History Awesome / MasterAndCommander

* Young Lord Blakeney is terrified by his first taste of incoming grapeshot, but Jack reprimands him gently: "We stand tall on the quarterdeck, son. All of us."

* [[spoiler: Although it costs him his life]], Callamy and Hogg heading below decks to free the crew of the whaling ship, ''Albatross'', before leading them into battle; the reinforcements help the crew of the ''Surprise'' to turn the tide and overwhelm the French.

* After sending the ''Acheron'' chasing after a decoy, Captain Aubrey manages to put himself directly behind the enemy in the dead of night while traveling a hundred nautical miles. Mr. Allen, the sailing master (navigator), has never seen the feat equaled and simply states the fact to the lieutenant:

* The French manage to get one of their own: Jack and the boarding party get onto the deck of the ''Acheron'' and find it seemingly abandoned, save the bodies of the dead. Ship's Master Allen muses that [[TemptingFate perhaps the job is done]]. Cue the French captain rising up from below decks, shouts ''[[BattleCry "Acheron!"]]'' to rally his men, [[BoomHeadshot drops Allen with a pistol shot to the head]] and leads his men onto the counterattack.
* Also, the one-armed 12 year old Midshipman Blakeney countering an attempt by the French to breach the hull of the ''Surprise'' with one of his own, managing to blast the French cannon crew before they can get their cannon raised to counter Blakeney and subsequently leading the second ship boarding party with Maturin in tow.

* [[spoiler: Although it costs him his life]], Calumny and Hogg heading below decks to free the crew of the whaling ship, ''Albatross'', before leading them into battle; the reinforcements help the crew of the ''Surprise'' to turn the tide and overwhelm the French.

* Also, the one-armed 12 year old Midshipman Blakeney countering an attempted hull breach with one of his own and subsequently leading the second ship boarding party.

* Our heroes' vessel is crippled and the day seems to be lost before it's even truly even begun.
-->'''1st Lt. Pullings:''' Your orders, sir?
-->'''Capt. Aubrey:''' Call the gun crews to deck. Rig man-ropes over the stern and pull the boats in. Put us in that fog, Tom.
-->'''Pullings:''' ''(worried expression melts away into one of unrivaled admiration as he looks out at the pursuing Acheron, then back at Jack)''
* Doctor Stephen Maturin performs an advanced trepanning operation on 'Old Joe' Plaice after the ''Acheron's'' first attack leaves him with a shrapnel wound that has fractured his skull and a 99 percent chance of slow, lingering death. Not only does the doc ensure he ''doesn't'' die but the grizzled sailor eventually regains his voice and returns to ''full fitness''! A "physician he is" indeed.

* The author of the books the movie is based on often opened with apologies. Typically, he apologized for anachronisms (including eau de Cologne in a scene 10 years before it is recorded as appearing in England, or putting a naval battle before the grape harvest when it was known to have occurred AFTER the grape harvest...), but on a few occasions he apologized for toning things down. In his own words, "When one is writing about the Royal Navy of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries it is difficult to avoid understatement; it is difficult to do full justice to one's subject; for so very often the improbable reality outruns fiction. Even an uncommonly warm and industrious imagination could scarcely produce the frail shape of Commodore Nelson leaping from his battered seventy-four gun ''Captain'' through the quarter-gallery window of the eighty-gun ''San Nicolas'', taking her and hurrying on across her deck to board the towering ''San Josef'' of a hundred and twelve guns, so that 'on the deck of a Spanish first-rate, extravagant as the story may seem, did I receive the swords of the vanquished Spaniards; which, as I received, I gave to William Fearney, one of my bargemen, who put them, with the greatest ''sang-froid'' under his arm'"
* Captain Aubrey's toast. "Here's to wives and sweethearts - may they never meet!" especially for those familiar with the books.

-->"Right lads. Now I know there's not a faint heart among you, and I know you're as anxious as I am to get into close action. But we must bring him right up beside us before we spring this trap. That will test our nerve. And discipline will count just as much as courage. The ''Acheron'' is a tough nut to crack. More than twice our guns, more than twice our numbers. And they will sell their lives dearly. Topmen, your handling the sheets to be lubberly and un-navylike, until the signal calls for you to spill the wind from our sails. This will bring us almost to a complete stop. Gun crews, you must run out and tie down in double-quick time. With the rear wheels removed we've gained elevation, but without recoil, there will be no-chance to reload, so, gun captains, that gives you one shot from the larboard battery. One shot only. You'll fire for her mainmast. Much will depend on your accuracy. ''However.'' Even crippled, she will still be dangerous. Like a wounded beast. Captain Howard and the marines, will sweep their weather deck with swivel gun and musket fire from the tops. They'll try to even the odds for us before we board. ''(nods at Howard, who smiles warmly)'' ... They mean to take us as a prize." ''(the crew chuckles at this)'' "And we are worth more to them undamaged, their ''greed''... will be their downfall. ''(pauses)'' England is under threat of invasion. And though we be on the far side of the world, this ship is our home. This ship, is England. So it's every hand to his rope or gun. Quick's the word and sharp's the action. After all, ''Surprise'' is on our side." ''(crew laughs uproariously and huzzahs)''
* When the HMS ''Surprise'' drops her disguise as a whaler. The ship halts, the marines come out from hiding under canvas, and the cannons come out to blast the ''Acheron'''s mast to splinters. After the main mast topples, the ''Surprise'' sweeps in behind and blasts the ''Acheron'' from behind with her other battery.

-->'''Blakeney:''' Arm yourselves! We must board them! Follow me! ''(fires flintlock pistol into a French sailor's face at point-blank range)''
* Jack beasting his way through the mid-decks with sabre, pistol, grenades and anything else at hand, he's such a whirling dervish of destruction that eventually the French sailors would rather flee and surrender rather than fight the Captain of the HMS ''Surprise''.

* "We stand tall on the quarterdeck, son. All of us."
* Our heroes vessel is crippled and the day seems to be lost before it's even truly even begun.

* Doctor Stephen Maturin performing an advanced trepanning operation on 'Old Joe' Plaice after the ''Acheron's'' first attack leaves him with a shrapnel wound that has fractured his skull and a near absolute chance of mortality. Not only does the doc ensure he ''doesn't'' die but the grizzled sailor eventually regains his voice and returns to ''full fitness''! A "physician he is" indeed.

* The author of the books the movie is based on often opened with apologies. Typically, he apologized for anachronisms (including Eau de Toilette in a scene 10 years before it appeared, or putting a naval battle before the grape harvest when it was known to have occurred AFTER the grape harvest...), but on a few occasions he apologized for toning things down. In his own words, "When one is writing about the Royal Navy of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries it is difficult to avoid understatement; it is difficult to do full justice to one's subject; for so very often the improbable reality outruns fiction. Even an uncommonly warm and industrious imagination could scarcely produce the frail shape of Commodore Nelson leaping from his battered seventy-four gun ''Captain'' through the quarter-gallery window of the eighty-gun ''San Nicolas'', taking her and hurrying on across her deck to board the towering ''San Josef'' of a hundred and twelve guns, so that 'on the deck of a Spanish first-rate, extravagant as the story may seem, did I receive the swords of the vanquished Spaniards; which, as I received, I gave to William Fearney, one of my bargemen, who put them, with the greatest ''sang-froid'' under his arm'"
* Captain Aubrey's toast. "Here's to wives and sweethearts--may they never meet!" especially for those familiar with the books.

-->"Right lads. Now I know there's not a faint heart among you, and I know you're as anxious as I am to get into close action. But we must bring him right up beside us before we spring this trap. That will test our nerve. And discipline, will count just as much as courage. The ''Acheron'' is a tough nut to crack. More than twice our guns, more than twice our numbers. And they will sell their lives dearly. Topmen, your handling the sheets to be lubberly and un-navylike, until the signal calls for you to spill the wind from our sails. This will bring us almost to a complete stop. Gun crews, you must run out and tie down in double-quick time. With the rear wheels removed we've gained elevation, but without recoil, there will be no-chance to reload, so, gun captains, that gives you one shot from the larboard battery. One shot only. You'll fire for her mainmast. Much will depend on your accuracy. ''However.'' Even crippled, she will still be dangerous. Like a wounded beast. Captain Howard and the marines, will sweep their weather deck with swivel gun and musket fire from the tops. They'll try to even the odds for us before we board. ''(nods at Howard, who smiles warmly)'' ... They mean to take us as a prize." ''(the crew chuckles at this)'' "And we are worth more to them undamaged, their ''greed''... will be their downfall. ''(pauses)'' England is under threat of invasion. And though we be on the far side of the world, this ship is our home. This ship, is England. So it's every hand to his rope or gun. Quick's the word and sharp's the action. After all, ''Surprise'' is on our side." ''(crew laughs uproariously and huzzahs)''

* [[WorthyOpponent "This is the second time he's done this to me.]] [[BadassBoast There will not be a third."]]

* Maturin gets an unmitigated [=MoA=] to himself for the last third of the film, when he ''operates on himself'' to remove a bullet. Compounded by his pausing to ask Jack Aubrey (who is certainly no shrinking violet) if he, Jack, is all right.

-->"Right lads. Now I know there's not a faint heart among you, and I know you're as anxious as I am to get into close action. But we must bring him right up beside us before we spring this trap. That will test our nerve. And discipline, will count just as much as courage. The ''Acheron'' is a tough nut to crack. More than twice our guns, more than twice our numbers. And they will sell their lives dearly. [[ThePlan Topmen, your handling the sheets to be lubberly and un-navylike, until the signal calls for you to spill the wind from our sails. This will bring us almost to a complete stop. Gun crews, you must run out and tie down in double-quick time. With the rear wheels removed we've gained elevation, but without recoil, there will be no-chance to reload, so, gun captains, that gives you one shot from the larboard battery. One shot only. You'll fire for her mainmast. Much will depend on your accuracy.]] ''However.'' Even crippled, she will still be dangerous. Like a wounded beast. Captain Howard and the marines, will sweep their weather deck with swivel gun and musket fire from the tops. They'll try to even the odds for us before we board. ''(nods at Howard, who smiles warmly)'' ... They mean to take us as a prize." ''(the crew chuckles at this)'' "And we are worth more to them undamaged, their ''greed''... will be their downfall. ''(pauses)'' [[WhamLine England is under threat of invasion.]] And though we be on the far side of the world, this ship is our home. This ship, is England. So it's every hand to his rope or gun. Quick's the word and sharp's the action. After all, ''Surprise'' is on our side." ''(crew laughs uproariously and huzzahs)''
* When the HMS ''Surprise'' drops her disguise as a whaler. The ship halts, the marines come out from hiding under canvas, and the cannons come out to blast the ''Acheron'''s mast to splinters. After the main mast topples, the ''Surprise'' sweeps in behind and blasts the ''Acheron'' [[AttackItsWeakPoint from behind]] [[ForMassiveDamage with her other battery]]. A [=CMoA=] for the entire ship.

-->'''Blakeney:''' [[BadassAdorable Arm yourselves! We must board them! Follow me!]] ''(fires flintlock pistol into a [[{{Mook}} Mook's]] face at point-blank range)''
* Jack beasting his way through the mid-decks with sabre, pistol, grenades and [[ImprovisedWeapon anything else at hand]], he's such a whirling dervish of destruction that eventually the French sailors would rather flee and surrender rather than fight the Captain of the HMS ''Surprise''.

-->'''Pullings:''' ''[[MagnificentBastard (worried expression melts away into one of unrivaled admiration as he looks out at the persuing Acheron, then back at Jack)]]''

* Maturin gets an unmitagated [=MoA=] to himself for the last third of the film, when he ''operates on himself'' to remove a bullet. Compounded by his pausing to ask Jack Aubrey (who is certainly no shrinking violet) if he, Jack, is all right.

* When the HMS ''Surprise'' drops her disguise as a whaler. The ship halts, the marines come out from hiding under canvas, and the cannons come out to blast the ''Acheron'''s mast to splinters. After the main mast topples, the ''Surprise'' sweeps in behind and blasts the ''Acheron'' [[AttackItsWeakPoint from behind]] [[ForMassiveDamage with her other battery]].A [=CMoA=] for the entire ship.

* When the HMS ''Surprise'' drops her disguise as a whaler. The ship halts, the marines come out from hiding under canvas, and the cannons come out to blast the ''Acheron'''s mast to splinters. After the main mast topples, the ''Surprise'' sweeps in behind and blasts the ''Acheron'' [[AttackItsWeakPointfrom behind]] [[ForMassiveDamage with her other battery]].A [=CMoA=] for the entire ship.

* When the HMS ''Surprise'' drops her disguise as a whaler. The ship halts, the marines come out from hiding under canvas, and the cannons come out to blast the ''Acheron'''s mast to splinters. A [=CMoA=] for the entire ship.

* Also, the one-armed 13 year old Midshipman Blakeney defending the hull breach and subsequently leading the second ship boarding party.
-->'''Blakeney:''' [[BadassAdorable Arm yourselves! We must board them!]] ''(fires flintlock pistol into a [[{{Mook}} Mook's]] face at point-blank range)''

-->'''1st Lt. Pullings:''' Your order, sir?