Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: Attacking by surprise

[@irwinklinger1296]

The greatest, most authentic sea-faring tale ever put on screen, Peter Weir is a genius film maker.

[@TheAngelOfDeath01]

No, there has been a few others, but they were long ago, like back in the 50's and 60s'

[@carlchong7592]

Capt. Jack was not Lord Nelson that day. Nelson would have sat on Acheron's rear with his portside dealing multiple volleys of enfilading fire right up her bum until she surrendered. Instead he pulls alongside and forces his men to risk boarding a vessel with a substantially larger crew. When you are broadside to your opponent's aft you have a tremendous advantage. You can point many cannon at your opponent while the can only wheel a few around to the aft. Furthermore your cannonballs trash all sorts of stuff as they fly down the length of your target's ship while their few cannon may end up exiting out the far side of your ship. Enfilading fire through your enemy is devastating in naval warfare. The ruse de guerre was a good idea, but if he valued his crew he would have pummelled Acheron into submission from the rear until her captain submitted and ensured victory through Surprise.

[@bixby9797]

The entire series of books are a master class of making history real. I encourage everyone to get them all and read beginning to end.

[@thecocktailian2091]

I was an assistant choreographer on this film. A good bit more melee was shot, but it ended up on the cutting room floor. The only thing worth while I did in my few years in Hollywood.

[@GallowsPole805]

Production/Direction did their research on ship capabilities, weapons, ship to ship combat, and strategy/tactics of the time. My hats off to You All. One helluva movie.

[@Stefanthenautilus]

Holding out hope that the collected material got preserved so it can see the light of day, someday.

[@despahoria3043]

Excellent work sir. Hats off to you and your team. Easily the best movie about naval combat out there, unmatched to this day!

[@cagneybillingsley2165]

must feel good to know you were involved in the making of the greatest age of sail film ever made

[@antonioromano9963]

best film in the past 22 years

[@seanforrest7991]

This movie is such a phenomenal spectacle, it always crushed me how unappreciated it was.

[@greenleader3520]

It really is a hidden gem of a movie

[@susanvirgilio4615]

Agreed. Saw it with my middle-school son years ago and we both loved it.

[@chard7599]

Crushed even more knowing it should have been a trilogy

[@CorePathway]

The Hornblower series is best tho

[@98cents]

So it wasn't a huge smash hit that made a billion dollars, but that doesn't mean it was unappreciated. It's universally accepted as one of the best movies of its type. I see this argument all the time and it's just silly... it wasn't underrated or unappreciated, it just isn't well known about - there's a difference.

[@shauntbarry]

I can't believe this film is 20 years old and never received the accolade it deserved.. Stunning film

[@phoenixrose1192]

Or the sequels. 😢

[@ericzhi]

just really really unlucky it was in the same year as LOTR return of the king, similar to how shawshank was in the same year as forrest gump

[@ignaciolillo9986]

That stern fire was just so crazy. What a way to show the destruction.

[@farmerned6]

essentially thats what killed the bulk of the freanch and spainish at trafalgar

[@briantaylor9285]

that's called "raking fire", when you fire your cannons at the enemy's bow or stern, causing the cannon balls to fly down the LENGTH of the ship, causing maxinum destruction.

[@royalhero4608]

Yes that's what happened at Trafalgar once the Royal Navy got into action. HMS Victory double shotted broadside right into the French ships stern. Must have been beyond horrific

[@DomWeasel]

@@royalhero4608 When the 100-gun Royal Sovereign passed through the line at Trafalgar, she raked the French Fougeux with point-blank, double-shotted fire from 32 and 24 pounders, and killed or wounded half of the French crew in that one blow. Three decks of guns passing by a walking pace at point blank... And as she tore up the Fougeux with her starboard broadside, her larboard battery tore into the Spanish Santa Ana, another three decker. Victory did the same thing to the French Admiral's (I can't spell his name) flagship Bucentaure; again killing or wounding half the crew and dismounting 20 of her 80 guns.

[@royalhero4608]

@@DomWeasel Nobody these days can imagine the carnage of what battles like Trafalgar must have been like. Men of iron to do their duty in scenes like that

[@johnfenwick7641]

The greatest accurate and most reliable film of British naval life ever the characters the acting the story line and the props are awesome I love this movie

[@samwiserando]

hornblower is a good series based around the napoleonic wars of this time. well worth looking into and its all on youtube if you look.

[@doug6500]

I like the way they make Acheron a visibly much bigger ship. This is how one of those 44 gun "heavy frigates" would have looked to a standard 5th rate of the period.

[@richardmalcolm1457]

6th rate, actually! (Surprise only had 28 guns.)

[@doug6500]

@@richardmalcolm1457 Even worse!

[@probablynotaspy2806]

@@doug6500 Surprise was definitely on the lighter side of frigates, having only 9 pounder armament on her main gundeck, she was considered by the French (The ones who built her) technically a corvette, not even a frigate by their standards,

[@DomWeasel]

@@probablynotaspy2806 The French had switched to building bigger, better-armed ships (like 84 gun Third Rates instead of 74) while the Royal Navy's fleet became considerably aged by 1800. By Trafalgar, many of their best and youngest ships were prize vessels seized from other countries. Most Royal Navy captains agreed that the French built better ships. But the British trained their crews better, which was the deciding factor in the Royal Navy achieving global supremacy.

[@probablynotaspy2806]

@@DomWeasel 100% The french had the best and fastest third rates of the time, and the british often copied their designs from captured ships. The surprise was a much older design in a time where france was still making light frigates and may not have exactly mastered ship design yet.

[@thijshagenbeek6554]

That entire larboard battery's gunhatches opening in such quick succesion and the gun getting rolled out was beyond terrifying. All the more because the guncrews where so damn eager. Nothing scares me like a motivated man behind the trigger of a cannon.

[@LiemNguyen-qr6bq]

A great movie. Doesn't matter how many times i watch it, never get sick of it.

[@mar10ssj1]

Talk about a "Surprise" attack. He He He. Don't get up, I'll see myself out.

[@deee1979]

😂

[@menschkeit1]

the sound for this movie should have won two oscars

[@kylinsimonchow]

"Looks like the job is done, sir". Things you should never, ever say in a movie

[@jchan3358]

It would be if you were wearing a red shirt.

[@TiagoEstevinha]

ACHERON!

[@gregorycorey7288]

This movie is so much more accurate than pirates of the Caribbean ever was or will be. And much more entertaining to me

[@FallSichelSchnitt]

agreed

[@Max-is4qu]

I don't think accuracy was the goal of pirates 😅

[@briantaylor9285]

Pirates Of The Caribbean was a fantasy movie. 💀🐙

[@zico739]

Pirates of the Caribbean was not even remotely trying to be accurate. It’s fantasy lol.

[@jorrit1980]

Wait, what...hold up......Captain jack sparrow is not based on a real person!!!!

[@glennmartin8664]

"Fire as she bears!" gives me the same goosebumps as "BAYONETS!" from Gettysburg.

[@beanwithbaconmegarocket]

Incredible moment.

[@MrZazzles94]

Raked through the stern, brutal.

[@d53101]

Sitting in the theatre when it ended, I said “well you can run the sequel any time now.” Of course they didn’t.

[@jp-sn6si]

this isn't terminator, you don't make sequels for movies like this

[@d53101]

@@jp-sn6si For this one yes. They had to catch up and retake the Acheron. The French captain was on board unbeknownst to the British prize crew.

[@ISIO-George]

Although it got good reviews and 10 nominations, it did not do well enough at the box office, and that is the main thing that decides if sequals get made. It barely covered its production costs and I don't think it broke even after marketing costs.

[@Roheryn100]

@@jp-sn6siYet somehow Patrick O’Brian wrote twenty books about Aubrey and Maturin ! The Reverse of the Medal would have been a perfect sequel.

[@jp-sn6si]

@@Roheryn100 Master and Commander 2: The Further Side of the World! who's gonna watch that?

[@chuckselvage3157]

What a well made film Russell Crowe at his best.

[@robertallen6710]

Crowe was made for that role...

[@inigobantok1579]

Russell Crowe at his absolute prime

[@drunkweebmarine9492]

This movie deserved so many awarde

[@richardmalcolm1457]

It got 10 Oscar nominations, actually! (It only won 2, because it was up against the juggernaut that was RETURN OF THE KING.)

[@phoenixrose1192]

@@richardmalcolm1457 Both great films! 2003 was a bloody solid year…😢

[@alexgo373]

A lot of people are saying how in the original the heavy frigate was American, but you also have to mention that in the original this battle never occurred - the American frigate (USS Norfolk) was wrecked by a typhoon. This battle is closer in similarity to the HMS Sophie vs Xebec Frigate Cacafuego from the first novel.

[@davidmurray5399]

A stern rake was the ultimate attack you could inflict on your opponent during the Age of sail.

[@comancheclub3449]

Why?

[@andywhysall6744]

@@comancheclub3449 Because the shot from your entire broadside, fired through the stern (lightly built with windows in most ships) as the guns bore, can travel the length of that deck, wrecking and overturning gun carriages, killing the guns' crews , and chopping lumps out of all three masts 'tween decks and hardly see a shot fired in return. A skilled skipper of a 9-pdr-armed frigate could take on a bigger, more heavily armed ship, and, if she could keep crossing the enemy's stern while the enemy wriggled around trying to turn to get a broadside on, she could easily bring that enemy to its knees with repeated sweeps of the gundeck with roundshot and canister or grape shot. There were a couple of examples of exactly that happening where smaller British ships wore around the sterns of big French and Spanish frigates for hour after hour and fought them to a standstill with little damage or casualties to themselves.

[@Jack-ft1rb]

@@andywhysall6744 Britannia ruled the waves.

[@The_Daily_Tomato]

Waterloo, Gettysburg, Zulu, Glory and Master and Commander. Why can't we have more of those?

[@VideoMask93]

Labors of love...and sometimes immense resources. Zulu was a lower-budget exception. There is a new biopic of Napoleon filming, and we could also add Chernobyl.

[@dmcrun3572]

Because Guardians of the Galaxy 8 and Fast & Furious 12 are what makes money, video games, toys, spins offs, etc

[@The_Daily_Tomato]

@@dmcrun3572 I hate how right you are 😅

[@rear9259]

@@VideoMask93 Napoleon isn't like these movies.

[@VideoMask93]

@@rear9259 So I hear...I was hopeful back when I said that.

[@slimj091]

It's amazing that the french ship was even sea worthy after it's stern getting raked like that.

[@intake152]

In the original book the enemy ship was American ... but French for the intended audience :) Great film.

[@jamesbuchanan4414]

They were aiming for the aft quarters, well above the water line. That was meant to decapitate the command and control, rather than put her under. Even so, a typical aft strike would have gone for the rudder to disable steerage, rather than sinking it. Captured ships were far more valuable than sunken ones.

[@cpp3221]

Ships of the time were EXTREMELY solid. The Redoutable, at Trafalgar for exemple, was a french ship that dared to engage the Victory at Trafalgar, and ended up dominating it. The french crews under the capitaine Lucas were extremely well trained and attempted to board Nelson's flagship (also, it is probable that a shot from the Redoutable was the one killing Nelson since how lethal they proved to be); but then... the Victory was rescued by another ship of the line. The result is that it took 2 hours of point blank range fire from two bigger vessels, to bring the Redoutable into submission, half of the crew being put out of action. As a sidenote, Napoleon payed a big ramsom to have back Lucas, one of the few good commander in the napoleonic navy.

[@swiftmatic]

"I want your sail handling to be lubberly and un-navy-like"

[@RPGisDUM]

Early 2000s Crowe is a Timeless Chad.

[@Nabby933]

I always remember watching this when i was young with my grandpa he was in the Royal Navy and the merchant navy

[@kreemkrackered3755]

Canon fire at such close range is absolute carnage - truly terrifying

[@szymonlehmann6426]

This is movie and duel two ships,imagine how was at Trafargall battle furious and full of blood.

[@alpinewolf7751]

Question out of curiosity: Would the Acheron even have time to fire back (you can see a few of her guns doing so) given their state of surprise and back-then weapon technology?

[@Th0rgr1mm]

It was common practice for gun crews to man the guns when anticipating combat or a confrontation. Now whether the gun crew moved from their guns to watch the spectacle from a better viewpoint (opening) is up for debate, especially as they only expected the ship to be another whaler.

[@TheSegert]

They probably had loaded them. So yes. I would say so.

[@michaelkent7077]

0:20 you did see one of the Acherons cannons fire

[@astrotrek3534]

In the Royal Navy a gun crew was expected to reload in 90 seconds, at their best. However, they also sailed with guns loaded, so Acheron would not have needed to load the guns before firing.

[@SystemUnderSiege]

They would have been prepared going into this situation. Maybe not expecting it, but they'd be ready to fire.

[@mikespangler98]

Just to mix genres, this is how Captain Wentworth in Jane Austen's Persuasion made his fortune. Rough way to make a living. 😉

[@andrewg.carvill4596]

"Looks like the job is done, Sir" - A job is never done till it's done.

[@phoenixrose1192]

We all learned that lesson after watching this film. ☹️

[@briantaylor9285]

1:23 RAKED ☁️☁️💥⚫😳😮💥💀

[@chickenfist1554]

0:34 "Let me pull it, I WANT TO PULL IT!"

[@MasterControl-MCP]

“Fire as she Bears!” 🇬🇧🇬🇧💪

[@tudyk21]

The Frenchmen are layin' for ya, Lucky Jack!

[@Caporegime18]

For the prize! For there can only be one! (Eighties music and heads start flying off).

[@kaixiang5390]

The only thing missing is this movie is the loooooong waits because you’re only ever moving at like… 18 knots hahha

[@randomguy-xp7se]

A proper scrap it was dare I say.

[@beccatrap9672]

"WE SHALL BEAT TO QUARTERS!"

[@CoachGrizzleTV]

How I feel once I became Pirate Legend on Sea of Thieves...

[@benjaminanderson6709]

what a film.

[@Th0rgr1mm]

I'd watch this film everyday until I died if I could

[@robertallen6710]

I have been for the last twenty years...and I'm an old guy so I'm gonna die soon...

[@mitchwilden4538]

Best movie ever

[@harrynewiss4630]

What a great film. Wouldn't be made now.

[@jamiecorrigan3241]

REAL CINEMA !!!

[@Rob-lj3kf]

The series of books are excellent also.

[@lufasumafalu5069]

they left out the blood on the floor making the floor slick and slippery , and the numerous traumatic amputation from cannon balls

[@phoenixrose1192]

Officers even used a kind of sand paper type substance on the handle of their swords in order to grip on to them in battle.

[@SystemUnderSiege]

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I suggest you do, because those things are VERY much in it..

[@phbrinsden]

One of my all time favorites.

[@Monty_J]

Thank you patrick o'brien

[@marinegunny826]

We shall sail as fast as we can........ without our sail

[@poorfordtransitowner1627]

Thats seamanship

[@monicamattox72]

wooden ships and iron men: warcon nancon gencon..Avalon Hill gaming very cool battle scene of the Royal Navy vs the French...classic stuff: dj:spy-girl DALLAS xx

[@vincentkosik403]

Why don't we hear about this movie?

[@slimj091]

Because it's 20 years old?

[@vincentkosik403]

@@slimj091 I hear about his Gladiator movie and see it on cable repeatedly...not this one!

[@jshshh1041]

@@vincentkosik403 No you don't

[@racernatorde5318]

@@slimj091 Now, what's the age matter here? Besides the fact that it still surpasses every single movie made in those 20 years

[@SystemUnderSiege]

It's too high IQ. People want undead pirates not philosophical musings on our history of natural science & religion. I like undead pirates too but it is what it is.

[@maxten]

This aint no pirate movie, thats for sure. Brutal messy business.

[@Va5e1er]

I always wondered why they didn't rake the deck for hours from a safe angle if their enemy was dead in the water?

[@AlexC-ou4ju]

im guessing you want to make sure you have cannon ablls for the next ship in case you get surprised later.Also you don't want to accidentally sink your prize, I know you said rake the deck but misfires stray shots etc.

[@jimmccormack7507]

History.

[@Helldiver212]

And that kids is what we will call later a "War crime" there will be plenty of it.

[@thekameleon9785]

The worst enemy on sea for England was not the French. But the Dutch.

[@Painter75-z5l]

This something the Chinese and Russian navies will never have and English speaking navies have in excess, “Hearts of Oak”.

[@Jack-ft1rb]

Pretty sure the Chinese were some of the greatest seamen in history.

[@adey88splace]

Ambush!!!

[@johncahalane7327]

This was how it was on the high seas injuries were horrific I understand they sometimes filled the swivel gun with broken glass instead of shot cut though flesh and bone ,one thing you knew if you were immobilised you were probably going down with the ship. The bottom line here was you would drown,be burned alive or eaten by sharks all that was far from going out on a Saturday night in Bristol or Portsmouth to celebrate a birthday or a night out with friends...yes some were jolly Jack tars others just got drunk and pressed.... and subject to the tyranny of the British Navy....yes you could be flogged ,keel hauled or hanged and those were not the worst thing that could happen to you ,the food was terrible, the danger of climbing the rigging, the danger of spending time with cutthroats and criminals the reason why they were there ,you were lower than the criminals the captain knew they could be relied on to kill for taking the ship of the enemy, this was piracy in Nelson's Navy nothing romantic about it you cut rings off fingers stole boots and clothes off wounded and dying, you were held to a different standard when for King and Country...

[@stephenmaginn7247]

Swash buckleing

[@benquinneyiii7941]

Superfortress Mitchell Lincoln

[@slypen7450]

I'm down voting all these channels that post partials. You should too if you want changes.

[@Struthio_Camelus]

Copyright holders have a vote too, and theirs has the power of law.

[@kitsiewr]

Buy a DVD. Worth keeping some things as hard copy.

[@jesygalan1]

Distributed By Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (USA Canada) Miramax Films Distribution Paramount Pictures Corporation (UK Ireland) Universal Pictures Distribution (International)

[@tamenund3009]

The boarding scene was pure Hollywood and completely removed from reality. With the loss of her main-mast, the Acheron was completely disabled. The HMS Surprise would have sat idly by and signaled her intent to destroy her unless the Acheron's captain capitulated. There were similar instances in the War of 1812 where American warships thoroughly pounded ships of the Royal Navy; in battles where the damage was as one-sided as it was here, the Americans simply set up their guns for a second barrage and waited patiently for the white flag of surrender. It would have been unthinkable for a competent captain to put his ship and crew in harm's way the way Captain Aubrey did.

[@Roheryn100]

Well, since you know so much better than the myriad of real naval and ships’ consultants employed by the film….!

[@tamenund3009]

@@Roheryn100 Not at all. There's no doubt that the consultants pointed it out to Hollywood, who would have patiently explained that they needed to fill theatres to cover the film's budget (and that because Hollywood's target audience is about 25 years old, nobody in the seats was going to know this anyway). Look at the last 45 minutes of Saving Private Ryan; again, pure fiction. The Americans didn't need that bridge, the Germans did. Once the Americans realized they were outnumbered by the approaching Germans, they would have simply crossed the bridge and blown it up. But that wouldn't sell the movie.

[@m2heavyindustries378]

Sure bud, collect your medal from the admiralty on the way out yeah?

[@CollectorChronicles]

There was an 1812 naval battle where the British captain surrendered his sword and the American captain told him to keep it, as they fought valiantly.

[@tamenund3009]

You might like the book "Ships of Oak and Guns of Iron". There was another battle where an American ship defeated two British ships in the same battle; both captains, who were being held in the US ship's brig, were arguing over which of the two deserved the blame for their predicament. The American said something to the effect of, "Gentlemen, your fate was sealed the moment you challenged this ship. And if you think I'm kidding, I'll put each of you back on your own and we'll do it all over again." (They declined.)

[@Whiterioot]

This is just poor tactics. Why board a ship that basicly cant move? All they had to do was hit it with a couple of more broadsides to take out the last enemy firepower. Then grind down the rest of the enemy crew until they either surrender or perish. This is just a waste of manpower.

[@stevenbrockman682]

Prize money and glory were more important

[@BuddySpike101]

Back then the captain of the ship was given money for capturing an enemy ship which he would then distribute to the rest of the crew as a bonus. The Royal Navy would buy captured enemy ships off of the captain that captured the ship so that the captured ship could be repaired and put into service with the Royal Navy. Also the goods on board are worth lots of extra money too. Especially considering the French ship in this movie is a Privateer which means they rob other ships of their cargo to bring back to France. A privateer ship is bound to have some valuable stolen cargo on board. According to Steel's Original and Correct List of the Royal Navy, in April 1794 the navy had 303 vessels in active service. In 1799, including captured vessels, the total had risen to 646, of which 268 had been French. By adding the 597 corsairs taken from all nations, the total number of ships taken was 942. Capturing an enemy ship basically gives the Royal Navy a free ship to use against other bad guys.

[@andywhysall6744]

Tactics: Interestingly the Royal Navy's ultimate goal in battle was to render the enemy vessel incapable of firing back. The RN's usual practice was to fire into the hull of the enemy ship with a view to wrecking guns and killing gun crew. Then they would board, capture and then, if it could be done, try to prevent the enemy ship from sinking so it could be towed to a friendly port and repaired or sold on, the prize money then being distributed among the crew pro-rata. If the enemy ship sank, well, it sank, but they would do their best to prevent that though the main objective always being to beat the enemy mostly regardless of the result for that ship. The French and Spanish tactic was almost always to fight with the prize in mind, so they fired high to disable rigging and bring masts down and make the British ship unmanageable. Then they would aim to board and capture the ship hand-to-hand. They wanted their target to remain afloat so it remained a valuable prize. The casualty figures of almost every fight between British and French or Spanish ships bear that out, where British casualties might be counted on two hands (frequently just one), while the enemy ships often lost dozens. Even HMS Shannon's evenly matched, vicious, quarter-hour fight against USS Chesapeake in 1813 resulted in a similar outcome with 23 British killed and 56 wounded, against around 50 Americans killed and 99 wounded and Chesapeake captured. An interesting statistic too...in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic war period the Royal Navy lost about 19 frigates to enemy action. It recaptured about 11. The French lost around 200 and got none back home.

[@DrEw941992]

@@andywhysall6744 Interesting history lesson. Thank you.

[@robertallen6710]

Totally agree...

[@DeuteronomioXXVIII]

Oi

[@randomguy-xp7se]

Wuts all this then !?

[@jesygalan1]

Master And Commander The Far Side Of The World 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Miramax Home Entertainment Universal Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Walt Disney Studios Paramount Pictures Home Media Distribution (NBCUniversal) Distribution

[@crimsonknight7011]

This movie is so unrealistic

[@andrewborovskikh8106]

Too low image quality. Dislike.

[@roberthudson1959]

Would you prefer the final attack scene from ZULU, where an attack that took place at 0200 was filmed in broad daylight? Black gunpowder creates so much smoke that every 18th century battle, land or sea, might as well have been fought in the fog.

[@andrewborovskikh8106]

@@roberthudson1959Do not shuffle pixels for gunpowder. Do not shuffle authentic copy for a low-quality camera in audience seats. Do not shuffle Russel Crowe for "Binge Society".

[@jeremiahfootlong3531]

What brave young men. This generation could never lmaooo

[@SergeantSarge]

Who do you think makes up the bulk of the armed forces exactly? 🤨

[@michaelmartin9022]

A lot of these sailors weren't there by choice. Go to the pub for a swift half and come back 12 years later, minus a leg.