I was intrigued by this story, so I started reading the books about two months before the movie was released. I\'m moving ahead slowly, and I\'m now on book 4, "The Mauritius Command." What can I say, the novels are amazing. Patrick O\'Brian really builds some fascinating characters, and the action sequences are brilliant.
I was very concerned that the movie would strip out what was really great about the books, and make it a purely action film, but that didn\'t happen at all. Russell Crowe comes about as close as anyone I could imagine to realizing that character; though he could have used more talking scenes to display the humorous, emotionally thick-headed side of the character. My only complaint was that his accent was not quite purely english enough. I guess I\'m just used to hearing that Australian accent coming out of his mouth.
The guy who played Dr. Maturin was 100% DEAD ON. That performance was fantastic. I also liked how they effectively realized many smaller characters with an economy of dialog, like Killick, Pullings, and Babbington. Too bad there were no land scenes with Aubrey\'s wife Sophia, her mother Mrs. Williams, or the frustrating Diana Villiers.
One more thing: The movie shouldn\'t have been titled "Master & Commander." That was the title of the first book, which described Capt Aubrey\'s first command on board the two masted brig HMS Sophie. The rank "master & commander" is only for captains on the bottom rung of the ladder. By the time Aubrey took command of the HMS Surprise, (as in the movie,) he already acheived the rank of Post Captain, which would be required for a frigate of that size.