The Blas de Lezo film that brings back the naval epic of 'Master and Commander'

The Blas de Lezo film has been produced entirely in Spain with private patronage and investment and is the first AI-generated historical epic. It traces the admiral's life from age 14 to the defence of Cartagena de Indias in 1741.

There is a scene that almost no one has seen and that, nevertheless, explains half the naval history of the 18th century: a man with a wooden leg, one eye missing and a useless arm giving orders in the castle of San Felipe. That man was **Blas de Lezo**, and his story has waited far too long for the screen. Now it has one.

## From half-man to hero of Cartagena de Indias

**Blas de Lezo** lost a leg at **14**, an eye and an arm in different naval actions in the service of **Felipe V**. Hence his nickname, the half-man. The film traces that full biography, from the first mutilation to the command of the defence of **Cartagena de Indias** in **1741**, when a British fleet **15 times larger** laid siege to the Caribbean city.

The screenplay, written by **Guillermo Cabot**, who also directs, rests on resilience, a sense of duty and honour as its thematic pillars. Around the admiral appear his most loyal officers, his family, his enemies during the conflict and civilian characters of the city, where Lezo remains a highly respected figure.

The film runs over **100 minutes** and its creators describe it as "a succession of stories of overcoming adversity that even the best screenwriter could not have imagined". Sonare Films is already preparing a second part titled **Ecos de gloria** (Echoes of Glory).

## The first historical epic generated with artificial intelligence

The project was made entirely in Spain with crowdfunding campaigns and private investment. Its distinguishing antiestéticature is technical: it is the first epic-historical film generated using artificial intelligence tools. That choice has made it possible to cut costs and produce naval battles, troop landings, locations and historical recreations in different geographies that, on an independent budget, would have been unthinkable.

The film's makers reject the idea of imitating a traditional production. "AI-generated cinema has its own nature and language. We present a third narrative path: a form of digital craftsmanship that is different but equally immersive," they state on the official website. Cabot adds that the technology makes it possible to tell "with means that until recently were unthinkable for an independent project" a story that had waited far too long to reach the screen.

## The visual benchmark of Master and Commander

The photorealistic reconstruction of colonial cities, period uniforms and monumental sieges seeks a documentary rigour that some already compare with classics of historical naval cinema, in particular **Master and Commander** and **Barry Lyndon**. They are references from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, not from the Spanish 18th century, but they set the level of visual ambition that audiences associate with this kind of story.

The comparison is no accident: naval epic demands wide shots, believable ships and a photographic texture that sustains the tension of combat. That is where AI production stakes its credibility. The result will be measured at the box office and in public conversation, not just on the technical sheet.

## What lies behind the business

A Spanish independent film of this kind rests on patronage and private investment, without the backing of a major distributor. The cost savings that AI enables change the equation: it reduces spending on sets, extras and effects, and shifts the effort to design and direction. It is a model that other European productions are beginning to explore, and it raises questions about rights, authorship and technical employment in the audiovisual sector.

Sonare Films is betting on a franchise with a second part already announced. If audiences respond, the industrial precedent will be as significant as the admiral himself: it would prove that historical epic can be made in Spain with private capital and new tools.