Russel Crowe has made some pretty incredible movies over the years and if you asked most people which was their favourite they'd probably say Gladiator.
An epic tale of a wronged Roman general seeking vengeance for the murders of his wife and son by winning favour as a fighter in the Colosseum, Crowe's performance as Maximus scored him the Oscar for Best Actor.
Advert
And while there can be no doubt that Gladiator is one of the best movies ever made, there's one movie that some of Crowe's fans reckon is even better.
That film is 2003's Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, where Crowe plays Jack Aubrey, captain of the Royal Navy vessel HMS Surprise during the Napoleonic Wars.
For those familiar with the film it needs no introduction, but for everyone else, it's well worth checking out the movie, which is based off Patrick O'Brian's novels, if nothing else for the 'lesser of two weevils' joke Crowe gets to deliver.
Advert
In the film, which is based off three of the books in the 20 novel series, Aubrey and the Surprise are tasked with taking on the French ship Acheron, a vessel out of their league, as it sails for the Pacific.
The movie ended up being incredibly good, and was supposed to be the jumping off point for a film franchise based off O'Brian's books, but no sequel was ever made.
It's a bone of contention for fans of the film, which has developed a strong cult following who would dearly love to see a follow up.
Fans reckon that in 'a perfect world' we'd have seen 'a sequel or two' to Master and Commander, which they believe is a 'damn good film'.
According to Screen Rant, the reason Master and Commander never got a sequel was because it only took $212 million at the box office and had cost a whopping $150 million to make.
Advert
That funding resulted in a quality film, but without much of a profit at the box office a much hoped-for sequel was never greenlit.
The film also didn't pick up quite as many awards as hoped after being nominated for 10 Oscars but taking home just two.
When it came to hauling in awards, Master and Commander was incredibly unlucky to be going for the major gongs at the same time as Peter Jackson's all-conquering Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which scooped 11 Oscars in one night.
A prequel to Master and Commander has been confirmed to be in the works, but given that it's almost 20 years since the first movie came out, there's sadly next to no chance of Russell Crowe reprising his role.
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity