Acheron

[Mass]

I like the red so much more

[OTMatt]

That constitution looks so much better in red, almost menacing really.

 

Can't wait for the paints to get implemented.

[Ishigami]

Since the filmmakers were fairly sure they were only going to make 1 movie from the series, they wanted the "bad guys" to be French- to better represent the era of the Novels.  Or that's what I seem to remember from the "Making of" documentary on the DVD.

 

Not really. Master & Commander – The far side of the world was supposed to start a franchise for 20th Century Fox. There were plans for more movies and script for the second movie also exists.

However the film had a budget of approximately 150 million dollar and made only about 90 million dollar in the US. The film was therefore considered a financial failure ignoring that across the world it made about 210 million dollars.

 

The reason HMS Surprise hunts a French Acheron instead of the USS Norfolk is also tied to the US focus of the film studio. During focus testing 20th Century Fox found that the British side being the protagonist and the American side being the antagonist led to a confusing state for US viewers since they no longer were able to clearly cheer for one faction. The tone of the movie would want the audience to cheer for Aubrey and his crew while the viewer’s patriotism would sway them to cheer for USS Norfolk which would however be displayed as the enemy.

To avoid this issue the enemy was changed to a French ship in the Napoleonic wars. It was a business decision to not piss off US viewers.

[maturin]

I should note that in the novels Aubrey never leads a battle against an American ship (though he fights on board Java when it is captured, and Shannon for its victory). In the eponymous novel he never even fights the Norfolk: it is wrecked on an island before he arrives. So the film doesn't exactly shrink from something the books depicted.

[stretch]

Hi all,

 

I am reading Master and Commander at the minute, well re-reading it after once more seeing the film. Master and Commander is actually one of the first books in the Patrick O Brian series, The Far Side of the World, being one of the later ones. The film is actually a mix of various small story lines from both books. As has been said above the French Acheron was never in the book as Jack Aubrey was chasing the USS Norfolk which was attacking the British Whaling Fleet in the South Seas and into the Pacific, The USS Norfolk was changed to the French Acheron so as to hopefully make the film sell better to the America audience.

[Sir Matthew Latham]

I would hope we have a level of customization, emblems on sails, "historical" paint schemes, figureheads, ect ect. I hope, however, we don't get such a customization that we end up with hot pink Warships sailing the highseas....because I'd end up doing it myself. I still have pictures of my Wenden from PotBS in pink colors.

Agreed.

I hate the people in PoTBS with lime green ships and other unrealistic colors.