Get ready for some darn good nautical thrills with “Master And Commander: The Far Side of the World”, a film that seems to capture the spirit of the Colonial era. Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”, “Virtuosity”) stars while Peter Weir (“The Truman Show”) directs this very entertaining film.

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, “Master And Commander” follows the uncompromising Captain Aubrey (Crowe), who will push his ship and crew to their limits. He is the leader of a British ship tasked with pursuing a formidable French vessel off the coast of South America. Literally outgunned (28 cannons to 40), Aubrey will need all his intelligence and his determination to guide his men to victory.

Russell Crowe does a fantastic job as Aubrey; he is exactly like how I imagine naval men of his era to be. I also really like a particular scene where he tells an anecdote about meeting Lord Nelson. Crowe supposedly learned to play the violin for this film and his dedication to his acting career shows with performances such as this. Paul Bettany (“Iron Man”) plays the ship’s surgeon and naturalist, Stephen Maturin, and he does a decent job. The other crew members are all fine. In a way, I actually quite like it that you do not really see the enemy as it is more like a lot of real warfare.

“Master And Commander” looks terrific, you really believe that you are back in the early 1800s and sailing the high seas. The film is supposedly also the first to film on the Galapagos Islands and the scenes there also look stunning. If you are waiting for me to list the faults, I cannot really think of any (besides Bettany being a little underwhelming), the only really issue is that it is not longer. I highly recommend this film for fans of historical war films and I think most people are going to really enjoy it.