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Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

In April 1805, during the Napoleonic Wars, the British frigate HMS Surprise is ambushed by the French privateer Acheron off Brazil, suffering heavy damage by cannon balls. After escaping by using rowboats to tow the ship into a nearby fog bank, Surprise ' s captain Jack Aubrey refuses to return home and insists on giving pursuit at any cost. Shortly afterwards, Surprise is again chased by Acheron by using a weather helm wind advantage; that night, Aubrey deploys a crude, lantern-lit decoy raft, sails a different course, and sends the Acheron going the wrong direction.

Now in pursuit of the Acheron, the French ship attempts to lose them in a heavy storm at Cape Horn. Surprise nearly sinks, and Aubrey sacrifices popular crewmember Warley to save the ship as a whole. Escaping calamity, but losing the Acheron, Aubrey follows a hunch and changes course for the Galápagos Islands, where he suspects the enemy ship will be hunting British whalers. To make up for the mounting losses, Aubrey promises Surprise ' s surgeon and his close friend, Stephen Maturin, that he will become the first naturalist to explore the islands' unique flora and fauna.

However, Surprise then hits the doldrums, becoming stuck with no wind. Drifting for days in the heat, the crew becomes restless and superstitious, and blame midshipman Hollom for their misfortunes; the men believe him to be a cursed "Jonah", and begin treating him poorly. Guilt-stricken, Hollom commits suicide in the night by jumping overboard with a cannonball. Mystically, the wind picks up the next morning, and Surprise resumes the chase.

Arriving at the Galápagos Islands, the men are amazed by the wildlife. However, they quickly encounter marooned whalers who confirm Aubrey's suspicions; they were raided by the Acheron. Aubrey breaks his promise to Maturin and pursues the ship. As they depart, the captain of marines accidentally shoots Maturin in the abdomen while carelessly aiming at an albatross. Remorseful, Aubrey turns around, anchors at the Galápagos, and assists Maturin in performing self-surgery. Finally giving up his pursuit of Acheron, Aubrey grants Maturin the freedom to explore the Galápagos and gather specimens before they return to Portsmouth.

While looking for the flightless cormorant, Maturin discovers Acheron anchored on the other side of the islands. He hurriedly returns to Surprise and informs Aubrey. Back onboard the ship, Maturin shows Aubrey a curious camouflaging phasmid disguised as a stick. Inspired, Aubrey orders his warship to become disguised as a vulnerable, unarmed whaler. The crew don disguises, paint over the ship's name, and plot an ambush.

Acheron is successfully tricked, and is lured into an up-close raid. The Surprise reveals her flags, and dismasts the privateer with sudden cannon fire. Aubrey leads a boarding party onto the stalled Acheron and captures the ship after fierce hand-to-hand combat, with significant losses on both sides. Searching for the enemy captain, Aubrey finds the Acheron ' s surgeon, de Vigny, who informs him that his French counterpart has died; his last request was to give Aubrey his sword.

Both ships are repaired to seaworthy condition by the crew of Surprise, whose first lieutenant Pullings is promoted to captain and ordered to sail Acheron to Valparaíso to parole their French captives. As Acheron sails away, Maturin mentions to Aubrey that de Vigny died from a fever months ago. Realizing that the "surgeon" was really the Acheron 's captain in one final ruse, Aubrey orders the crew of Surprise to reverse course and to beat to quarters in pursuit of the captured ship.

Maturin is once again denied the chance to explore the Galápagos, but Aubrey wryly notes that since the bird he seeks is flightless, "it's not going anywhere." As is their recreational entertainment on the voyage, the officer duo joyfully plays their violin and cello in the Captain's cabin to Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid as Surprise pursues the captured Acheron once more.