Gladiator on a ship. Das Boot with rigging. To summarise Peter Weir's maritime epic in such glib terms may seem a tad dismissive.

But those were damn fine movies and any such comparison is not only legitimate, but flattering.

Master And Commander combines the historical sweep of the former with the marvellous characterisation of the latter, in as impressive a high seas adventure as has graced the big screen in many a moon.

Patrick O'Brian's 20 similarly-themed tales were always ripe Hollywood fodder, but any adaptation worth its salt was going to require a budget of more than a couple of Spanish doubloons.

So, with the backing of three major studios (20th Century Fox, Miramax and Universal), both stakes and expectations were high.

The money-men can breathe easy, as Weir has delivered on nearly all counts - from historical atmosphere and Oscar-worthy production values to sheer blood-and-thunder entertainment.

Cannonballs fly, waves crash, wood and limbs splinter, blood flows and borderline panic reigns.

Of course, it helps that man's man Russell Crowe is on board to lead the way for king and country as 'Lucky' Jack Aubry, redoubtable captain of the HMS Surprise, a fighting ship of 28 guns and 197 souls patrolling the seas off Brazil in 1805.

His orders are to intercept the formidable French flagship Acheron, Napoleon's key to the southern seas.

No problem - all Aubry and his men need to do is out-manoeuvre and then over-power a vessel that is bigger and faster than the Surprise, and packs enough artillery to blow away most of South America.

It's that simple. From the outset, Weir neatly inter-cuts spectacularly staged action sequences with moments of genuine suspense, while giving the many characters plenty of opportunity to develop and really breathe.

Crowe gives Aubry the full maximus, so to speak, but his pleasingly beefy performance never overwhelms the efforts of the callow youths and salty sea dogs under his command. Paul Bettany proves an excellent foil as ship's doctor Stephen Maturin, Aubry's friend, confidante, and fellow musician.

Lest we get carried away, it's not all plain sailing. Rather too much time is expended on the heavy-handed subplot involving Maturin unearthing Darwinian theory decades before Darwin ever set foot on the Galapagos Islands.

And, well-played though they are, the crew are pretty much the same bunch of stereotypes who've been manning ships in the cinema since Douglas Fairbanks Jr swashed his first buckle.

Master And Commander is too long and suffers from bouts of predictability, so it's certainly not perfect. But everyone involved should be given an extra tot of grog for a job very well done.

Elliott Noble