Captain Aubrey (Crowe) of Her Majesty's Service is under orders to stop the Acheron, a larger French ship, from expanding Napoleon's war into the Pacific. The action starts a few minutes following the opening shots that offer awesome but not pretty vistas. A junior officer thinks he sees something through the mists. Suddenly there is a burst of colour, and destruction; the Acheron has fired upon the Surprise.

Despite a significant damage done to Surprise, Aubrey cannot bring himself to retreat. Not even after Acheron has attacked his ship again. He is convinced that if he lets the French get away, the British Empire is doomed.

While he plans to face the phantom French ship again, he is morally challenged by his friend Maturin (Paul Bettany). Maturin is also the ship's surgeon and a naturalist. The two men differ sharply in their vision and sense of duty and their friendship is sorely tested.

(Russell Crowe and wife Danielle Spencer attend the Twentieth Century Fox Los Angeles premiere of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.)

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images

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