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Stars: Russell Crowe and Paul
Bettany
Writers: Peter Weir and John
Collee
Based On The Novels By: Patrick
O’Brian
Director: Peter Weir
Feature length: 138 minutes
Languages: English DTS Digital 5.1
Theatrical Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, French Language
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Spanish Language Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles: English Captions and
Closed Captions and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Amaray Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 36
Sound: DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical
Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, and Dolby Surround Sound
Year of Theatrical Release: 2003/DVD
Release: 2004
Theatrical Distributor: Twentieth
Century Fox
Home Video Distributor: Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
As noted in my preview of the
bonus features disc that will be included in the “Collector’s
Giftpack" from Fox, Peter Weir wanted to introduce cinema goers to the
character of “Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey” (Russell Crowe) as detailed
in Patrick O’Brian’s series of novels, but he did not want to start with
“Master And Commander” so much as he wanted to bring the viewers into the
midst of an adventure and then slowly introduce backstory information about the
characters from “Master And Commander” so he chose to produce “The Far
Side Of The World” and thus we have the rather dramatic combination of both
book titles for the theatrical release. Those curious about the two-disc set
that will debut on DVD day and date with the single disc addition are advised to
read my preview of the second disc by clicking right here after reading this
review or on the text tab below this review. The single disc edition
contains the film only presented in an anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1) aspect
ratio. As far as disc transfers go, the picture is quite good though some of the
early scenes appeared a bit muddled. The English DTS Digital 5.1 Theatrical
Surround Soundtrack and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack seemed roughly the
same in terms of overall fidelity with some nice use of the bass during the
battle scenes to create a good three-dimensional home theater experience. A
French Language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack and Spanish Language Dolby
Surround Soundtrack are also included along with English Captions and Closed
Captions for the hearing impaired and Spanish Language Subtitles.
As far as the film itself goes, I
found “Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World” to be a little slow
at times. For the amount of work that went into making the film as historically
accurate as possible, “Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World”
deserves every accolade it has garnered, but I think this is very much a genre
film just like anything else so if you are expecting wall to wall action from
beginning to end, this will leave you disappointed, but if you enjoy a solid
period drama than I think “Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World”
is definitely worth a look.
During the first twenty minutes or
so I could not understand exactly what Russell Crowe was saying. I almost turned
on the subtitles option menu to see if there was a choice to decipher
“Crowenglish” because this guy mumbles his dialogue to a point where one
almost feels like either shutting the DVD player off or just laughing at the
absurdity of the situation. The scary thing is after a while you may actually
understand his muffled ramblings. I realize this is harsh, but I know a few
others who saw the film and they all agreed when I asked if the could clearly
understand what Russell Crowe was saying? The ending surprised me, but some
might catch on to it a good fifteen minutes or so before it ends. To state
anymore would spoil it.
For the widescreen and pan and
scan single-disc editions there are no extra value features included on the DVD
related to the film. There are only trailers for “The Day After Tomorrow,”
“Man Of Fire,” and an EPK on “I’ Robot.” The interactive menus are
well rendered and easy to navigate. “Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The
World” will debut on DVD-Video in both single and two-disc sets sold
separately at retailers on and offline on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 from Twentieth
Century Fox Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2004 By Mark A.
Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
Read
The Preview Of The Bonus Disc From The Two-Disc Set
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