Movie Review: Master & Commander (2003)

Master & Commander (2003), PG-13 - Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany
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Genre: Historical/Adventure
Setting: Napoleonic Wars
Stars: 5 out of 5
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Synopsis...
One of my personal favorites, this amazing film is a must see, especially for anyone interested in naval warfare. Beautifully filmed and skillfully directed. Very similar to The Horatio Hornblower Series (1998) with Ioann Gruffudd.
"Lucky" Jack Aubry, captain of the H.M.S. Surprise, has received orders to capture or destroy the dangerous French warship Acheron at any cost. After an unexpected attack from the latter leaves the Surprise severely damaged, Aubry and his crew begin a dogged and unrelenting chase across two oceans in search of their elusive and seemingly invincible enemy. Duty and friendship clash, but Aubry's efforts finally result in a fierce battle between the two ships.
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Content-Wise...

Intense Battle Sequences and Related Images

Brief Mild Suggestive Content

Brief Strong Language

Brief Abuse of God's Name

I highly recommend parents preview, and determine suitability and necessary editing, as my parents did.
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Points to Ponder...

• During a severe storm which threatens to end "Lucky" Jack's mission once and for all, a mast splinters and falls overboard, taking a crewman with it. The perishing man clings to the mast, which is still partly attached to the ship by rigging. The rest of the crew desperately tries to help him regain the ship. However, the broken mast causes the Surprise to lag and start floundering, and the entire ship is in danger of going down. As a result, Aubry is forced to make a gut-wrenching decision to sacrifice the few for the many: He gives the order to sever the ropes that bind the mast to the ship, saving the Surprise, but losing the crewman to the frigid, raging sea...
• In our walk with Christ, we often have to abandon certain things for the greater good of our souls. It may be extremely painful at the time, almost more than we think we can bear. But such sacrifices, such "severing of the ropes", play a great role in our sanctification, and will be to our benefit in the end. We must not let anything - no habit, no lifestyle, no nothing - lead us off the Narrow Way. To follow Christ is to cut all connections with this world and commit to Him completely - not partially. If Aubry had not forced himself to make the tough choice to cut asunder the thing which endangered the safety of his ship and crew, and the completion of his task - if he had let something get between him and the greater good - he and those with him would have been lost. In the same way, if we, as Christians, let anything come between us and Christ and the greater good of our souls, we will have strayed from the Narrow Way, and endangered all that is truly of worth for the sake of something which will only drag us downward to hell.

• "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." ~ Matthew 5:29