Let’s try this again! This was blocked globally after it had already been up on YT for six months (sigh, it happens!), so hopefully this edit sticks! If you had the chance to watch this when it was up before, help me out by liking this video and commenting your fun facts and thoughts about the movie! And if you’re new to the channel and haven’t seen this video yet… Enjoy!
This is the greatest Age of Sail movie that has been filmed. It feels like they really work and live on the ship, and the ship is almost like a character. And also just a wonderful skillfully made film in every way. :)
Yeah, that first strike from the French ship where you could see all the wood splinters from the gunwales let me know that this was going to be epic. What's the name of the old Avalon Hill table-top wargame? "Wooden Ships and Iron Men", IIRC.
............... and then it crashes right near the end when they suggest anyone with a functioning midbrain and more than five minutes experience on a ship could ever mistake a warship for a whaling ship because they hung up some sheets.
@@DeReAntiqua first of all thats what they do in the book.... but the book is based on historical research.. and the term ''false flag'' literally comes from this time period...
Addie, the young age of the sailors was very accurate. The character of Midshipman Blakeney was representative of many young aspiring Royal Navy officers. Admiral Nelson who was referred to in the movie began his naval career at 13 years old as a Midshipman.
And as questionable as it is by today's standards it also contributed to the strength of the Royal Navy's officer corp in the age of sail. Their officers were practically raised at sea and those that survived to adulthood gave a strong crop to draw captains who were proven.
This was the case in many industries and professions, not just sailing. The notions of a "childhood" and "adolescence" are pretty modern! Up until the middle of the industrial revolution, if you were old enough to do tasks, you were put to work. In the US, it wasn't until 1938 that the Child Labor Law was enacted as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Note too that Captain Aubrey addresses him as Lord Blakeney, so the (very) young man was part of the aristocracy. It seems more likely than not??? that he's a second son and would be given an chance to make his own fortune in the Navy
@@ldfahrni Indeed. Most officers in the army and navy were nobility/aristocracy, this is because officer school/training was somewhat expensive. Commoners couldn't afford the education needed to become one. It used to be the case that officers actually had to purchase their promotions to higher ranks. By the time of this movies setting this practice was abolished however. In the navy especially, as exams had to be passed in order to be promoted and was very merit based. This is why the quality of leadership in the Royal Navy was often so high above that of other countries navies.
He is also from a fishing village family whose family used their connections to send him away to give him a chance as prosperity which makes the arm scene soooo powerful
What I like most about this movie is that both sides are depicted as competent. It makes you respect historic skills, many still relavant. Good commanders don't just order; they are aware of each under their charge. I've had such commanders, and their effect carries well into the future, including 'baking' leaders like themselves. Oh. and this was pure entertainment.
The midshipmen being that young was totally true. Many of those boys were the second and third sons of noble families. The firstborn was groomed to take over and manage the estate when he inherited it but for any subsequent sons they had to make their own way in the world which often meant the army or the navy. Some of them would marry into rich merchant families which would give them a good paying job and the merchant family would have added social status by marrying into a noble family and their grandchildren would be Peers (nobility). It's too bad this isn't the route Mr. Hollom took. My thought is he was pressured into joining the Royal Navy by a father who thought he needed to "man up" and he just wasn't of a temperament to be that guy. As a merchant's son-in-law taking care of the books or something he would have been perfect.
Actually they weren't always nobility, quite often from the gentry or well off commoner class. The Royal Navy was the only service in Britain that was mostly meritocratic since you couldn't buy your commission and you actually had to pass exams and show aptitude and experience before being promoted, as His Majesty's ships were the most significant investment in national power at that time so you had to prove you could be trusted to command one. In the Army you could literally buy Colonel rank at this time as long as you had the money to outfit and provision a regiment so it was often exclusively the province of nobility and very rich and your promotion just as often came from political connections and personal charisma as skill.
My Sicilian grandfather was a second son who was sent to NY to start arranging shipping of his family olive oil to the US. He had a huge amount of cash ($800) for 1908. Later, when his older brother died, his father wanted him to return, but grandpa already had become a US citizen, had several daughters and settled in too well to just leave. He sent money home to his Sicilian family for years. In his way, a second son who made good for himself.
hence the rank title.bought by daddy an entry level command position better than just joining up.a swain was a young country gentleman so cox swain bow swain"coxun bosun"
Peter Weir is easily one of the best filmmakers ever, he takes his time and picks his projects carefully and they always deliver, you literally can't go wrong with his movies
Sadly i think he gave up on filmmaking after decsdes of being fed up with the blocking and internal politicking from the studios. Still he left behind a great filmmography made of many excelent films, both in Australia and USA.
So stoked. One of my favorite movies and my first job was repairing the Surprise in drydock. I spent 4 weeks hammering nails into the hull and got a piece of scrap purple wood used to repair it. Definitely the most fun job I’ve ever had.
My wife's grandfather was a real waterman, grew up on the water, 20+ years in the navy, served on the Missouri during WW2 and Korea. He was also an avid cinephile, and he said this was the finest sailing film he had ever seen. It was his most favorite film.
They could have easily built a franchise out of this movie. There were 20 novels total about Captain Jack Aubery and the ship's surgeon written by Patrick O'Brian. Whether they followed the novels closely or not, there was certainly an interesting and very realistic historical fiction world to draw on to make a lot more movies.
@@A_A_J. Prequel In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by 20th Century Studios, a prequel based on the first novel only, with Patrick Ness penning the script.[50] [needs update] here's hoping it's still in development.
Last year I met Billy Boyd. I told him my favorite movie is Master and Commander. He said he had a blast during the making of this film. He was such a cool person. I got an autograph and picture with him
One of the few movies that accurately portraits the age of the crew on a ship back in those days. Even back in my fathers generations they started working full time jobs at the age of 14-15 years old and it was a six days work week.
The thing about the wind picking up. That was hours after Mr Hollum died. But the captain asked for forgiveness and the crew looked genuinly ashamed of how they had acted and immediately the wind picks up. Tragic but I dont think it's meant to imply theyll feel justified.
Lord Admiral Nelson who is named in this movie is what "Nelson's column" in London is dedicated to after his victory at the battle of Trafalgar, he won many victories against the French especially in Egypt
Their parents had to apply to ship captains directly. Most captains required that the parents provide a stipend for the boy's expenses until they became official midshipmen and began drawing pay.
If the personal rating of a movie may be based on whether it utterance or recollection of it demands another viewing, and each time it's better than the previous, I would have to rate this among my top 3 favorite movies. I've seen it entirely at least 20 times. Simply superb.
Thank you for noticing that Lord Nelson was missing an arm! I don't expect many people to know anything about Nelson these days but it's still sad so many reactors miss the poignancy of that scene.
AMC made a series of movies for TV based on the Horatio Hornblower books. Ioan Gruffudd plays Hornblower starting as a midshipman. The series was well done. Something to possibly look into.
a friend of mine was in this movie, he's the big guy that was in a few scenes and was carrying the doctor around on his back on the island. Says it was one of the worst times he's ever had on any set given most of it was filmed on a real ship and the decks were so low that he kept smashing his head on everything and nearly knocked himself out a few times. Keep in mind he's 7 foot 2 so an 18th century warship isn't the best place to be walking around when you're that tall
Sailors started their life at sea early on in those days. Horatio Nelson started his career in the Royal Navy at 12. He died at the Battle of Trafalgar, age 47. He is still one of the greatest heroes of the UK.
Back in those days only first sons of noblemen inherit the lands and title while 2nd and 3rd sons either join the clergy or military usally at a early age
Jack’s disengagement from the fight to make sure Dr Maturin could be saved in this movie perfectly encapsulates the deep importance of their friendship that comes across in the 20 book series. Fighting at sea for king and country (and prizes) is the single most important thing in Captain Aubrey’s life, yet that comes second to the annoying man he met at the opera!
What makes the reveal so good (in regards to the Acheron's captain still being alive) is that he used the same kind of deception against the Surprise that they used on him, reinforcing just how evenly matched both combatants were.
In the case of the French captain, though, he is guilty of 'perfidy' -- false surrender. This, by the rules of war, is one of the worst crimes imaginable.
This is such a great film for history and nautical buffs - but probably a bore for everyone else. Saw this in the theater with my father, and I was a career mariner at the time - he was also my 'Sea Pop', teaching me to sail at a young age (I had my own boat at seven). We were transfixed in awe the entire film. Ship's officers were (and are) often father figures to the youngest crewmembers - I recall being in constant training mode for one crewman or another, however, not THAT young (and you nailed it, Addie, someone has to teach the next generation on-the-job). I have this DVD in my collection, and always makes me think of dear old Dad, RIP.
History Buffs did a great video on this movie and how accurate it is. The big change was around the Acheron. Originally this was when Great Britain and the USA were hostile. The Acheron was American.
The only other rare innacurracy of this movie is depicting french people speaking english. Back then and until the 1970s it was the english that spoke french on international affairs. Do it would be the english who would speak french to the french. French was the language of diplomacy from the 16th cenyury to the 1960s.
I kind of wish they would have stuck to the source material and kept it a Yankee frigate, it definitely clears up the whole French warship ship built in Boston.
Most of my family were in the RN (including uncle John, lost in action against the Italians, 1943), the sea - and the Royal Navy - runs deep in British culture.
Historian here, this movie is regarded as one of the most historically authentic movies ever made. Not historically accurate but authentic. It's not accurate because the ship, crew and events depicted are not real. However the technology, language, techniques, tactics and basically every aspect of the movie as true to the time period as could be made. Which is crazy impressive, ask any historian about their favorite movies and this will be on the list. Also Jack Aubrey was based on a real person, Thomas Cochrane whose life was somehow crazier than his movie counterpart. And in the book the enemy were American and the Acheron was the USS Constitution but that was changed to play better with US audiences. But that's why they say that the ship was being built in Boston rather than France. Great reaction as always :)
There is one scene most people do not catch. As they were going around the Southern end of South America, you will see a Sailor seated in the ropes of the Head of the ship. Thus they are showing why Navies called their restrooms, "The Head". The reason The Head is at the head of the ship is because the wind will always be blowing from a point, where the wind does not carry the smell onto the ship. Another pluss if any waste actually hits the ship's bow, they waves will wash the front of the ship clean.
The boys might either be ships boys - servants to the officers - until they proved themselves to be worthy to be the other class of boys, the midshipmen. They could be as young as 12 years old. As midshipmen they were fully officers in the Royal Navy and were usually put in command of groups of adult sailors, including in battle.
This is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, and somewhat personally too. The ship that they used for the movie is a replica ship. It used to be docked in Bridgeport, CT (not far from where I grew up) and was called the HMS Rose. Been on it many times, and they even used to use it for a haunted house during Halloween. She's currently docked in San Diego last I heard, and it's really cool to see her on screen
Based on the works of O'Brian and like CS Forester inspired by the real life sailor Cochran who served 4 navies and helped found 4 countries before returning the England to help transition the fleet from sail to steam. He captured over 50 ships including ships of the line with just either a Schooner or a Frigate. Later Gene Rodenberry would name his creator of warp drive after Cochran and choose a Scot like him for the chief Engineer as Cochran was the man behind the modernization of the royal navy.
You are correct. The ship they were chasing was USS Norfolk in the novel. They changed it as it was felt the American audiences might not appreciate being the "enemy".
The very young boys were "powder monkeys," they needed small people to retrieve the powder. Blakeny was of the nobility, so he was destined to be an officer. The Acheron was based on the frigates of the US, like the Constitution. A well built and strong ship that was also fast and well armed.
Another great naval war movie showing two captains equally matched and equally determined is 1957's The Enemy Below, starring Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens. Well worth watching!
(take two 🎬) Addie, I'm so glad that you enjoyed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). I own this movie on DVD in both Widescreen (2.39:1) & Full Screen (1.33:1) formats and I plan on watching it soon. Another movie with Russell Crowe & Paul Bettany that I would definitely suggest to you is A Beautiful Mind (2001). #ABeautifulMindForAddieCounts
Winston Churchill was an Admiralty lord. "That Hamilton Woman", with Vivien Leigh as Emma Hamilton and Laurence Olivier as Nelson, was his favorite movie.
This is, by far THE best way movie ever made, and arguably the most accurate period piece. There are many who say this was the best movie of the entire decade. I could rewatch it endlessly, and never not be impressed by it.
As the captain of a "tall ship", an armed Barque, I can tell you this is the most accurate period movie I've seen. I very much enjoyed your reaction both times (I saw the first one 6 months ago). There was a series on A&E years ago about Captain Horatio Hornblower that was well done, but this was better. I was one of the captain of one of the ship's used then. Thanks again.
Conscription during the age of sail is where we actually get the term ‘press gang’. It originally meant either the recruiters themselves who would round up people and ‘press’ them into service often against their will. It also referred to a group of such forcibly conscripted recruits. Hence ‘press gang’. It wasn’t until the advent of mass dissemination of newspapers and radio in the early 1900s that the term would later come to refer to newsmen and members of the media.
This is the best historical film ever. While not based on a real event, it does a better job at portraying the actual history of the time period than most historical films. While other films attempt to shape history to fit the narrative, this film shapes its narrative to fit history, which is how it should be.
I'm so glad I saw this film on a huge screen when it first came out. It really added to the experience of being out at sea it's an actual shame that we never got the sequels. I feel like if they did a reboot now with new actors we'd have more CGI ships than real ones.
Thank you so much for this one, Addie! One of my favorite underappreciated movies! Shame it came out the same year as the original POTC, as that franchise basically scared everyone away from the Age Of Sail adventure for good. I think M&C could have absolutely benefited from a sequel or two!
Billy Boyd has also done some voice over parts in the video game Elder Scrolls Online. He is the featured character who introduces a new in game mini game using playing cards.
All the extras had real jobs and were trained how to do them. So when people are moving in the background, they're actually doing stuff and not just milling about.
Paul Bettany has said this was a film he was most proud of working on. While the movie portrays Steven Maturin as a physician and a naturalist, it omits that he is also a spy for the Admiralty. Fun fact, Jack Aubrey and Maturin first meet in Minorca at a concert, in the first novel of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series (there are like, 20 books), Master and Commander. O’Brian’s novels are perhaps the most detailed fictional accounting of this time period at sea. The Far Side of the World is actually the 10th novel in the series and instead of the French Acheron, the enemy is the American frigate, USS Norfolk. The young boys seen here are midshipmen, officers-in-training. Unlike the English Army, the practice of buying a commission was frowned upon by the Royal Navy. It had to be truly earned, given that ship captains had to often operate independently at sea. For a good idea of what that was like, there’s C.S. Forester’s Hornblower book series, in which tells of the rise of Horatio Hornblower from midshipman to admiral.
Then there's also the Hornblower series of TV movies, based on the books by C.S. Forester (I suppose). I haven't read the books, but I did enjoy the TV series quite a lot.
@@rschroev Yes, very much in the style of the Sharpe series (based on the books by Bernard Cornwell, whose other book series is the basis for The Last Kingdom) with Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe. I think there are 8 Hornblower films in the series. Both Sharpe and Hornblower were produced by ITV.
@@teambanzai9491 The Sharpe series, yes, I like that as well (though I feel they're made with a somewhat lower production value). They're situated in the same time period (the Napoleonic wars), but they depict events on land instead of the sea which is why I didn't mention them here.
@@lazaruslong8092 I remember watching it in black and white on TV. Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) also has C.S. Forester credited with the screenplay. It was one of my dad’s favorite films. It was his collection of Hornblower books I grew up on.
Such a wild story, a thing easy to forget is how *far* they are from home, there is no Panama canal here, they have to sail around all of South America, in arctic oceans!
The piece of music that accompanies the death of Will, who they have to let drown, is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. In a soundtrack that features Yo-Yo Ma, it's my favorite piece.
As far as I know, the use of MALE children aboard English warships was a mainstay until the last one hundred years or so. This film is unique in that it depicts naval warfare at this time as closely as it would have been back then. Because of production costs, motion pictures like this are no longer created. Just be glad that 'Master and Commander' was ever considered as a movie worth delivering to an unsuspecting audience.
The Director of this film, Peter Weir, Australian has made a number of amazing films: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, Witness, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Truman Show. I went to the cinema to see this with my Dad, who had read some of the books, this is based on. A younger cousin of mine gave the opinion, that if LotR:Return of the King hadn't come out at the same time, and swept the Oscars, that M7C:fsotW should have been "best picture" -I rather agree'd with him. Some of the filming, the ship was placed in the giant water tank, on the west coast of Mexico, where "Titanic" was made -others, on ships in the Pacific -even filming in the Galápagos Islands. Always remember, the "lesser of two weevils"!
Some poor families would give their sons to the navy if they couldn't afford to feed them. It seems messed up now but at the time it probably saved the child's life.
“How dare they globally block an Add-E Counts reaction video?!” 🤬 I have found out that Master and Commander (and) The Far Side of The World were two different books! They’re part of a 20 novel series!!! I would love to be able to sit down and read them!!
Yes, a full series. And one of the interesting points of the story for the Far SIde of the World is that the movie is time-shifted to about a decade earlier. In the books, the time was set during the War of 1812, and instead of the French, the "enemy ship" was actually an American. Weir didn't think a movie destined for the US market would sell well having Americans as the "bad guys".
Midshipmen, officers in training, would officially start at the age of 14. But sometimes, through family connections, they were as young as 10. Powder Boys and such were recruited officially not younger than 15. But they often captured and pressed boys younger than that into service. Same with craftsmen, who were not allowed to be pressed into service, were sometimes pressed.
Lord Blakeney was about 11 and a midshipman, but the 7 year old kids were 'powder monkeys' whose job was to fetch gun powder from the bottom deck and bring it up to the gun deck.
Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany were in "A Beautiful Mind". This movie is based on a series of books. Most of the events in the series are actually based on events that really happened. The "Constitution" was towed into a fog bank by its crew, and the decoy raft was used by Thomas Cochrane. The daring in the sailors of the Napoleonic Age can almost not be overstated.
25 years later, a fellow named Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos on a less bellingerent expedition and had some more opportunity to study wildlife there. According to the movie "Creation" he too looked quite a bit like Paul Bettany.
There was a ship, Yankee Built that the Acaron is based on.. It was not just built out of Oak, It was built out of swamp Oak, which grows in the deep south and is far denser, heavier that oak. Cannon balls seemed to just bounce off her sides. They called it, ... Old Iron Sides. The U.S.S. Constitution. Which is currently the oldest actively serving ship of the Line in any navy in the world. The Boys, as young as 10, were Midshipmen, sons of British aristocracy, Bing trained to become officers. The regular sailors were subordinate to the Midshipmen. The youngest, the one that lost an arm, you will hear him addressed as Lord Blakeney. He is a Land Owner, Land and Title. His Father was the Lord. His Father is dead. Now at age 11, He is Lord of what had been his father's estate. The Oldest of the Mids is Holum. he is almost 30. He is the one that could not make a decision. The Natural Leader among the Mids is Miles Peter Calomay. He is the one that made the decision to Beat To Quarters (Battle Stations) before they first encountered the Acaron. He would have made an excellent ships captain in a few years. I dearly with they would have put more of these books into movies. ... Author Edward F Imhoff
Not only brilliantly directed, filmed, edited and acted. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany both learned to play their instruments for the film. Crowe said it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do for a film. He spent 3 months under the tuition of the Australian Chamber Orchestra's leader Richard Tongetti. Just so it would look like he knew what he was doing and wasn't faking it.
This is and has been on my top 25 all-time best movies ever made. It's got all the beats: Age of sail/costume/period piece, possibly the best cast of supporting actors ever assembled, an unbelievably beautifully shot film that had these guys on a real ship brought to life - along with all the associated danger and claustrophobia - all on top of an utterly fantastic chase film where you see nothing of the antagonists until the final scenes of the movie. For a single, standalone film I'd argue this accomplishment in cinematography, costume, writing, acting, directing is almost impossible to beat in the last 25 years.
My Dad's favorite author was Patrick Obrien and this movie was his favorite too. My dad felt Heath Ledger should of played Jack Aubrey but still loved this movie. Historians say this is one of the historically accurate movies ever made.
Based on a book, out of a whole series of Aubrey & Maturin books, the enemy was changed form Americans to French. I've read the series and there are bits and pieces taken from other books and several plot changes. I wish they had made more movies but I think it would be very rough for the cast and crew.
All the natural wonders and credits discovered on the Galapagos Islands were given to Charles Darwin, who sailed there on a much later Royal Navy expedition well after the Napoleonic Wars. The implication being that Doctor Maturin would have been credited with those discoveries much earlier except for the "needs of the service" that kept interrupting him.
Children is accurate, in the Royal Navy at the time children as young as 14 shipped out as midshipmen. Sailing is profession that requires a lifetime of experience.
Let’s try this again! This was blocked globally after it had already been up on YT for six months (sigh, it happens!), so hopefully this edit sticks! If you had the chance to watch this when it was up before, help me out by liking this video and commenting your fun facts and thoughts about the movie! And if you’re new to the channel and haven’t seen this video yet… Enjoy!
😢😢😢😢
Reupload Ghostbusters & Lethal Weapon. Please?
@@AddieCounts Kill bill vol 2 2004 Please
Wives and girlfriends may they never meet is a traditional royal navy toast
How about "Jurassic Park III" and "Everything Everywhere All at Once" (also both suddenly blocked after being up for at least a year 🤔)?
"Name a shrub after me. Something prickly and hard to eradicate" My favorite line of the movie.
Right there with ya, Brother.
In the books he ends up naming a tortoise after him. Testudo Aubrey I believe
@@randyward2766 close. testudo aubreii
I'm glad she alluded to Holy Grail. The British are clearly fascinated with shrubbery.
This is the greatest Age of Sail movie that has been filmed. It feels like they really work and live on the ship, and the ship is almost like a character. And also just a wonderful skillfully made film in every way. :)
Yeah, that first strike from the French ship where you could see all the wood splinters from the gunwales let me know that this was going to be epic. What's the name of the old Avalon Hill table-top wargame? "Wooden Ships and Iron Men", IIRC.
The Horatio Hornblower movies are also pretty great
............... and then it crashes right near the end when they suggest anyone with a functioning midbrain and more than five minutes experience on a ship could ever mistake a warship for a whaling ship because they hung up some sheets.
@@DeReAntiqua first of all thats what they do in the book....
but the book is based on historical research.. and the term ''false flag'' literally comes from this time period...
"It feels like they really work and live on the ship"
Chek the making of, it's almost exactly what they did.
The kid playing Lord Blakeny absolutely killed it as young Caesar Augustus in "Rome"
He was a great actor. It's a shame they had to replace him in the show because of the time skip. Sadly, I haven't seen him in anything since then.
Addie, the young age of the sailors was very accurate. The character of Midshipman Blakeney was representative of many young aspiring Royal Navy officers. Admiral Nelson who was referred to in the movie began his naval career at 13 years old as a Midshipman.
And as questionable as it is by today's standards it also contributed to the strength of the Royal Navy's officer corp in the age of sail. Their officers were practically raised at sea and those that survived to adulthood gave a strong crop to draw captains who were proven.
This was the case in many industries and professions, not just sailing. The notions of a "childhood" and "adolescence" are pretty modern! Up until the middle of the industrial revolution, if you were old enough to do tasks, you were put to work. In the US, it wasn't until 1938 that the Child Labor Law was enacted as part of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Note too that Captain Aubrey addresses him as Lord Blakeney, so the (very) young man was part of the aristocracy. It seems more likely than not??? that he's a second son and would be given an chance to make his own fortune in the Navy
@@ldfahrni Indeed. Most officers in the army and navy were nobility/aristocracy, this is because officer school/training was somewhat expensive. Commoners couldn't afford the education needed to become one. It used to be the case that officers actually had to purchase their promotions to higher ranks. By the time of this movies setting this practice was abolished however. In the navy especially, as exams had to be passed in order to be promoted and was very merit based. This is why the quality of leadership in the Royal Navy was often so high above that of other countries navies.
He is also from a fishing village family whose family used their connections to send him away to give him a chance as prosperity which makes the arm scene soooo powerful
What I like most about this movie is that both sides are depicted as competent. It makes you respect historic skills, many still relavant. Good commanders don't just order; they are aware of each under their charge. I've had such commanders, and their effect carries well into the future, including 'baking' leaders like themselves. Oh. and this was pure entertainment.
I always love the line "Surprise is on our side" and the crew cheers, its because its a turn of phrase since the name of their ship is the Surprise
The midshipmen being that young was totally true. Many of those boys were the second and third sons of noble families. The firstborn was groomed to take over and manage the estate when he inherited it but for any subsequent sons they had to make their own way in the world which often meant the army or the navy. Some of them would marry into rich merchant families which would give them a good paying job and the merchant family would have added social status by marrying into a noble family and their grandchildren would be Peers (nobility).
It's too bad this isn't the route Mr. Hollom took. My thought is he was pressured into joining the Royal Navy by a father who thought he needed to "man up" and he just wasn't of a temperament to be that guy. As a merchant's son-in-law taking care of the books or something he would have been perfect.
Actually they weren't always nobility, quite often from the gentry or well off commoner class. The Royal Navy was the only service in Britain that was mostly meritocratic since you couldn't buy your commission and you actually had to pass exams and show aptitude and experience before being promoted, as His Majesty's ships were the most significant investment in national power at that time so you had to prove you could be trusted to command one. In the Army you could literally buy Colonel rank at this time as long as you had the money to outfit and provision a regiment so it was often exclusively the province of nobility and very rich and your promotion just as often came from political connections and personal charisma as skill.
@@TheOffkilter He didn't say always, he said many, which is true. However, I think both of your comments together provide a good summation.
My Sicilian grandfather was a second son who was sent to NY to start arranging shipping of his family olive oil to the US. He had a huge amount of cash ($800) for 1908. Later, when his older brother died, his father wanted him to return, but grandpa already had become a US citizen, had several daughters and settled in too well to just leave. He sent money home to his Sicilian family for years. In his way, a second son who made good for himself.
hence the rank title.bought by daddy an entry level command position better than just joining up.a swain was a young country gentleman so cox swain bow swain"coxun bosun"
@@notsherlockholmes9704 You couldn't buy an entry level command position in the Royal Navy.
Peter Weir is easily one of the best filmmakers ever, he takes his time and picks his projects carefully and they always deliver, you literally can't go wrong with his movies
Sadly i think he gave up on filmmaking after decsdes of being fed up with the blocking and internal politicking from the studios. Still he left behind a great filmmography made of many excelent films, both in Australia and USA.
@@carlossaraiva8213 Yes, "The Way Back" was his last film. It's a shame, but at least he leaves an impressive body of work.
One of my favorite Russel Crowe movies, love the fact that he learned how to play the violin (though he only had 3 months to learn) for the role.
I love this movie, a good representation of life on board ships of that era. The boy who plays Lord William Blakeney is really good.
That was Max Pirkis, who later played Octavian (Augustus Caesar) in the TV series *Rome* .
So stoked. One of my favorite movies and my first job was repairing the Surprise in drydock. I spent 4 weeks hammering nails into the hull and got a piece of scrap purple wood used to repair it. Definitely the most fun job I’ve ever had.
I'm JEALOUS to the gills, Mate! and I'm an old Golden Shellback.
My wife's grandfather was a real waterman, grew up on the water, 20+ years in the navy, served on the Missouri during WW2 and Korea. He was also an avid cinephile, and he said this was the finest sailing film he had ever seen. It was his most favorite film.
They could have easily built a franchise out of this movie. There were 20 novels total about Captain Jack Aubery and the ship's surgeon written by Patrick O'Brian. Whether they followed the novels closely or not, there was certainly an interesting and very realistic historical fiction world to draw on to make a lot more movies.
I'm still mad we never got a sequel. And now the principles are too far up there.
It's crazy they didn't make a sequel.
@@adamcollazo8228
It didn't sell enough for that, it only just broke even. Making great art is just not enough.
We could get a prequel! There are lots of books and the first is one of the best.
@@A_A_J. Prequel
In June 2021, it was reported that a second film is in development by 20th Century Studios, a prequel based on the first novel only, with Patrick Ness penning the script.[50] [needs update]
here's hoping it's still in development.
Irony is that the Book series is about 12 books long, so they had the material.
This is Russell Crowe’s best movie, and I will die on that hill.
That said, “A Beautiful Mind” is a very close second place.
And my favorite is Cinderella Man. Basically, every film he did back then was great.
He was great as the bad guy in the 2007 remake of *3:10** to Yuma* .
Crowe and Bettany were an excellent duo. I wish there were even more examples.
Grew up watching this movie with my dad and love it and wish we had more movies like it
Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany reuniting on the high seas after A Beautiful Mind 😉
Last year I met Billy Boyd. I told him my favorite movie is Master and Commander. He said he had a blast during the making of this film. He was such a cool person. I got an autograph and picture with him
One of the few movies that accurately portraits the age of the crew on a ship back in those days. Even back in my fathers generations they started working full time jobs at the age of 14-15 years old and it was a six days work week.
This movie is the definition of a forgotten masterpiece
The thing about the wind picking up. That was hours after Mr Hollum died. But the captain asked for forgiveness and the crew looked genuinly ashamed of how they had acted and immediately the wind picks up. Tragic but I dont think it's meant to imply theyll feel justified.
Yeah religious, superstition ,magic holds everyone here back , illogical noncence holds humanity back, scientifically move forward !
Lord Admiral Nelson who is named in this movie is what "Nelson's column" in London is dedicated to after his victory at the battle of Trafalgar, he won many victories against the French especially in Egypt
*Admiral Lord Nelson is the correct way to say it.
Boys often joined the royal navy quite young. Pre-teen young.
Their parents had to apply to ship captains directly. Most captains required that the parents provide a stipend for the boy's expenses until they became official midshipmen and began drawing pay.
"Heeeeeey, it's Addieee", so simple yet makes me smile everytime lmao
I do hope that "👋 HEYYYY IT'S ADDIE" is on a t-shirt.
The Master and Commander series of books by Patrick O'Brian is literary heaven.
NOW we're talking. This movie is awesome
If the personal rating of a movie may be based on whether it utterance or recollection of it demands another viewing, and each time it's better than the previous, I would have to rate this among my top 3 favorite movies. I've seen it entirely at least 20 times. Simply superb.
Thank you for noticing that Lord Nelson was missing an arm! I don't expect many people to know anything about Nelson these days but it's still sad so many reactors miss the poignancy of that scene.
AMC made a series of movies for TV based on the Horatio Hornblower books. Ioan Gruffudd plays Hornblower starting as a midshipman. The series was well done. Something to possibly look into.
a friend of mine was in this movie, he's the big guy that was in a few scenes and was carrying the doctor around on his back on the island. Says it was one of the worst times he's ever had on any set given most of it was filmed on a real ship and the decks were so low that he kept smashing his head on everything and nearly knocked himself out a few times. Keep in mind he's 7 foot 2 so an 18th century warship isn't the best place to be walking around when you're that tall
Sailors started their life at sea early on in those days.
Horatio Nelson started his career in the Royal Navy at 12. He died at the Battle of Trafalgar, age 47. He is still one of the greatest heroes of the UK.
Back in those days only first sons of noblemen inherit the lands and title while 2nd and 3rd sons either join the clergy or military usally at a early age
Jack’s disengagement from the fight to make sure Dr Maturin could be saved in this movie perfectly encapsulates the deep importance of their friendship that comes across in the 20 book series. Fighting at sea for king and country (and prizes) is the single most important thing in Captain Aubrey’s life, yet that comes second to the annoying man he met at the opera!
The HMS Surprise is currently docked at the San Diego Maritime Museum in San Diego, California. You can even take a tour below decks.
What makes the reveal so good (in regards to the Acheron's captain still being alive) is that he used the same kind of deception against the Surprise that they used on him, reinforcing just how evenly matched both combatants were.
In the case of the French captain, though, he is guilty of 'perfidy' -- false surrender. This, by the rules of war, is one of the worst crimes imaginable.
I love the relationship between the captain and the doctor, pretty much everyone in this movie are great characters.
This is such a great film for history and nautical buffs - but probably a bore for everyone else. Saw this in the theater with my father, and I was a career mariner at the time - he was also my 'Sea Pop', teaching me to sail at a young age (I had my own boat at seven). We were transfixed in awe the entire film. Ship's officers were (and are) often father figures to the youngest crewmembers - I recall being in constant training mode for one crewman or another, however, not THAT young (and you nailed it, Addie, someone has to teach the next generation on-the-job). I have this DVD in my collection, and always makes me think of dear old Dad, RIP.
History Buffs did a great video on this movie and how accurate it is.
The big change was around the Acheron. Originally this was when Great Britain and the USA were hostile. The Acheron was American.
The only other rare innacurracy of this movie is depicting french people speaking english. Back then and until the 1970s it was the english that spoke french on international affairs. Do it would be the english who would speak french to the french. French was the language of diplomacy from the 16th cenyury to the 1960s.
I kind of wish they would have stuck to the source material and kept it a Yankee frigate, it definitely clears up the whole French warship ship built in Boston.
@@flyingmonkeydeathsquadronc968 But that means the plot would be Americans losing, and to the British! Guaranteed to sink at the American box office.
For a fictitious movie, there was an amazing amount of realism regarding day to day life on a military ship during this time period.
Most of my family were in the RN (including uncle John, lost in action against the Italians, 1943), the sea - and the Royal Navy - runs deep in British culture.
The movie "Captain Horatio Hornblower"with Gregory Peck is another telling of this tell.
Historian here, this movie is regarded as one of the most historically authentic movies ever made. Not historically accurate but authentic. It's not accurate because the ship, crew and events depicted are not real. However the technology, language, techniques, tactics and basically every aspect of the movie as true to the time period as could be made. Which is crazy impressive, ask any historian about their favorite movies and this will be on the list.
Also Jack Aubrey was based on a real person, Thomas Cochrane whose life was somehow crazier than his movie counterpart. And in the book the enemy were American and the Acheron was the USS Constitution but that was changed to play better with US audiences. But that's why they say that the ship was being built in Boston rather than France.
Great reaction as always :)
There is one scene most people do not catch. As they were going around the Southern end of South America, you will see a Sailor seated in the ropes of the Head of the ship. Thus they are showing why Navies called their restrooms, "The Head". The reason The Head is at the head of the ship is because the wind will always be blowing from a point, where the wind does not carry the smell onto the ship. Another pluss if any waste actually hits the ship's bow, they waves will wash the front of the ship clean.
The boys might either be ships boys - servants to the officers - until they proved themselves to be worthy to be the other class of boys, the midshipmen. They could be as young as 12 years old. As midshipmen they were fully officers in the Royal Navy and were usually put in command of groups of adult sailors, including in battle.
The 2 weevils joke makes me laugh every time.
Brilliant movie. Absolutely love it. The casting, acting, directing, cinematography, everything is spot on and ship shape!!!
When I was young, I watched this movie whenever I got sick/the flu. It was my comfort movie.
We get it, you are young
Haha Addie feeling matronly for these young boys is adorable! It's like watching a movie with my mom
This is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, and somewhat personally too. The ship that they used for the movie is a replica ship. It used to be docked in Bridgeport, CT (not far from where I grew up) and was called the HMS Rose. Been on it many times, and they even used to use it for a haunted house during Halloween. She's currently docked in San Diego last I heard, and it's really cool to see her on screen
Based on the works of O'Brian and like CS Forester inspired by the real life sailor Cochran who served 4 navies and helped found 4 countries before returning the England to help transition the fleet from sail to steam. He captured over 50 ships including ships of the line with just either a Schooner or a Frigate. Later Gene Rodenberry would name his creator of warp drive after Cochran and choose a Scot like him for the chief Engineer as Cochran was the man behind the modernization of the royal navy.
If I'm correct, the enemy of the Royal Navy in the original novel was a new nation by the name of the United States of America.
You are correct. The ship they were chasing was USS Norfolk in the novel. They changed it as it was felt the American audiences might not appreciate being the "enemy".
@@jcorbett9620 The Royal Navy was capturing American sailors and impressing them into service. The War of 1812 broke out.
@@jcorbett9620 Lucky Jack going against a Yank commander would have been interesting.
The very young boys were "powder monkeys," they needed small people to retrieve the powder. Blakeny was of the nobility, so he was destined to be an officer. The Acheron was based on the frigates of the US, like the Constitution. A well built and strong ship that was also fast and well armed.
Ah yes a 44 gun super frigate. Not quite the 64 or 74 gun ship of the line, but still larger than most frigates that only sported 38 guns or so.
Another great naval war movie showing two captains equally matched and equally determined is 1957's The Enemy Below, starring Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens. Well worth watching!
Pretty much the best motion picture ever done, period
I believe the age of cadets was between 12 and 14 years old in the navy at this time
(take two 🎬) Addie, I'm so glad that you enjoyed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003). I own this movie on DVD in both Widescreen (2.39:1) & Full Screen (1.33:1) formats and I plan on watching it soon. Another movie with Russell Crowe & Paul Bettany that I would definitely suggest to you is A Beautiful Mind (2001). #ABeautifulMindForAddieCounts
Winston Churchill was an Admiralty lord. "That Hamilton Woman", with Vivien Leigh as Emma Hamilton and Laurence Olivier as Nelson, was his favorite movie.
This is, by far THE best way movie ever made, and arguably the most accurate period piece. There are many who say this was the best movie of the entire decade. I could rewatch it endlessly, and never not be impressed by it.
This is in my top 5 movies of all time, I never tire of watching it.
Great reaction. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
As the captain of a "tall ship", an armed Barque, I can tell you this is the most accurate period movie I've seen.
I very much enjoyed your reaction both times (I saw the first one 6 months ago).
There was a series on A&E years ago about Captain Horatio Hornblower that was well done, but this was better.
I was one of the captain of one of the ship's used then.
Thanks again.
Conscription during the age of sail is where we actually get the term ‘press gang’. It originally meant either the recruiters themselves who would round up people and ‘press’ them into service often against their will. It also referred to a group of such forcibly conscripted recruits. Hence ‘press gang’.
It wasn’t until the advent of mass dissemination of newspapers and radio in the early 1900s that the term would later come to refer to newsmen and members of the media.
This is the best historical film ever. While not based on a real event, it does a better job at portraying the actual history of the time period than most historical films. While other films attempt to shape history to fit the narrative, this film shapes its narrative to fit history, which is how it should be.
I'm so glad I saw this film on a huge screen when it first came out. It really added to the experience of being out at sea it's an actual shame that we never got the sequels. I feel like if they did a reboot now with new actors we'd have more CGI ships than real ones.
Thank you so much for this one, Addie! One of my favorite underappreciated movies! Shame it came out the same year as the original POTC, as that franchise basically scared everyone away from the Age Of Sail adventure for good. I think M&C could have absolutely benefited from a sequel or two!
Wonderful! I will gladly re-watch the video that first brought me to your channel. One of my favorite films.
The Doctor documented the animals on the Galapagos 30 years before Darwin got to the islands. Imagine that.
Subject to the requirements of the service. Tough luck.
Never shoot an albatross at sea, that's Coleridge.
Billy Boyd has also done some voice over parts in the video game Elder Scrolls Online.
He is the featured character who introduces a new in game mini game using playing cards.
All the extras had real jobs and were trained how to do them. So when people are moving in the background, they're actually doing stuff and not just milling about.
I'm an old Sailor, and this movie SPEAKS to me.
Paul Bettany has said this was a film he was most proud of working on.
While the movie portrays Steven Maturin as a physician and a naturalist, it omits that he is also a spy for the Admiralty. Fun fact, Jack Aubrey and Maturin first meet in Minorca at a concert, in the first novel of Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series (there are like, 20 books), Master and Commander. O’Brian’s novels are perhaps the most detailed fictional accounting of this time period at sea. The Far Side of the World is actually the 10th novel in the series and instead of the French Acheron, the enemy is the American frigate, USS Norfolk.
The young boys seen here are midshipmen, officers-in-training. Unlike the English Army, the practice of buying a commission was frowned upon by the Royal Navy. It had to be truly earned, given that ship captains had to often operate independently at sea. For a good idea of what that was like, there’s C.S. Forester’s Hornblower book series, in which tells of the rise of Horatio Hornblower from midshipman to admiral.
Then there's also the Hornblower series of TV movies, based on the books by C.S. Forester (I suppose). I haven't read the books, but I did enjoy the TV series quite a lot.
There is also a good movie CAPTAIN HORNBLOWER starring Gregory Peck.
@@rschroev Yes, very much in the style of the Sharpe series (based on the books by Bernard Cornwell, whose other book series is the basis for The Last Kingdom) with Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe. I think there are 8 Hornblower films in the series. Both Sharpe and Hornblower were produced by ITV.
@@teambanzai9491 The Sharpe series, yes, I like that as well (though I feel they're made with a somewhat lower production value). They're situated in the same time period (the Napoleonic wars), but they depict events on land instead of the sea which is why I didn't mention them here.
@@lazaruslong8092 I remember watching it in black and white on TV. Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951) also has C.S. Forester credited with the screenplay. It was one of my dad’s favorite films. It was his collection of Hornblower books I grew up on.
Such a wild story, a thing easy to forget is how *far* they are from home, there is no Panama canal here, they have to sail around all of South America, in arctic oceans!
The piece of music that accompanies the death of Will, who they have to let drown, is one of the most beautiful I've ever heard. In a soundtrack that features Yo-Yo Ma, it's my favorite piece.
Ralfe Vaughan-Williams, 'Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis'.
As far as I know, the use of MALE children aboard English warships was a mainstay until the last one hundred years or so. This film is unique in that it depicts naval warfare at this time as closely as it would have been back then. Because of production costs, motion pictures like this are no longer created. Just be glad that 'Master and Commander' was ever considered as a movie worth delivering to an unsuspecting audience.
3:30 Midshipmen were usually in their early teens. The powder monkeys (boys that carried the gunpowder from the magazine to the guns) were pre-teens.
The Director of this film, Peter Weir, Australian has made a number of amazing films: Picnic at Hanging Rock, Gallipoli, Dead Poets Society, Witness, The Year of Living Dangerously, The Truman Show. I went to the cinema to see this with my Dad, who had read some of the books, this is based on. A younger cousin of mine gave the opinion, that if LotR:Return of the King hadn't come out at the same time, and swept the Oscars, that M7C:fsotW should have been "best picture" -I rather agree'd with him.
Some of the filming, the ship was placed in the giant water tank, on the west coast of Mexico, where "Titanic" was made -others, on ships in the Pacific -even filming in the Galápagos Islands.
Always remember, the "lesser of two weevils"!
Some poor families would give their sons to the navy if they couldn't afford to feed them. It seems messed up now but at the time it probably saved the child's life.
“How dare they globally block an Add-E Counts reaction video?!” 🤬
I have found out that Master and Commander (and) The Far Side of The World were two different books! They’re part of a 20 novel series!!! I would love to be able to sit down and read them!!
Jurassic Park III (2001) & Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) were also blocked.
Yes, a full series. And one of the interesting points of the story for the Far SIde of the World is that the movie is time-shifted to about a decade earlier. In the books, the time was set during the War of 1812, and instead of the French, the "enemy ship" was actually an American. Weir didn't think a movie destined for the US market would sell well having Americans as the "bad guys".
Do it, the books are totaly worth every minute you spend reading them
Midshipmen, officers in training, would officially start at the age of 14. But sometimes, through family connections, they were as young as 10. Powder Boys and such were recruited officially not younger than 15. But they often captured and pressed boys younger than that into service.
Same with craftsmen, who were not allowed to be pressed into service, were sometimes pressed.
Lord Blakeney was about 11 and a midshipman, but the 7 year old kids were 'powder monkeys' whose job was to fetch gun powder from the bottom deck and bring it up to the gun deck.
Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany were in "A Beautiful Mind". This movie is based on a series of books. Most of the events in the series are actually based on events that really happened. The "Constitution" was towed into a fog bank by its crew, and the decoy raft was used by Thomas Cochrane. The daring in the sailors of the Napoleonic Age can almost not be overstated.
Theres something like 23 Master and Commander novels, so the end scene was fitting in that regard! The adventure continues
Incredible film.
In the books, Higgins is the dentist, not a doctor. Stephen actually seeks him out for the voyage because he has an excellent reputation.
Addie: excellent movie Russell Crowe great actor. Another great reaction Addie. I have determined the weevel joke was the begining of "dad jokes".
25 years later, a fellow named Charles Darwin came to the Galapagos on a less bellingerent expedition and had some more opportunity to study wildlife there. According to the movie "Creation" he too looked quite a bit like Paul Bettany.
Next to Wayne and Garth the captain and surgeon have the best platonic love story of any two besties.
There was a ship, Yankee Built that the Acaron is based on.. It was not just built out of Oak, It was built out of swamp Oak, which grows in the deep south and is far denser, heavier that oak. Cannon balls seemed to just bounce off her sides. They called it, ... Old Iron Sides. The U.S.S. Constitution. Which is currently the oldest actively serving ship of the Line in any navy in the world. The Boys, as young as 10, were Midshipmen, sons of British aristocracy, Bing trained to become officers. The regular sailors were subordinate to the Midshipmen. The youngest, the one that lost an arm, you will hear him addressed as Lord Blakeney. He is a Land Owner, Land and Title. His Father was the Lord. His Father is dead. Now at age 11, He is Lord of what had been his father's estate. The Oldest of the Mids is Holum. he is almost 30. He is the one that could not make a decision. The Natural Leader among the Mids is Miles Peter Calomay. He is the one that made the decision to Beat To Quarters (Battle Stations) before they first encountered the Acaron. He would have made an excellent ships captain in a few years. I dearly with they would have put more of these books into movies. ... Author Edward F Imhoff
Not only brilliantly directed, filmed, edited and acted. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany both learned to play their instruments for the film. Crowe said it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do for a film. He spent 3 months under the tuition of the Australian Chamber Orchestra's leader Richard Tongetti. Just so it would look like he knew what he was doing and wasn't faking it.
This is one of my favorite movies, and honestly I'm not even sure why..
This is and has been on my top 25 all-time best movies ever made. It's got all the beats: Age of sail/costume/period piece, possibly the best cast of supporting actors ever assembled, an unbelievably beautifully shot film that had these guys on a real ship brought to life - along with all the associated danger and claustrophobia - all on top of an utterly fantastic chase film where you see nothing of the antagonists until the final scenes of the movie.
For a single, standalone film I'd argue this accomplishment in cinematography, costume, writing, acting, directing is almost impossible to beat in the last 25 years.
My Dad's favorite author was Patrick Obrien and this movie was his favorite too. My dad felt Heath Ledger should of played Jack Aubrey but still loved this movie. Historians say this is one of the historically accurate movies ever made.
Note that wooden warships were very hard to sink as they had so much reserve buoyancy.
I just hope they get to the ship arrest the French captain and that they don't lose their friend who became the new captain
Paul Bethany made a fantastic biographical movie about Darwin.
Based on a book, out of a whole series of Aubrey & Maturin books, the enemy was changed form Americans to French. I've read the series and there are bits and pieces taken from other books and several plot changes. I wish they had made more movies but I think it would be very rough for the cast and crew.
All the natural wonders and credits discovered on the Galapagos Islands were given to Charles Darwin, who sailed there on a much later Royal Navy expedition well after the Napoleonic Wars. The implication being that Doctor Maturin would have been credited with those discoveries much earlier except for the "needs of the service" that kept interrupting him.
I bursted out laughing so damn hard with the shrubbery meme, thank you :)
Children is accurate, in the Royal Navy at the time children as young as 14 shipped out as midshipmen. Sailing is profession that requires a lifetime of experience.