The Bounty

Rating:
Summary: Quote: ¿What made them so easy to corrupt?¿
Review: Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins star as Master's Mate Fletcher Christian and Captain Lt. William Bligh in this story of the ill-fated Bounty in 1787. The mutiny of the Bounty is of course a historically documented fact and oft-told tale. Here the story is told with extended flash-backs from Bligh's perspective, with his court martial being the framework of the movie. Bligh's failure to successfully round Cape Horn not only frustrated his ambitions to circumnavigate the globe, but also incensed his crew to rebellion. He becomes increasingly isolated from Christian and the rest of his crew, and when a lengthy stay at the island paradise of Tahiti is over, he finds himself with a mutiny on his hands. Hopkins' performance as Bligh is outstanding and sympathetic. He shows how Bligh's devotion to his ambition verges on madness, and his tears at the climax when he is exonerated become all the more powerful in view of the careful control of his emotions throughout the movie. The movie features a good soundtrack from Vangelis with much that seems to be ripped off from his stunning "1492 Conquest of Paradise" score, and although it doesn't quite match the brilliance of that project it does enhance the suspense and action beautifully.

The movie gained a PG rating due to several scenes of violence (such as a fight amongst the crew, the mutiny itself, a vicious flogging, and an attack by savages), frightening scenes (the ship during the storm) and half a dozen instances of blasphemy. There is also a great deal of sexual content: an over-abundance of half-naked bare-breasted Tahiti natives, several incidents of crude sexual talk, and obviously implied sexual orgies between the male crew and the Tahiti women.

While the sexual content is a major distraction, it is also major theme of the movie. "What made them so easy to corrupt?" a question articulated by one of the characters, is the dominant question that drives the plot, and is actually the question for which Bligh is being tried. Bligh's exoneration shows that the cause doesn't lie in him. But the suggested answer "the place itself" is not entirely accurate, although it unquestionably was a catalyst for the corruption of the crew. The island of Tahiti becomes like the ancient Island of Lesbos, where men are unable to escape the clutches of beautiful women. Tahiti has the lure of a sinful Paradise, and becomes a symbol of pure and unlimited hedonism: food, wine, women and song. The local girls give freely, and the men can give their primitive instincts free reign, by abandoning all sense of duty and responsibility, and following human passions in a grand display of infidelity and lust. Fletcher Christian leads the way with his seduction of the island king's young daughter. Captain Bligh is the exception who resists temptation and remains faithful to his duty, but in the process is presented as weak and foolish. But as the journey to Tahiti shows, actually the seeds of dissent, corruption and ruin were already present in the hearts of the men before they even arrived at the island paradise.

Although the hedonism is initially painted as a Paradise and presented rather positively, in the final analysis viewers must come to a different conclusion about the collapse of discipline, confirmed by Bligh's exoneration and the harsh facts of the consequences of unbridled corruption. Ultimately it is not just Bligh, but the sensuous passions of mankind that are on trial. When people are set free from the apparent bondage of law and authority (represented by Bligh), eventually sin self-destructs and leads to its own ruin. The mutineers must live with the consequences of their actions, and conclude their days in loneliness on Pitcairn Island, never to see England again. This of course, is the true story of the Bounty which everyone already knows. But this isolation becomes almost a metaphor for hell: giving free reign to their passions on the Tahiti paradise has ultimately proven to lead not to heaven but a hellish isolation. Ultimately it is the depravity of the human heart that has led to this ruin. Although "The Bounty" doesn't show the answer to this ruin in the gospel, this true story shows the folly of depraved human passions and demonstrates that the Paradise which these passions seek is an illusion, and eventually leads to ruin. Certainly this is a message worth learning, but I doubt that such a vivid and unedifying picture of depravity is necessary in order to learn it.

Rating:
Summary: tooooo short and incomplete story. I am totally disappointed
Review: I was soo excited by reading these reviews and i purchased this DVD and Ooooh my god !! its a soooo short story... I can remember I watched the balck and white 1935 version, there was more details about this mission, i liked to enjoy those, but this movie is soooooo brief,, i could not even imagine when the mutiny took place so soon, I was expecting more scene and events before the mutiny and there were some more happenings in this story, but how come this movie gets soooooooo short,.... it seemed as this DVD was the theme show of original 1935 bounty story., if someone asked me to make a comment about this movie as a theme of bounty original story, well I would have given 5 stars, but as a complete movie, it is not,
In a word, I should say, this movie is ok but sooo incomplete that, you wont enjoy the details, rather, you will just know the brief summery of what happened.,

I would suggest, try to get any color version of 1935 bounty, I am waiting for that DVD of 1935, i saw in the amazon[.com] that, there is another version of bounty, BOUNTY (1960), i dont know about it, and after purchasing this brief summery type movie, i am not daring to go for that,...anyway...i am disappointed about this 1980 version bounty.

Rating:
Summary: A more updated and better version of the classic story
Review: It's not every day that you see a film with an all British cast. Since the 1981 Ocasr winning film Chariots Of Fire, the audience in the United States did not see a remarkable film from the United Kingdom Of Great Britian for some time. When The Bounty hit the big screen in 1984, the long wait had ended. And this film would go down in history as the best and most accurate adaptation of the historical mutiny.

Filmed on location in New Zealand, Polynesia, London, and at Pinewood Studios in England, Roger Donaldson definately put the material he had been given to very good use. Robert Bolt, who wrote the screenplay also did his research well. With such leading actors as Mel Gibson, Sir Anthony Hopkins, the late Sir Lawrence Olivier, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson, and countless others...this film was a box office winner. The cinema-photography was very sharp and beautiful, and the native women in the film, just as beautiful, native, scintillating, and sexy. Even the nudity of the women was in good taste.

Hopkins delivers an Oscar winning perfomance as Captain William Bligh, as does Mel Gibson in his role as First mate Fletcher Christian. Both actors from Wales and Austrailia portray the characters as human beings with very human faults. There is no villian or hero in this version. It boils down to faults on both sides. Both Bligh and Christian. Liam Neeson gives an excellent portrayal of Charles Churchill, a very scrappy seaman with an explosive force of nature. And Daniel Day Lewis gives a very hateful and sneaky performance as the ill fated John Friar. A character who gets the fate that he deserves in the end.

From an historical point of view, the film was right on the mark. That also includes the sets, costume designs, and other factual parts of the film. Most of all Vangelis's musical score for the film is just as beautiful as his score was for Chariots Of Fire and Blade Runner.

If you enjoy history, fine acting from the ebst in the United Kingdom, and other certain aspects, I would recommend this version of the mutiny on the bounty. It is beautiful, haunting, explosive, and powerful on all levels of cinema.

Rating:
Summary: Great actors and superior performances:
Review: This is a brilliant movie. I don't think I have seen better acting by either of these actors (Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins), than in this film! It doesn't matter how many times I watch this tape, I am always on the edge of my seat.

Rating:
Summary: Vangelis' Soundtrack Enhances Quality Production
Review: This 1984 movie is a rare example of how a soundtrack can help an already good movie be even better. So nice to see the actors young and energetic, Liam Neeson's angry sailor character gives the glimpses of rage he resurrected six years later in the first "DarkMan". Like the 1981 Lee Marvin/Charles Bronson move "Death Hunt", "The Bounty" deserved a far kinder fate than being the big box office flop it was. Beautiful scenery, fine acting, superb soundtrack, a solid investment for one's entertainment dollar.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: This is the best of "The Mutiny on the bounty" movies. Anthony Hopkins performance is great as usual. The scene where Captain Bligh was handed back his sword after the court found him not responsible for the Mutiny was incredible, if you pay attention to Hopkins' performance in that scene you will know what real acting really is. Hopkins is really a great actor.

Rating:
Summary: Underrated retelling of the Bounty story
Review: This is the third major cinematic retelling of the story of the Bounty. The standard is still the 1935 version with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, of course, but this most recent version has the advantage of color, and plenty of beautiful, topless Tahitian women.

Speaking of which, this retelling places the major responsibility for the mutiny on the beautiful, topless Tahitian women. Hopkins portrays Captain Bligh as hard-nosed, but not cruel, and his disciplinary actions are depicted as well within the bounds of what was acceptable in those days. No keel hauling, no letting people die of thirst, no banishing people to the rigging during storms, etc. The problem is that Fletcher Christian has fallen in love with a Tahitian princess, who becomes pregnant with his child, and he is heartbroken about leaving her. Bligh is totally insensitive to his friend's predicament, and chooses that moment to start running a tight ship. Even so, Christian is conflicted about the mutiny. He seems to know he is doing the wrong thing, but can't help himself.

This may be a more balanced (and perhaps more historically accurate, I don't know) portrayal of the story, but it leaves you with no one to root for and no one to identify with. You feel bad for both men. You feel sorry for Christian, because it must have been gut-wrenching for him to have to leave his young Tahitian wife, but you can't really approve of the mutiny, either. On the other hand, you do not like Bligh, who is an insensitive, arrogant prick, but he has done nothing that even comes close to justifying taking the ship away from him.

On a technical note, the picture looks great, and the sound is unusually good for DVD. On the negative side, there are no extras whatsoever. I am chagrined to learn, from a previous reviewer, that there were two commentary tracks on the British version. The DVD is being sold inexpensively in America, but I bet most buyers would have gladly paid a little more to get the version with the commentary tracks and some decent extras.

Rating:
Summary: ALMOST GREAT
Review: Roger Donaldson's beautiful film of the revolt on the H.M.S. Bounty was originally intended as a two-part feature for director David Lean. Although Robert Bolt's original screenplay has been masterfully compressed from it's lavish and detailed original six hour length, the core ideas Lean and Bolt were attracted to remain intact.

The conflict in this superior version of the classic tale is not so much between Christian and Bligh as it is between savagery and civilization.

No computer-generated images can yet compete with the recreation of a full-scale Bounty. To see it gracefully slicing the open seas of the South Pacific is a delight. A surprisingly youthful Mel Gibson is a very contemporary Mister Christian up against a disturbed but human Captain Bligh as characterized by a minimalist (and then alcoholic) Anthony Hopkins.

Director Donaldson ("Smash Palace") gets into a rhythm of tension and release that keeps this stunning-looking movie fully alive. The electronic score by Vangelis ("Chariots of Fire") was much criticized at the time of this movie's original release but now seems more fitting and less jarring.

On a big screen home theater, this superb DVD transfer is dazzling in every way, especially the Tahitian interlude. With Edward Fox and Laurence Olivier. The only DVD bonus is the original theatrical trailer.

Rating:
Summary: SPELLBINDING STORY OF A MOMENT'S MADNESS ON THE HIGH SEAS...
Review: Deftly directed by Roger Donaldson and beautifully acted, this is a well nuanced film. Based upon a true story and adapted from the book, "Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian", by Richard Hough, the film relates the series of events that brought about the eventual mutiny of the English vessel, The Bounty, by its crew. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian, the Master's Mate, and friend of Lt. William Bligh, Captain of the ship. The film opens with the trial of Captain Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) before the Admiraly Board, where he is questioned by Captain Greetham (Edward Fox) and Admiral Hood (Laurence Olivier). Captain Bligh then relates his account of why it was that he lost a ship under his command.

The star-crossed voyage of "The Bounty" started innocuously enough. Captain William Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) convinced his friend, Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson), to set sail with him as Master's Mate to ship Master John Fryer (Daniel Day Lewis). "The Bounty" was commissioned to set sail for Tahiti in order to obtain breadfruit plants for transport to Jamaica. In order to save time, the Captain would navigate a little used used route around the horn of Africa to save time. It was to be a voyage to remember.

During the voyage, the viewer sees the tension build amongst the crew, as well as amongst the officers. The innate savagery and baseness of some of the seamen is personified by Charles Churchill (Liam Neeson), a seaman who needs little provocation. The disdain of the officers for the crew is best exemplified by John Fryer, the ship's Master, who seems to relish the cruelty of the punishments meted out to those crewmen found guilty of infractions. Tension then spills over between the crew and officers, as the rigors of the voyage eats away at morale. By the time the ship reaches Tahiti, the die is cast. Months on the lovely island creates a false reality and an indolence that sets the stage for what is to come. Fletcher's erotic romance with a Tahitian princess further erodes discipline and strains the friensdhip between Bligh and Christian. By the time they finally shove off and set sail back to England with the breadfruit plants that they had sought, the end is near.

Mel Gibsin does a superb job with the role of Fletcher Christian. The viewer first sees him as an ambitious, yet kindly young man, who, having weathered the rigors and cruelties of the voyage, finds romance and peace on the idyllic island of Tahiti. Setting sail to return home and once again encountering the rigors and reality of a sea voyage, Christian seems to be a man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. With morale low among the crew, he makes a life defining decision. The rest is history.

Anthony Hopkins is simply brilliant in the role of William Bligh. Playing him as a hard working, by the book captain, he creates a three dimensional character that is sympathetic. Betrayed by friendship and beset by the fates, Bligh manages to pull together and save those men who were cast adrift in a dinghy with him. Masterful and mindful of his professional obligations, he makes an astounding voyage, believable because of the qualities of character infused in him by Hopkins' portrayal. The viewer senses, however, that he will forever be at a loss to comprehend Christian's actions.

This is a visually beautiful film, with stunningly lush island scenes. There is an original musical score by Vangelis that is wonderfully atmospheric. The performances by the cast are superlative. What more could a film lover ask for? Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Accuracy, Please
Review: I viewed this movie before reading the book on which it was based: "Capt. Bligh and Mr. Christian" by Richard Hough. There were several distortions which I found annoying: (1) The cause of the mutiny was not Bligh's intention to return via Cape Horn. Bligh never intended to return via Cape Horn -- they left Tahiti in April - autumn in the southern hemisphere - and would not have tried the Horn in winter. The cause was Bligh's continual nagging of Christian after Tahiti and Midshipman Ned Young's egging Christian on to take the ship. (2) When he returned to Tahiti after the mutiny Christian told the king that Bligh had sailed off with Capt. Cook, not that he had taken the ship. (Bligh had never told the Tahitians that Cook had been murdered in Hawaii ten years before - no doubt so as not to give them ideas). (3) Hough's book makes an excellent case that there was a homosexual relationship between Bligh and Christian before Tahiti and that Bligh was enraged when Christian took up with the king's daughter while there. This was hinted at in the movie in the meeting between Bligh and Christian just before the mutiny when Christian calls Bligh "William", and also in Christian's final speech to Bligh before he orders him into the long boat.

The second point above may be fairly trivial and the third may have been impossible to deal with in 1974, but the real cause of the mutiny should have been told correctly.

I would have given this 5 stars except for the distortions. I thought both Gibson and Hopkins were magnificent, fully fleshed out characters, unlike Laughton, Gable, Howard and Brando before them.