Master and Commander

[nhschneider]

Master and Commander was filmed at Fox Studios in Baja California, where they also filmed Titanic. It won two Academy Awards - best cinematography and best sound editing and was nominated for eight others, including best picture and best director. During the shooting of the movie, there were times when they had to tow the ship backwards so the sails would look full. The movie grossed $93,000,000.

I was on the Board of Trustees of the San Diego Maritime Museum when the opportunity arose to acquire her. From time to time we would hold meetings in the aft cabin of the Rose.

[HopCar]

Minaret, I really enjoyed the Sharpe series but, unlike you, I liked the music as well.
Did you catch that in one of Cornwell's Sharpe books one of C.S. Forester's characters, Rifleman Dobbs, appears? It was an homage to Forester.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by HopCar

Minaret, I really enjoyed the Sharpe series but, unlike you, I liked the music as well.
Did you catch that in one of Cornwell's Sharpe books one of C.S. Forester's characters, Rifleman Dobbs, appears? It was an homage to Forester.

Never noticed! Good eye.



The music just felt too Jimi Hendrix electric guitar for a period piece set in the Napoleonic Wars for me. Glad you enjoyed it though, it did have a certain irreverence that was different for that sort of thing.


Try this if you haven't yet.

Wellington's Rifles: Six Years to Waterloo with England's Legendary Sharpshooters: Mark Urban: 9780802714374: Amazon.com: Books

[goboatingnow]

From memory, and I read them a long time ago, wasn't master and commander about the capture of a Spanish ship. And Aubreys court martial etc. the film was very different.

Dave

[minaret]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

From memory, and I read them a long time ago, wasn't master and commander about the capture of a Spanish ship. And Aubreys court martial etc. the film was very different.

Dave

The film is made up of material taken from the first book and the fourteenth book in a series of twenty one volumes. How in the hell they ever thought they could make that work without mangling the content I don't know. It's a crime, as far as I'm concerned. Quick cash in on the series name made by O'Briens heirs selling the movie rights immediately after his death when he refused to do so in life. They could have showed some respect and tried for at least a trilogy.

[minaret]

Not so many interviews this length with such a famously private person.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a4b16lO...%3Da4b16lOYR6k

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by minaret

The film is made up of material taken from the first book and the fourteenth book in a series of twenty one volumes. How in the hell they ever thought they could make that work without mangling the content I don't know. It's a crime, as far as I'm concerned. Quick cash in on the series name made by O'Brians heirs selling the movie rights immediately after his death when he refused to do so in life. They could have showed some respect and tried for at least a trilogy.

My father met O,Brien in Dublin once, it seems he wrote with a quill. He wasn't Irish of course, but he had interesting views on Irish politics of the 18th century. and worked his characters into it. I'm big fan of 17 and 18th century naval history, but could never really get intro O'Brian's style. I found the language tiresome and overly flamboyant. I read most of them, but I've lots of better stories then his.

No flaming from O'Brian's fans now mind you.

Dave

[minaret]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

My father met O,Brien in Dublin once, it seems he wrote with a quill. He wasn't Irish of course, but he had interesting views on Irish politics of the 18th century. and worked his characters into it. I'm big fan of 17 and 18th century naval history, but could never really get intro O'Brian's style. I found the language tiresome and overly flamboyant. I read most of them, but I've lots of better stories then his.

No flaming from O'Brian's fans now mind you.

Dave

Irish on one side. He also famously abandoned a wife and children. Hence the reason for privacy about his personal history. A truly strange bird, but certainly one of the great authors of the last century.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by minaret

Irish on one side. He also famously abandoned a wife and children. Hence the reason for privacy about his personal history. A truly strange bird, but certainly one of the great authors of the last century.

He just about made it into this century. I remember the news of the TV about his death.

Dave

[minaret]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

He just about made it into this century. I remember the news of the TV about his death.

Dave

Yup. I must have read everything he ever wrote at least half a dozen times. If you haven't read them, The Golden Ocean & The Unknown Shore are a fascinating novelized account of Commodore Anson's voyage around the Horn with Banks. His biographies of Banks and Picasso (who he knew) are also fascinating. He was an intelligence agent during the war, and that is where much of Maturin's character comes from. Stephen Maturin is very much based on his own character and appearance.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by minaret

Yup. I must have read everything he ever wrote at least half a dozen times. If you haven't read them, The Golden Ocean & The Unknown Shore are a fascinating novelized account if Commodore Anson's voyage around the Horn with Banks. His biographies if Banks and Picasso (who he knew) are also fascinating. He was an intelligence agent during the war, and that is where much of Maturin's character comes from. Stephen Maturin is very much based on his own character and appearance.

Is that the non fiction stuff , is it written a little less formally or in an identical voice to the fiction stuff

Dave

[minaret]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Is that the non fiction stuff , is it written a little less formally or in an identical voice to the fiction stuff

Dave

His biographies are very different in flavor from Aubrey/Maturin. Still very much O'Brien though.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by minaret

Anybody else watch the BBC series on Sharpe starring Sean Bean as the titular character? Terrible theme music and some other issues, no naval action, but still better than "Master & Commander". There are a lot of episodes, each one based on a Sharpe novel. Netflix has them.

I have seen a few of the Sharpe episodes but never saw them all or in correct order. Great to know they are on NetFlix!

Thanks!

[minaret]

Originally Posted by dannc

I have seen a few of the Sharpe episodes but never saw them all or in correct order. Great to know they are on NetFlix!

Thanks!

Sure! They are not to my knowledge streaming live, you still have to get a DVD by snail mail the old fashioned way.

[dannc]

I usually do not read fiction but O'Brien's books are/were an exception. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found his stories somewhat unbelievable, though I knew his characters and battles were based on history. I had read that O' Brien would read the ships logs for his stories.

After reading quite a few of the books, I read, "The Sea Warriors" by Richard Woodman. I recognized some of the battles and people in the book as being in O'Brien's "history."

There are also some very good biographies on Nelson for free that are a great read. AT Mahan wrote some very good biographies on navy leaders, including Nelson that are very good. Mahan's language takes a bit of getting used too but his books are very good and free on Kindle.