Poster © 20th Century Fox. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreAction, Adventure & Drama
RatedPG-13
Runtime2 hr 18 mins
ReleasedNovember 14, 2003
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorPeter Weir
StarringRussell Crowe, Paul Bettany
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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
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| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World's Details | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure & Drama |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 11/14/2003 |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 2 hr 18 mins |
| Budget | $150M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Based On | Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World's Interests | |
| General | Fog banks, brass telescopes, ship biscuits with weevils, the Galápagos, Royal Navy rope work. |
| Music | Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon and Richard Tognetti. Captain on violin, surgeon on cello. |
| Movies | Dead Poets Society (1989). Peter Weir, also great at commanding a room full of boys. |
| Television | Hornblower. More Royal Navy, more cannon, more rope. |
| Heroes | Stephen Maturin, the only man aboard more excited about beetles than battles. |
| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World's Crew | |
| Director | Peter Weir |
| Writers | Peter Weir, John Collee |
| Producers | Samuel Goldwyn Jr., Duncan Henderson, Peter Weir |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Music | Iva Davies, Christopher Gordon, Richard Tognetti |
| Edited By | Lee Smith |
| Production | 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films, Universal Pictures, Samuel Goldwyn Films |
| Distributed By | 20th Century Fox |
Peter Weir built a whole floating world for Master and Commander and never bothered to put a face on the other ship. The French privateer is mostly a sail on the horizon, the one real gap in this sea epic. Everything else is so lived-in you can practically smell the tar. Russell Crowe’s Captain Jack Aubrey is a born leader who loves a bad pun and a good fight, and Paul Bettany’s Stephen Maturin is the ship’s doctor who’d rather be counting beetles. Their friendship is the real story: they argue, then play cello and violin at night like an old married couple. Max Pirkis is wonderful as Blakeney, a boy officer who keeps his nerve under fire. The storm off Cape Horn is legit terrifying. At 138 minutes, the middle drifts like the becalmed ship. It made $211.6 million worldwide on a reported $150M. An 8.4 because no movie has ever made a ship feel this real. $10.78 says you look up how to tie a sailor’s knot before bed and get it wrong four times.
What works: Crowe and Bettany’s friendship, the deafening, detailed battles and a ship so real you feel every creak of the hull.
What doesn’t: The French enemy never gets a face or a personality, so the long chase lacks a real rival to root against.
Who it’s for: History buffs, sailing nerds and anyone who wants a war movie about friendship and teamwork more than explosions.
Spoilers
Aubrey disguises the Surprise as a whaler, lures the Acheron close and takes her in a boarding fight. Then Maturin realizes the French surgeon who surrendered was really the captain in disguise, and the movie ends with the Surprise turning around to chase him all over again.
It is 1805, Britain is at war with Napoleon, and Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) has orders to stop the French privateer Acheron off the coast of Brazil. Trouble is, the Acheron finds his ship first. The HMS Surprise limps out of a fog bank badly hurt, outgunned and outrun, and Aubrey decides to patch her up at sea and keep hunting. His best friend, ship's surgeon and naturalist Stephen Maturin (Paul Bettany), would much rather be cataloguing birds in the Galápagos. Peter Weir directs, with a crew that includes young midshipman Lord Blakeney (Max Pirkis). One hundred thirty-eight minutes, all hands on deck.
Anyone who can tie a bowline in the dark. Bring a violin, the surgeon already has the cello.
| Russell Crowe | Jack Aubrey |
| Paul Bettany | Stephen Maturin |
| James D'Arcy | First Lieutenant Thomas Pullings |
| Edward Woodall | Second Lieutenant William Mowett |
| Chris Larkin | Captain Howard |
| Robert Pugh | John Allen |
| Max Benitz | Midshipman/Acting Third Lieutenant Peter Myles Calamy |
| Max Pirkis | Midshipman Lord William Blakeney |
| Lee Ingleby | Midshipman Hollom |
| Richard McCabe | Mr. Higgins |
| Ian Mercer | Mr. Hollar |
| Tony Dolan | Mr. Lamb |
| David Threlfall | Preserved Killick |
| Billy Boyd | Barrett Bonden |
| Bryan Dick | Joseph Nagle |
| Joseph Morgan | William Warley |
| George Innes | Joe Plaice |
| Patrick Gallagher | Awkward Davies |
| John DeSantis | Padeen Colman |
| Mark Lewis Jones | Mr. Hogg |
| Thierry Segall | French captain of the Acheron |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 18 October 2026 DataBot +40 Numbers refreshed: IMDb users 7.5 / 10 (260,387 votes) → 7.5 / 10 (260,402 votes).
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 17 October 2026 DataBot +480 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $211.6M; Domestic box office $93.9M; Opening weekend $25.1M; Profit / loss (est.) -$119.2M; Rotten Tomatoes 85%; CinemaScore B+; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 85% (222 reviews); Metacritic 81 / 100; CinemaScore B+; IMDb users 7.5 / 10 (260,387 votes); movie.guru score 7.7.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 17 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.