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All of this is gorgeously filmed by Weir--it looks fantastic, and vividly captures several of the quirky truths about the period on screen. The problem lies in the story itself, which is a combination of two Patrick O'Brian novels; it's just far too simplistic for a two-hours-plus seafaring epic! Basically the entire film is a single pursuit that's only livened up by a layover on the Galapagos (gorgeously filmed, complete with teeming wildlife). While Crowe is very good in the focussed-but-dull captain's role, Bettany steals the film with a much more interesting character--someone who actually has some emotional depth! Others just blend into the crowd, and it's often hard to keep them apart, although Ingleby and Pirkis do make a serious impact. Attempts at humour are welcome amid all the rah-rah King and Country stuff, but the comedy is often corny as well, badly weakening the film as a whole. The problem is that there are far too many ill-defined characters, all well-played but not nearly interesting enough to capture our interest. All that's left is a lively look at 19th century ship life--rousing camaraderie and a bit too much singing (and string instrument playing), plus some astonishingly well-staged battles. The details and the epic scale are great ... but the story isn't good enough to make it work.