A solid film with a beautifully immersive depiction of a British naval ship in the Napoleonic wars, and with a good many excellent actors populating the deck. The film is also a bit of an accomplishment on the sheer basis of (seemingly effortlessly) spending the entire first half of the running time without even seeing land at any point, and nearly being over entirely before we hear as much as a line of dialogue spoken by someone not on board the ship. This really puts you in the boat with the crew, so to speak, making the ship your world much as it is theirs. Frequent life and death stakes aside, though, it is for the most part a somewhat languid character drama, which perhaps lessens the enjoyment for the average viewer. But there is definitely a sense of forward momentum even so, and many moments of humanity, humour and heart to enjoy on the way, if you manage to let yourself be engrossed enough in the story to care about any of it. So, in short, if a character-driven Napoleonic naval story is up your alley, I suspect you'll like this rather a lot, but if that sounds a bit dreary, this movie is unfortunately unlikely to convince you otherwise. ( )

Two-disc special edition.
During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.

Director: Peter Weir
Writers: Patrick O'Brian (novels), Peter Weir (screenplay), 1 more credit »
Stars: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd |

The Far Side of the World is the tenth historical novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1984. The story is set during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812.

In Gibraltar, Captain Aubrey receives another mission, to sail HMS Surprise to protect British whalers in the Pacific Ocean from USS Norfolk. Dr Maturin had great success destroying the French intelligence network in Malta, but has not yet identified the high-level men who got away. Unaware, he sends the letter to his own wife explaining his protection of the Navy wife via that very villain. The Pacific Ocean is full of wonders, and prizes, once the Jonah is off the ship.

Plot summery

Aubrey meets Admiral Ives, now in Gibraltar, who is pleased with the last mission of HMS Surprise, despite Aubrey’s negative report. Mr Yarrow will rephrase the report to make the results clearer to the Admiralty. The admiral is now a peer, his deepest wish, and he is a happy man. Aubrey dines with Laura Fielding and her husband, Lieutenant Fielding, who is now completely satisfied that his wife is true to him and thanks Aubrey for his kindness to her in bringing her from Malta to Gibraltar (though it is Maturin who is responsible for her being on the ship, having saved her from two assassins and brought her aboard to escape). Maturin receives news from his intelligence-chief in London, Sir Joseph Blaine, confirming high level infiltration of British intelligence by the French. Maturin's wife Diana has heard rumours of the infidelity he pretended in Valletta, Malta, with Mrs Fielding for intelligence reasons. He sends her a letter via Andrew Wray, unsuspecting of Wray's role as a French agent. Maturin learns of his success in Malta, destroying the French intelligence network based there, all but André Lesueur taken.

Surprise is not yet to be broken up; Aubrey is sent by Admiral Ives on a mission to protect British whalers in the Pacific Ocean from the USS Norfolk, sailing on HMS Surprise. Aubrey makes all haste to prepare his ship with men and supplies. He recruits Mr Allen, a new master with an in-depth knowledge of whalers, takes on Mr Martin as schoolmaster to the midshipmen and Mr. Hollom, an aging midshipman. Aubrey wonders if his kindness takes aboard a Jonah with Hollom.

The Surprise sails to the farthest east point of Brazil, where the bowsprit is burnt by lightning. During the repairs, Pullings sees the USS Norfolk pass by. Mrs Horner, the gunner's wife, engages in an affair with Hollom, and gets pregnant. Maturin will not interfere with the pregnancy, so she turns to his assistant, Higgins, who leaves her near death. Maturin saves her life. Hollom was long considered a Jonah by the crew. Surprise rounds Cape Horn with some losses, and then reaches the Juan Fernández Islands to refit and recover. There, the gunner kills his wife and Hollom, and re-boards the ship. Off Chile, Horner learns that Higgins performed an abortion on his wife; Higgins disappears from the ship and Horner hangs himself in his cabin. Surprise retakes the packet Danaë, with Lieutenant Lawrence in command, and in the Pacific, retakes the valuable whaler Acapulco with Caleb Gill, nephew to the Norfolk's captain in command. Tom Pullings sails the packet ship back to England, after Maturin and Aubrey take possession of a hidden brass box, per instructions to Maturin. Mr Allen negotiates with the agent for the whaler in Valparaiso, where the American prisoners are left ashore. Taking the whaler restores the spirit to the crew.

Arrived at the Galapagos archipelago, Maturin and Martin are amazed at the new species they see on land, in the air and in the sea. Surprise picks up men from the whaler Intrepid Fox, now burnt by USS Norfolk. Knowing where the Norfolk is headed, Aubrey sails along the equator west toward the Marquesas. Maturin is disappointed and furious that the promise made to let him explore ashore is broken. Aubrey saves Maturin when he falls overboard one evening, but no one misses them until dawn. The two men are rescued by Polynesian women on a Pahi, who ultimately leave them on a small island with a fishing line. The launch from the Surprise finds them. Maturin is needed aboard Surprise, as the group sent to board the Pahi was cruelly beaten by the women.

After surviving the tail of a typhoon, the Surprise finds the Norfolk wrecked on a reef by the same typhoon and her survivors encamped on an island. Aubrey, Mr Martin and some of the crew take Maturin ashore for surgery; he is in a coma since hitting his head during the typhoon. Just as the surgeon from the Norfolk, Dr Butcher, prepares to operate, Maturin wakes from his coma. Before they can rejoin their ship, a heavy storm blows the Surprise away. Relations between the two marooned groups are tense, because some of the Norfolks were mutineers in 1797 aboard HMS Hermione; they will be hanged by the British. One admits this to Bonden. Aubrey tells the American Captain Palmer that he and his crew are prisoners of war. Both groups are eager to leave this island. Aubrey orders his carpenters to lengthen the launch so they can sail away, pushing the rest to collect food. He sees an American whaler on the horizon. The crew of the Norfolk spot the same whaler, cheer at the sight, and then kill their informer. The Norfolks fight with the Surprises. Their cheering stops when the whaler loses two masts and strikes her colours, because it is the Surprise that takes her in chase. ( )

Great thrilling adventure ( )

High Seas adventure- the fate of the empire rest on the shoulders of one man... After a sneak attack by a French warship inflicts severe damage upon his vessel, Captain "Lucky" Jack Aubrey is torn between his duty and friendship as he embarks on a thrilling, high stakes chase across two oceans to capture and destroy the enemy at any cost. 130 min