The Far Side of the World ship and swam for shore; only half of them landing. Eventually, the hopeless situation forced the frigate to surrender. The "Essex" suffered 58 killed, 97 wounded, while the British casualties were 5 dead, 10 wounded. The novel provided part of the title and some of the plot-structure for the 2003 Peter Weir film, "". The fictional USS "Norfolk" morphed into the fictional American-built French privateer "Acheron", and episodes also migrated from other books in the series, including "Master and Commander" and "HMS Surprise". The design and size of the fictional "Acheron" reflect those of the USS "Constitution". In reviewing the
The Far Side of the World film, Christopher Hitchens commented on the action scenes from this novel that were depicted in the film. He finds "the summa of O'Brian's genius was the invention of Dr. Stephen Maturin. He is the ship's gifted surgeon, but he is also a scientist, an espionage agent for the Admiralty, a man of part Irish and part Catalan birth—and a revolutionary. He joins the British side, having earlier fought against it, because of his hatred for Bonaparte's betrayal of the principles of 1789—principles that are perfectly obscure to bluff Capt. Jack Aubrey. Any cinematic adaptation of O'Brian must stand or fall