithful as
possible, without losing its cinematic vision.
After viewing this, I think that some will feel that the film did
accomplish that since some criticisms of this film was that it was too slow, or
avoided its own plot, etc. This was not
meant to be a huge adventure film in which danger lies at every turn, but was
an illustration of the events that did occur and a journey into the life of
these men on a more intimate level.
For those that love seeing
how certain special effects were achieved they can enjoy the Cinematic Phasmids, which looks into how
the team was able to bring an accurate interpretation of warships from over 200
years ago onto the big screen and be able to create the realism needed to make
this film work. Let’s just say that
sometimes these revealing segments often time ruin the experience, but this one
is quite unique and informative and might interest quite a few.
Then the basic extras are
also thrown in like the still galleries, trailers, teasers, and all those
add-ons. After going through all this
material one should find themselves quite knowledgeable on many of the
production aspects, the creation involved, and certain historical factoids, all
of which make this an all around great DVD Collector’s Set.
I do not really believing
in defending myself when it comes to certain movies as to why I enjoyed them,
but in this case I was not as impressed the first time I saw the film, but over
a few viewings I began to appreciate what the film was doing. Unlike most films that pull you along with
plot points that follow a certain order in an attempt to grab you at certain
places and then string you along from one to the next, this film drops all that
and puts its climaxes and high points all over the place. Certain times the film is slow, then the pace
picks up, but it never really tries to use one scene to directly link to the
next. The film also assumes that you are
moving along with it and does little to discuss certain things, but takes for
granted that you are astute and paying enough attention to comprehend the
film.
Indeed you must give the
film time to develop and should not expect a rollercoaster of a time, but this
is one to sit back and just take in the atmosphere and the intensity of the
film. Peter Weir has a gift for making
films like this and its great to see that they are starting to become more
commercially and critically successful.
Thankfully the talents of Crowe and Weir met up on the right film and
with this awesome Collectors Gift set, perhaps more eyes will be opened to the
power of this film.
- Nate Goss
