Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) is Peter Weir's seafaring war drama, and you can watch it online on iFILM. During the Napoleonic Wars, the British frigate HMS Surprise takes a sudden, crippling hit from a larger French warship that vanishes back into the fog.

Russell Crowe plays Captain Jack Aubrey, nicknamed Lucky Jack, who refuses to limp home. With his ship battered and his crew thinned, he gives chase across two oceans, down to the storms of Cape Horn and the strange shores of the Galapagos. At his side is ship's surgeon and closest friend Stephen Maturin, played by Paul Bettany, a naturalist who keeps questioning whether the hunt is worth the cost. Duty pulls one way, the lives of the men pull another.

Weir built full-scale ships and shot heavily on water rather than leaning on visual effects, so the damp decks and cannon fire feel real. Adapted from Patrick O'Brian's naval novels, the film won two Academy Awards, for cinematography and sound editing. Stream Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) online on iFILM.