| The Bounty | | Cast : | Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins | | Director : | Roger Donaldson | | Studio : | MGM/UA Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | May 04, 1984 | | DVD Released Date : | November 21, 2000 | | Language : | French (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed), English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 30, 2005 | | Summary | The Bounty - OK, But! | Content
 | The movie had a lot of stars in it. Liam Neeson, who's acting ability really showed thru. Daniel Day-Lewis, who I thought was a little stiff in this roll. He didn't seem to fit in. Mel Gibson was really good in this movie. His character had to go thru alot of changes and he seemed to be able to do that smoothly. Anthony Hopkins was great as always. He acted out the nice guy part and the bad guy part seemlessly. I love the music in this film, especially the music over the ending credits. I was greatly dissapointed when I found out that the music faded out at the end of the credits. On the VHS version not only does it go thru the entire song, it also has an extension on the end of the song. I expected the DVD to have the same. However I recommend the movie to anyone who is a Anthony Hopkins fan, like me.
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| Rating | | | Date | July 20, 2005 | | Summary | Superb overlooked epic drama | Content
| How could a film with Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day Lewis and Liam Neeson sink without trace? That was the fate of Roger Donaldson's The Bounty back in 1984 when none of them were exactly box-office certainties. Indeed, the third dramatization of the British Navy's most infamous act of piracy (excluding the semi-documentary In the Wake of the Bounty) and is perhaps best remembered today as the flop that David Lean nearly directed before falling out with Dino De Laurentiis (UA studio boss Steven Bach infamously greenlit Heaven's Gate instead of a Lean version!). It certainly deserves to be better remembered, boasting a superb screenplay by Robert Bolt (originally intended as two films: the second, dealing with the aftermath was quietly dropped after this tanked) that owes a lot more to history than previous versions despite its occasional inaccuracies.
A young Mel Gibson impresses as the weak Fletcher Christian, drawn into rebelling more by place and circumstances than a catalogue of tyranny, but it's Anthony Hopkins' film all the way. Before his irretrievable descent into ham he was a much more restrained screen actor, and his Captain Bligh is a much more interesting creation than you suspect he'd manage today. Fighting his own demons in a permissive place that rips away the moral repressions of his crew and creates a culture of defiance and inertia that he is unable to combat by either understanding or discipline (if anything, Bligh's fault here is that he is too slack on the men for too long before disastrously overcompensating on the return voyage), the film is punctuated by images of his desperately haunted face as he is faced with the realization of his escalating failure and impotence. Yet it is ultimately Bligh who triumphs and is vindicated in this version, with Christian and his mutineers left at each other's throats as they are cast out of paradise and stranded on a barren shore.
It's impressive, powerful stuff, even more so today for its reality. No cgi, few model shots, they built a real ship and took it to sea for real (even Master and Commander was almost entirely shot in a studio tank in Mexico), and the hardships and efforts pay dividends on screen. Donaldson's direction is better than anything he's done since, Arthur Ibbetson's cinematography impressive and even Vangelis' much maligned score has some of the psychological savagery you can find in Alex North's work on Spartacus. Only a hammy Edward Fox (sparingly used, thankfully) and a superanuated Laurence Olivier strike the odd bum note in the court of inquiry scenes that provide the film's solid framework. I for one would love to see the second Bolt script, The Long Arm, finally make it to the screen some day - hard to believe, but it's a much better tale by far.
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| Rating | | | Date | July 08, 2005 | | Summary | Not Quite A David Lean Movie | Content
| Mel Gibson is appealing and charismatic as Fletcher Christian. Much more so than the 1935 version, Donaldson's BOUNTY depicts the mutiny as a clash in values arising from Britain's hidebound class system, with Fletcher Christian the Cavalier and Captain Bligh the Roundhead, Christian the noble bohemian and Bligh the civil servant obnssesed with getting head in the world by hook or by crook, a man with a vision so small he can't see the big picture. In the 1935 version, you'd imagine that Clark Gable came from a lower class than Charles Laughton, but here it's all so clear. Casting Olivier as the one of the officers on the impugning admiralty panel was a stroke of genius (besides giving the movie that touch of class) in the way that he clearly cannot understand Hopkins' Uriah Heep-style singlemindedness.
David Lean wanted to make this movie in the late 1970s and he had the boat made to his specifications years before. Robert Bolt's script was originally written in two parts, THE LAWBREAKERS and THE LONG ARM OF THE LAW, and Lean spent four years trying to get Warner Brothers to back him properly. When Bolt had a stroke, Lean despaired of ever being allowed to make the picture he wanted to, and abandoned his sketches and went on to think about his alternative project, Forster's PASSAGE TO INDIA. In the meantime, severely cheaper director Roger Donaldson was given Bolt's script and asked to make a single picture from it.
He showed a Lean-like appreciation of nature vs. civilization, the photographer's eye, even a Lean-like casting sense, with early appearances by Liam Neeson and Daniel Day Lewis. Hopkins gives the picture its gravitas, Gibson its glamor. He is crazy good looking in this part, a true successor to Gable and Brando. Funny how he plays a fellow called "Christian" in this movie, and then got all Christian in real life! Be careful what you wish for. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 25, 2005 | | Summary | The Bounty | Content
| "The Bounty" probably comes closer to the truth than "Mutiny on the Bounty". The mystery of what actually happened on the bounty is told is a series of incidents leading up to, and after that fatal day. What is lacking is the reason why the men were kept in such idleness when the bottom of the cutter had rotted, and why they did not further chart islands around the area as the gardners prepared the breadfruit for shipping. As hard as this version tries to extract a shred of justification for Christian, it fails to consider life of a "jack" on the high seas in one of HMS ships during the 18 Century. 4 stars are for adventure. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 13, 2005 | | Summary | Arrgh! Mutiny's afoot, Captain! | Content
| Wow! What a great high seas adventure. Countless times retold and in as many ways, The Bounty is the ultimate portrayal of life aboard the Armed Vessel Bounty. An all-star cast, including Anthony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson and Sir Lawrence Olivier navigate this film through it's stormy storyline of loyalty lost and mutiny found.
Mel Gibson brings a career-best performance as British Naval Officer Fletcher Christian, who has agreed to sail to Tahiti aboard The Bounty under the command of Lt. William Bligh (Hopkins). Their friendship comes undone as Bligh becomes increasingly intolerant of his crew's behavior while at port in Tahiti. Christian leads a mutiny and sets Bligh adrift. In spite of starvation, thirst and bad sunburn, Bligh demonstates his naval supremacy by sailing his dinghy to a French port, thereby saving himself and the few men who would not mutiny. Christian eventually contends with a near-mutinous crew of his own before finding Pitcairns Island, his final port-of-call before his uncertain demise.
Let me just say that the cinematography of this movie is magical. The scenes at sea and in Tahiti are absolutely beautiful. Hopkins plays convincingly as an over-achieving, demanding ship's Captain. And, contrary to a couple of reviewers, I absolutely loved the musical score by Vangelis. It provided a hauntingly mesmerising theme to the adventure and danger of crossing vast seas in the 1700's.
Well worth watching, this film, 20+years old, is still one of the best naval-themed movies ever. I found it more exciting than Master and Commander. And, the fact it's based on a true story makes it even more irresistable. 4+stars. |
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