When the interval struggle drama Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World was launched theatrically in November 2003, the swashbuckling epic carried the aura of greatness. Directed by the esteemed Peter Weir and starring a primed Russell Crowe, the movie was immediately hailed upon its launch as a severe Academy Award contender. Furthermore, Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World was supposed to launch a franchise.
Nonetheless, whereas the universally acclaimed film certainly obtained 10 Academy Award nominations, together with Greatest Director and Greatest Image, the bold franchise plans had been scuttled by a comparatively disappointing box-office efficiency. With hypothesis rising concerning the event of a prequel, it’s time to look again at Crowe and Weir’s masterpiece, which holds the doubtful distinction of being one of many best opening installments of a presently non-existent movie collection in historical past.
‘Grasp and Commander’ Turns Oceans into Battlefields
Set in the course of the Napoleonic Wars, Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World options one in every of Russell Crowe’s finest performances as British Royal Navy Captain Jack Aubrey, captain of the British frigate HMS Shock, which, within the movie’s thrilling opening scene, is ambushed by the bane of its existence, the mighty French warship Acheron, off the Brazilian coast and suffers heavy harm. After discovering refuge in a fog financial institution, the defeated Aubrey is ordered to return to port. Nonetheless, the cussed Aubrey, believing that he should stop Acheron from reaching the British whaling fleet, orders repairs to be carried out on Shock at sea, the place a second ambush assault from Acheron forces Aubrey and his crew to flee to the Galápagos Islands.
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These opening scenes set up Aubrey as a forceful however compassionate and lifelike chief who alternately embodies the humility of historical past’s best army leaders and the obsessive willpower of a warlord. By establishing the geography and physicality of the universe of the British navy with breathtaking element and depth, Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World is empowered to turn out to be an enchanting examine of habits and personalities, particularly by way of Aubrey’s relationship along with his ship’s free-spirited surgeon, Stephen Maturin, performed by Paul Bettany.
Whereas seeming to be opposites, the consistently bickering buddies kind a profitable partnership by means of the sum of their differing qualities. Simply because the brilliantly strategic Aubrey saves his ship by means of unconventional considering, the cool Maturin, who’s extra excited by birds and bugs than struggle, performs mind surgical procedure on the deck of the Shock by capping a gap in his awake affected person’s mind with a coin.
‘Grasp and Commander’ Is Primarily based On a Collection of Widespread Novels
Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World relies on Patrick O’Brian’s beloved Aubrey-Maturin novel collection, which encompasses 20 novels, starting with the 1969 novel Grasp and Commander. The screenplay, which was co-written by director Peter Weir, is based totally on the tenth novel within the collection, The Far Facet of the World, whereas additionally incorporating components from Grasp and Commander and the fifth novel within the collection, Desolation Island.
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In 2009, Russell Crowe said that he was in negotiations to star in a sequel to Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World, primarily based on the eleventh ebook within the Aubrey-Maturin collection, The Reverse of the Medal, which was printed in 1986. When the prequel was first introduced in June 2021, it was revealed that it could be primarily based solely on the primary novel, during which a younger Jack Aubrey begins his friendship with naval surgeon Stephen Maturin after receiving his first command.
‘Grasp and Commander’ Was Overshadowed by ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’
Whereas the failure to show Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World right into a franchise has been primarily attributed to the movie’s underwhelming box-office efficiency, Russell Crowe has blamed the dearth of a franchise on the affect of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, during which the primary installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, was launched theatrically in the summertime of 2003, roughly 4 months earlier than the discharge of Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World.
Whereas Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World grossed $212 million on the worldwide field workplace, in opposition to a manufacturing value of $150 million, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl grossed greater than $650 million. In a 2024 interview with GQ, Crowe mentioned that the discharge of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl drastically lessened public enthusiasm for a second seafaring blockbuster movie and thereby successfully killed the sequel probabilities for Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World. In distinction, the Pirates of the Caribbean movie collection, which presently encompasses 5 movies and spans 14 years, has grossed greater than $4.5 billion on the worldwide field workplace. Grasp and Commander: The Far Facet of the World is on the market to lease on Prime Video and Apple TV.