Master and Commander

The Plot of the Film

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World starts with Captain Jack Aubrey being sent off to pursue the French heavy frigate Acheron and their first encounter, where the French privateer causes great damage to, and brushing off the cannon fire of, the light frigate HMS Surprise. Despite his officers urging him to stop, Aubrey decides to have the Surprise refitted and return to pursuing the Acheron. When the Surprise leaves the port, the Acheron re-appears soon after and persues them; during the night the lights are doused as a decoy raft with lit lamps is sent out to mislead the Acheron. From here, they pursue the Acheron around Cape Horn and onto the Galapagos Islands and Captian Aubrey promises Doctor Maturin that he will be able to study the wildlife there but cuts it short when the crew of a burned whaling ship is discovered, as it had been destroyed by the crew of the Acheron.

The Surprise is then caught in a lack of wind and cannot move quickly so the crew becomes discontented, especially since they had been able to relax on the islands; it is now that they start calling Midshipman Hollom a "Jonah" - someone who has done evil and attracts bad luck. This poor perception of Hollom, which has been growing over the course of the film, leads to Nagle (a crew member) walking into him, who is then given several lashes across the back for being insubordinate. That night, Hollom commits suicide and the following morning Aubrey holds a service for him before resuming the chase. The following day, the Royal Marine Captain Howard attempts to shoot an Albatross an misses, hitting Maturin instead; when informed that this operation would be best done on land, Aubrey gives up the chase and returns to the Galapagos. A tent is set up and using a mirror, Maturin removes the bullet and fabric from the wound; Aubrey says that he will now be able to study the wildlife and while he does, Maturin finds the Acheron on the other side of the island and leaves most of his specimins to relay the information to Aubrey.

The crew of the Surprise then prepare for battle again, discussing the construction of the enemy ship and deciding tht they would have to close the distance to be able to be able to damage the better-armoured Acheron. Midshipman Blakeney, who had been out with Maturin, mentions the stick insect and how it uses camoflage to keep itself from being found by predators, which gives Aubrey the idea to disguise the Surprise as a whaling ship called the Siren, to lure the Acheron into getting close enough for a fight as they would probably want to capture it as a prize rather than waste their effort attacking. The Acheron falls for the trap, and a fight breaks out where she is mostly disabled and boarded by the Surprise.

The Acheron is captured, and both ships are repaired. However, as the Acheron sails away to Valparaiso, Maturin mentions the Acheron's doctor had been dead for months; meaning that it was the French captain in disguise. Rather than stay at the Galapagos, Aubrey has the Surprise change course to intercept and escort the Acheron, and for everyone to man their battle stations. Knowing that this will upset Maturin, Aubrey reassures him that the bird isn't going anywhere, since it's flightless.