I can see why this one was so highly reviewed. Peter Weir, (The Mosquito Coast, Dead Poets Society, The Year of Living Dangerously) puts you on the "Surprise" in a way few movies do. The only 'sea movie cliche', the doctor's operation, has an interesting twist. You can smell the smoke and feel the recoil of the cannon. The soundtrack is the best 5.1 I've ever heard. Use of the rear channels shows a deft touch by the engineer. Gonna watch it again tonight.
I like that one a lot, too. It's amazing how Depp keeps up that drunken voice throughout the movie... I think they're making a '2'. I wanna see "Master And Commander", but haven't gotten round to it, yet.
I have been a fan of O'Brian's for years. When they said they were making a movie and it would star Russell Crowe I became anxious they would screw it up since in the books, Capt. Aubrey is a very tall, whip thin black haired guy. Not Crowe; thats for sure. However he really did a good job and I thought they succeeded as much as possible. The books are very technical in their description of the Royal Navy and it's operations as well as describing in minute detail exactly what each specific part of a ship of the line is and does. 10 pages on how they turn a squarerigged man-o-war is not an uncommon detail. J.R.