10 Insanely Accurate War Film Details

Taking the brand of warfare to the high seas at the height of Napoleon's influence, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was unfortunate enough to be released in the same year as a certain number named The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. While Peter Weir's film received 10 Oscar nominations, it was poleaxed in all but two entries by Peter Jackson's conclusive Lord of the Rings entry.

However, these are the same people who deemed Dances with Wolves to be superior to Goodfellas, so Oscars be damned. Apart from being compellingly shot and performed, Master and Commander also features an extraordinary level of authenticity, with the rich tapestry of costumes, boats and weaponry providing a profound sense of contemporary legitimacy to proceedings.

These faithful levels of accuracy even extend to the naval commands used in the film, Russell Crowe's Jack Aubrey issues the instruction "Hard a larboard" to turn the ship left during battle sequences - "larboard" was a term that later became "port", a change that wasn't adopted by the navy until 1844. Weir's film takes place during the Napoleonic Wars, which came to a close in 1815, meaning that this change wouldn't have yet been enacted, making Aubrey's choice of command historically correct.

You've got to enjoy the little things.