Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Full Movie | Movies Anywhere

Despite the setting (a Royal Navy ship off the eastern coast of South America during the Napoleonic Wars) and the gore (blunt limb removal, exposed brains) the film is tender and poetic.

I can say most assuredly that it has already earned its place among the pantheon of classic war films and indeed the greatest films of all time.

There aren't too many films that can combine intelligence and thrills, but Master and Commander succeeds on both counts.

Written by Weir and John Collee, this is a faithful adaptation of the O'Brian novels told with a well-paced, rousing exuberance and uncommon intelligence and humanity, richly detailed in both character and action.

Marketed as a rollicking adventure at sea, "Master and Commander" instead is a disguised lesson in social history with just enough action sequences to make it palatable.