Horatio Hornblower - The Adventure Continues

Rating:
Summary: Even More Swashbuckling
Review: This second series of Hornblower films dramatizes Lieutenant Hornblower, the second installment, chronologically speaking, of C.S. Forrester's fictional character's career. Hornblower is older but still daring. This series is more interconnected than the first, so you really have to watch them in order. Hornblower is in trouble as the series begins, having been accused ofparticipating in a mutiny against his captain. As the story unfolds, we learn what caused the mutiny and the outcome of Hornblower's court martial. As in the first series, there's plenty of swashbuckling derring do and high hearted bravery as Hronblower and the British continue their war against the French and Spanish. Hornblower's complex inner nature and the turmoil he often feels within himself are also well depicted. I hope we will see future episodes in this series soon.

Rating:
Summary: Characters Characters Characters
Review: This second set of films adapting the adventures of a younger Horatio Hornblower has its strengths and weaknesses. It's strengths comes from strong performances, particularly from David Warner (Captian Sawyer) and Phil Glensler (Hobbs). The screenplay expands and fleshes out both of these men who were minor character in the book (Lieutenant Hornblower). Hornblower seem to take Bush's role as the defender of the Captian while Archie (Who doesn't appear in the book)provides a stark contrast. The promotion of both Styles and Matthews and their interaction makes for more interesting action and character development. In fact the only characters the don't seem to develop are the heros of the actual book (Hornblower and Bush) Neither seem to be played to their fullest but I see more a problem in the writing then the acting. In fairness I think Warner and Glensler steal the show. Buckland is painted as totally incompatent which just doen't jibe with the way things worked in the RN. In addition the gratuious inclusion of Pellew and two sappy scenes concerning Welland and Sawyer and the Buckland and Hornblower doesn't do the series credit. Granted the movie doesn't end in the same spot as the book but I felt a bit cheeted. Of coure as a rule the movie is never better than the book and the book is first rate. For a Hornblower fanatic like myself it doesn't quite make 5 stars (Though the supporting cast almost lifts it there)just a mere pleasure, but for those who don't know the series it is a definate winner.

Rating:
Summary: Hornblower On Trial
Review: This was one fantastic movie. Ioan Gruffund, Jamie Bamber, David Warner, Paul Copley, and all the other members of the cast did a superb job. No longer a boy, Horatio has grown into a man while maintaining an honorable character. This movie begins with Horatio, who is in prison with the charges of mutiny on his head, being paid a visit by the obviously ditraught Commodore Pellew who cannot believe that Horatio, of all people, would be in prison for mutiny. Horatio assures him that it was for the good of the service that he and those who were in agreement with him should take over the ship. He then launches his tale starting six months prior to his imprisonment. Horatio, along with Archie, Styles, and Matthews,is stationed on a British War Frigot known as the Renown that is captained by the aged war hero Captain Sawyer, who is out of his mind. Horatio and his friends for a long time must put up with their captains crulety and his strange antics, until when he endangers the ship and its entire crew, the men have him chained up and locked in his cabin. Fearing court marshall should they not do something quickly, the men attempt to take a Spanish fort. The second half of the movie is about their on land adventures and how Horatio must prove his innocence in court. This fantastic movie is filled with adventure and loyalty and honor just as much as the original four movies. Along the way, Horatio will lose friends and gain them as he fights for survival during the Napoleonic Wars.

Rating:
Summary: C. S. Forester Would Love It
Review: Those already familiar with A&E's Hornblower series, which this set continues, know that it deals with the early days of a Nelsonian hero, drawn from the novels of C.S. Forester. Reading the series is best done young, before tackling the wonderfully more literary but still derivative works of Patrick O'Brien. (Alexander Kent, Dudley Pope, and Richard Woodman are also quite worthwhile.) And the Forester series, like all of its offspring, is best savored whole rather than piecemeal. One comes to care not only about the central figure but also about all of the others who surround him in successive books. This characteristic is well captured by the ensemble cast of the A&E series. In fact, their promotions through merit can be quite satisfying to the reader of the books. One should be warned, however, that the A&E series represents only the early days of Hornblower thus far, and thus the most compelling adventures, to my mind at least, are still ahead. By this I mean the episodes in which Hornblower commands his own ship, which should be of increasing size as the series progresses. "The Adventure Continues" contains two chapters of a unified story. Unlike the preceding four chapters, which were episodic and could be easily viewed independently of one another, this set requires one to watch them in order. The story is wonderful, and amply described elsewhere. We are already devoted to the principal characters such as Ioan Gruffudd, or we wouldn't be watching, would we? So I would like to single out the performance of David Warner as the once-great captain who has declined into madness, and who must be declared unfit in order for the "Renown" and its crew to survive. Warner occupies this critically central role superbly, and makes all else believable. Also notable to naval enthusiasts is that the "Renown" is a ship of the line, not a smaller frigate. There are more people in the battle scenes, and the great power of this class of ship can be sensed even at this remove. In sum, there cannot be any readers of the aforementioned series of novels of Napoleonic naval war who will not love the A&E series, and for those who come to it without prior interest in the subject but find themselves captured by the gripping stories
and fine acting, I can only say that I envy the pleasures that lie ahead in the many books that they now have before them.

Rating:
Summary: Horatio Hornblower - 2nd dvd set
Review: Wonderful series, of course - but be warned: A&E shortchanged the dvd set; this set doesn't include subtitles nor does it include any Making-of features. I found the lack of subtitles very disappointing.