What I appreciated most about Master and Commander was in fact the nontraditional approach to the war movie. Instead of focusing on battle scenes and commanders' egos, Weir and his fellow filmmakers focus on those commanders' motives and to the prevailing social norms and political values. Those norms and values gave impetus to explore the world and learn about the diversity of culture and species the planet houses. As outmoded models of government were falling by the wayside, generals like Napoleon were able to fill leadership vacuums easily. Trust in governance and leadership had yet to evolve. Aubrey's death embodies the social and political struggles taking place during the early nineteenth century. The sea bird that dies is a powerful symbol for Aubrey, a literary device that makes the movie more than a simple sensationalist Hollywood production. Master and Commander forces students to think harder about their...

The film brings historical fact to life, imbuing what would otherwise be dry facts with the human spirit.
Aubrey's commitment to his scientific expedition was historically unusual: given the preoccupation with plundering the world. Yet to consider the Napoleonic era in light of its global context and especially of the American Revolution makes the movie even more meaningful. The American experiment, which as our text points out was supported and funded by the French, had been a relative success. The French Revolution was not as smooth but it illustrated the quest for freedom that had already begun to infect the human spirit. Similarly, the liberation of European colonies and the downfall of the colonial mindset had yet to come to pass. Master and Commander was set in a time in which European ideology was presented as a pinnacle of civilization -- even though the European model was imperfect.