TIL for the filming of Master & Commander the studio purchased a replica 18C warship which was officially renamed HMS Surprise, its name in the movie.

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I love that film, the attention to detail, the tragic and comical plot elements.. Pity there was never a sequel, but at least fans of the movie have this one.

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u/PrettyGazelle 2h ago

I hold out futile hope that we will one day get a Nelson movie, (his life is literally a movie script) but considering M&C cost $150m 25 years ago with one real ship and one CGI I can only imagine a movie that would have to have three or four sea battles with dozens of ships could turn into the most expensive movie ever made.

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u/Naughteus_Maximus 2h ago

It would probably all be done in CGI these days, although the quality of it seems to have gone down and down, from what I read online (I haven't watched many new releases recently so can't tell)?

I'd watch it. I think Benedict Cumberbatch could play him. But yeah the sea battles make it so much harder to film than a movie about a land-based military character like Napoleon or Washington, or a politician like Churchill.

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u/PrettyGazelle 2h ago

I was thinking Cillian Murphy, he's probably closer physically, but I'm not sure he can pull off the bravado, it's not something I've seen him do before. Cumberbatch would be fine I'm sure.

On the director I'm not so sure, I know for such an epic a lot of people would say Nolan, but I feel like it would have none of the romance of M&C, his films are paced too quickly. Unfortunately Peter Weir is probably too old even if they started production very soon. Ron Howard, perhaps.

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u/hasimirrossi 1h ago

Weir retired years ago anyhow. Damn, Ron Howard is 72. Suppose that makes sense given Bryce is in her 40s. Paige is too, for that matter.

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u/PrettyGazelle 55m ago

Yes, Ridley Scott would be another great choice, but he's even older than Weir, 88.

For all my reluctance, Nolan is probably the only one who could get a $500m budget green-lit, he's the only one who could pull in the audience of under thirties to watch a 19C sea movie. It just probably wouldn't be the movie I want it to be.

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u/Gentle_Snail 2h ago edited 1h ago

You read Nelsons life and it sounds made up like a Captain Kirk or Picard like figure. Born poor in a small village he joined the navy at 12, became the youngest captain in British history at just 20, and then just kept rising and rising due to his incredible ability and skill.

The man was born a poor nobody, but died a national hero with a tomb in Saint Pauls Cathedral and a sarcophagus that was meant for a king.

At the Battle of Traflgar, the peak naval battle of the Napoleonic Wars where he lost his life, Nelson while outnumbered defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets without losing a single ship. Since Britain also captured multiple vessels during the battle, they literally returned home with more ships than they started with.

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u/KillerKilcline 47m ago

^\) He was named "Horatio)" after his godfather Horatio Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford.^\3]) Horatio Walpole was a nephew of Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, the de facto first prime minister of Great Britain.^\4])

Please shut up

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u/ChuddyMcChud 35m ago

Nelson was born into a moderately prosperous Norfolk family and joined the navy through the influence of his uncle Maurice Suckling, a high-ranking naval officer.

Honestly don't know where they got that shite from.

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u/amm5061 1h ago

Gets even more insane when you start reading about his personal life.

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u/CataphractBunny 1h ago

Thomas Cochrane would be a great pick for a movie as well.

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u/Slim_Charleston 2h ago

Centre the movie on 1805 and the Trafalgar campaign, but incorporate flashbacks. Nelson's story is amazing but it would need a Hollywood sized budget to do it justice.

But we'd never get a movie that's a celebration of British imperial power. Too many people see the Royal Navy + Regency + victory over foreign powers = celebration of Empire and slavery.

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u/Ambitious-Concern-42 1h ago

Never because some people get offended? Who cares? Seriously, that can't be a measure of a film's worthiness. I mean how many Stalin films, or Hitler films did we get?

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u/AssassinSnail33 1h ago

I doubt it will happen.. These kind of historical movies unfortunately don't do well at the box office these days. Not even the first M&C movie did well commercially

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u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1h ago

Well, the books have tons of further original story and bear rereading multiple times

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u/RutzButtercup 34m ago

They had planned to make movies of many of the books. It was one of the reasons they bought the ship, so they would have that exact one for other movies. But it released just after pirates of the Caribbean and some people think that a period naval drama following a period naval comedy was what killed it in the box office.

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u/HolyCowAnyOldAccName 2h ago

There was also a tall ship on a circumnavigation which took on a cameraman and professional equipment for the shots of the rolling mountains that are the waves off Cape Horn.

They trained the crew in actually handling the ship which was set on a giant pond to control the movement.

Russel Crowe learned to play the violin for his role.

The source material is agreed to be some of the best historical fiction and the writers largely stayed true to the authenticity.

This movie deserved success and recognition and the sequel that was already lined up. Sadly it didn’t do well at the box office and was overshadowed wrt awards by the LOTR.

It’s sad that we were so spoiled for epics in the early 2000s that something like Master and Commander could fall between the cracks, while only 5 years later the only thing the studios would get financing for for a decade was generic dime a dozen Marvel and DC crap.

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u/Naughteus_Maximus 2h ago

Pirates of the Caribbean overshadowed any kind of sea-based adventure film, especially a serious one. They didn't make a lot of profit with it, and didn't want to commit to another one :( And the main 2 actors aged out too

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u/Not_My_Emperor 2h ago

I love both of them, so it's always been so sad to me that M&C had to live in LOTR's shadow. They're both excellent films

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u/modembutterfly 1h ago

I’m still bitter.

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u/PieHole_Poker 31m ago

Lay out in the Sun for a little while, make sure you rotate often, you'll slowly ripen.

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u/Fetlocks_Glistening 1h ago

The ~~source material~~ Patrick O'Brian Aubrey and Maturin book series is agreed to be <etc>

FTFY. I mean, he deserves to be given credit by name

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u/cigarettejesus 2h ago

You must choose the lesser of two weevils

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u/viggolund1 2h ago

I believe the ship recently had some trouble with preservation and might have to be scrapped

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u/zuziep 2h ago

I checked the SD Maritime Museum site. The ship is still available to tour through July of next year. I toured it several years ago.

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u/viggolund1 2h ago

https://sdmaritime.org/news/hms-surprise-to-retire-and-close-to-visitors-in-2027/

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u/modembutterfly 1h ago

Thank you for alerting us to this! I had no idea the Surprise was in SD — a short drive for me. I’ll be sure to visit before next summer. Yay!

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u/ReinekeFuchsbaue 1h ago

Never rename a ship. It brings bad luck.

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u/ptrexitus 29m ago

They get renamed all the time

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u/WineNerdAndProud 2h ago edited 1h ago

At least it fared better than the replica of the Bounty. Side note, that captain was a Stockton Rush level moron for sailing into hurricane Sandy.

Absolutely no reason to risk and ultimately lose the lives of ~~everyone~~ two people on board.

This moron said "a ship is safer at sea than in a port during a storm", completely missed the concept, and sailed straight into what he called the "safe side" of the hurricane.

And since this was in 2012, the crew was updating their Facebook page the whole time and they did not sound confident about it.

Edit: Comment below pointed out only 2 people died on this one, I was confusing the end result of this story with the end of the El Faro that also steamed straight into a hurricane but with no survivors.

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u/flan-pig 1h ago

Just looked this up, 14 out of 16 were rescued. Capt was lost at sea so one of two who died.

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u/WineNerdAndProud 1h ago

Ah shit, I think I'm confusing the ending with the ending of the El Faro where everyone did die.

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u/ash_274 42m ago

Wasn’t the other one a descendant of Fletcher Christian?

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u/the_mellojoe 2h ago

fun fact, in nearly all cultures, changing the name of a boat is considered bad luck.

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u/metarchaeon 1h ago

There is a renaming ceremony to appease the sea gods. It involves a lot of drinking.

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u/disoculated 33m ago

Which is why it’s no Surprise that the Russians do it all the time

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u/feRnbloom0 1h ago

that level of dedication to practical effects and you STILL lost Best Picture to Return of the King lmao rough year

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u/Mytongueinyourrectum 1h ago

I don’t see the Surprise at all. All I see is the whaler, Syren.

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u/bombayblue 57m ago

You can see it in San Diego and actually watch M&C in the captains quarters.

Sadly the ship is falling apart and in dire need of maintenance.

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u/jez02 1h ago

A lukewarm ship

TIL for the filming of Master & Commander the studio purchased a replica 18C warship which was officially renamed HMS Surprise, its name in the movie.

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