The Terror/Master and Commander?seafaring shows/movies

I really love the seafaring genre of shows/movies like the Terror and Master and Commander. I can't imagine how horrible life at sea must have been, and so many of the sailors seemed to start in their TEENS. What a hard life that must have been - awful food, awful weather working conditions, backbreaking labor doing everything on the ship - and no way to communicate with home other than the mail times you'd put into port.

The Bounty was a good movie, tho seemed to soften up what life truly was like. In the Heart of the Sea I enjoyed, got a nice taste of the awful sea life. The Pirates movies do not count, that is Disney version of seafaring and therefore phonius balonius.

Thoughts, opinions?

I think the worst of the lot are the slave ship oarsmen, like the scenes in Ben Hur, it's basically a death sentence. In Shogun, all the oarsmen were Samurai who willingly rowed themselves to death as a matter of honor.

I started watching the miniseries "To the Ends of the Earth" with Cumberbatch. I've only seen part of the first episode and it appears to be a pretty realistic portrayal of life on the high seas in the 19th century.

Mr B, I saw that. Quite good, enjoyed it. It's not deep by any stretch, but the acting is really enjoyable IMO.

Posts : 437 Join date : 2018-03-04 Age : 57 Location : ohio

I saw Master and Commander years ago. I liked the supporting/minor characters more than the major one. I would never be a part of that Commander's ship. They couldn't make me. I'd rather be on Billy Budd's ship. Oh wait... sml

Posts : 1500 Join date : 2018-03-02

I like that T-Pain video I'm On A Boat.

Posts : 467 Join date : 2018-03-03

Love sea movies. The "Master and Commander" movie was based on a series of novels by Patrick O'Brian, who based the sea battles and adventures on the Royal Navy archives. Extremely readable and entertaining. Stephen King has said that one of his favorite fictional characters is from that series -- Stephen Maturin, who's also on some NPR 100 Best Characters list.

If you like old movies, Errol Flynn made some great swashbucklers at sea.

@Big John wrote:: I like that T-Pain video I'm On A Boat.

nice

LOL that video was indeed fun.

@Maturin wrote:: Love sea movies. The "Master and Commander" movie was based on a series of novels by Patrick O'Brian, who based the sea battles and adventures on the Royal Navy archives. Extremely readable and entertaining. Stephen King has said that one of his favorite fictional characters is from that series -- Stephen Maturin, who's also on some NPR 100 Best Characters list.

If you like old movies, Errol Flynn made some great swashbucklers at sea.

i will try some of the errol flynn's, thanks.

OMG I tried reading one of O'Brian's novels after having seen M&C. He's a good writer but they are NOT easy reads - long complicated sentences where I found myself having to reread them several times before I got what he was saying.

Posts : 94 Join date : 2018-03-22

@davidalan wrote:: .... They couldn't make me. I'd rather be on Billy Budd's ship. Oh wait...

That is a pretty good movie adaptation, IIRC. But better stuck under the command of Claggart and "foggy Vere" than Captain Ahab.

Anyway, I'm here because, despite the saggy middle, we stuck with The Terror, and the second to last episode (to avoid spoilers, the one with the forks) was truly great.

i liked it too, Pi. it was a slow build, but worth it.