‘Master’ is commanding

SEAN RUHLAND, DEREK RUHLAND AND TERI SIMONIS

Teri: In “Master and Commander: Far Side of the World”, Peter Weir

creates a dynamic environment on the H.M.S. Surprise, an English

fighting ship during the Napoleonic wars, and invites movie-goers

aboard. Along with Captain “Lucky” Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe)

Stephen Maturin, the ship’s doctor (Paul Bettany), the young

midshipmen and craggy sailors, I rocked below deck in a hammock,

listened to the creak of the wooden vessel, felt the power of the

ocean and cringed at the primitive medical techniques. The historic

time Weir creates is amazingly realistic. Crowe is powerful and

compelling in his performance of Lucky Jack. I ached when the doctor

amputated Midshipman Lord Blakeney’s (13-year-old Max Perkins)

gangrenous arm and triumphed with Blakeney when he successfully led

the sailors in battle. I truly believe this is a movie worth seeing

once -- and yet, beyond the fantastic settings and historical

accuracies, I am not compelled to see it again nor would I rush to

see a sequel because the story line is simply that of a war movie.

Derek: When my brother, my father, my mother and I saw the preview

for “Master and Commander: Far Side of The World” I was the only one

who was not excited. Actually, I thought it looked rather stupid,

although to be fair that sentiment was derived mainly from the

ridiculous name. To my pleasant surprise, however, all my

preconceived notions of this movie were wrong. I did not much like

“Gladiator” and still think that Russell Crowe cannot play a Mel

Gibson-esque hero, so I was delighted when his authority as the

captain was subtle and understated. Instead of being a God-like war

hero Russell played the part, to the movie’s great advantage, as a

prim and proper English Naval Captain interested in the well-being of

his crew and the protection of the Crown. I highly recommend this

movie. It takes you to the world of 1805 and then keeps you there

with pleasantly un-forced drama until the credits roll.

Sean: “Master and Commander” was a very well-written movie.

Although it had some stretches where it was boring, it had more parts

where it held your attention and kept you interested. The ending

wasn’t very clear but I suppose they might be setting up for a

sequel. Russell Crowe played his role very well. I thought that the

worst scenes in the movie were the very graphic doctor scenes. The

captain of the ship (Crowe) had a hard part to play and played it

well. The story of the doctor who was the naturalist and only wanted

to see the Galapagos Islands was very sad. I thought that the

conflicts between the doctor and captain were heartbreaking. I

enjoyed the instrumental aspect and the dinner scenes.

* SEAN RUHLAND, 14, is a freshman at Huntington Beach High School,

DEREK RUHLAND, 16, is a junior at Huntington Beach High School, and

TERI SIMONIS, 43, is an office assistant for the city of Huntington

Beach.