Crowe fans: Master & Commander now pro-US/anti-French

[FlashHarry]

It seems that in the book upon which the film is based, Crowe's character is chasing down an American "super-frigate" during the War of 1812. In the film, however, the ship in question is now French and the year is 1806.

When will Hollywood buck the trend and quit listening to focus groups? Oh, never mind.

Story here

[Zero Gravitas]

1. Far Side of the World

In the book Far Side of the Wolrd Aubrey (played by Crowe in the upcoming film) was trying to find an American frigate that was attacking British whaling ships. The "super frigate" bit is a figment of the screen writer's imagination, and they have changed the enemy from American to French (although that change came long before the recent anti-French sillyness so it was done out of "economic correctness" not political corectness).

[FlashHarry]

2. Thanks for clearing that up.

Nice avatar, by the way!

[realityboy]

3. Hey, its being produced by 19th Century Fox.

Waddaya expect?

[Sagan]

4. I have a bad feeling about that movie...

I have read all 20 books of that series.. multiple times. I am a Naval history scholar...

They are going to take a great book and screw it up.

Bleh...


In the books, Aubrey fights the French quite a lot, but also the Americans. I don't know if the changes mentioned above could be construed as political, but I DO know that they're making a mishmash out of a great series.

[FlashHarry]

6. Ever read any of the "Flashman" novels?

By George MacDonald Fraser. They're brilliant snapshots of 19th century historical fiction (so much so, that my screen name is derived from the same). I highly recommend the eponymous first novel. Plus, they're friggin' hilarious--the title character is a dead ringer for GW Bush.

[MercutioATC]

5. The movie is NOT based on just ONE of the Aubrey/Maturin books

It's called "Master and Commander" (the title of book #1) and is subtitled "The Far Side of the World" (the title of book #10).

Since the books (all 20) are late 18th/early 19th century British naval fiction, the "enemies" are always going to be the French, the Americans and the Spanish. I don't think this is a political statement, and I've never heard that the script has been altered to fit modern politics. Since they're not making the movie based on just one book, you have to allow that they'll be using elements from the entire series.

(I've read the entire series three times. I'm really hoping this movie can do it justice.)