Master and Commander was a big surprise to anyone who didn’t necessarily think old time ships would be that interesting. It shouldn’t have been a surprise though because Peter Weir decided it would be interesting, and it is one of the finest films of this century.
It’s all the procedure of an elaborate crew and it remains fascinating. You don’t have to understand every term or command but you believe they do, and you watch it unfold. The first and last ship battles are the best of their kind ever put on film.
Now on 4K UHD, the atmosphere at sea is palpable. It opens at night so you can see the subtle grades of dark ocean and sky. Silhouettes are great on $K, but have you ever seen a ship outlined like that before?
Below deck is full of exquisite shadows. The crew climbing the mast are also outlined on the sails.
Overcast skies keep it gritty. This is not a Carnival cruise, or perhaps Pirates of the Caribbean is a more relevant example. Film grain shows up on the fog.
No surprise the cannon fire blasts in full surround. The drums aboard the boat really sound like they’re above deck. The crew stomps back and forth across the room.
It has the 24 minutes of deleted scenes and historical trivia track from previous releases on the Blu ray. Those scenes include more ship procedure worth seeing enacted.