'The Bounty' is a minor contribution to the famous Bounty mutiny lore. Obviously the real story caught the public's imagination from the start. Capt Bligh's own book about the affair has apparently never been out of print since 1795.
But this movie never catches fire, perhaps the only real thrill is when Bounty sails in the the Tahitian harbor and is greeted by semi-naked women clambering over the gunnels. The crew, who know what awaits them, thanks to tales of a previous voyage by Capt Cook, are still bug-eyed. Had they died and gone to heaven?
In the Britain of that 1792, if you were poor, you could be hanged for any of a hundred different crimes, including petty theft. Poverty and drunkeness were endemic. Sex could be had, but for sailors, only if you had the money to pay for it.
Compared to conditions back in England, this was indeed a paradise, for British sailors. (Actually, the Tahitians themselves believed in a wide variety of deities, many malevolent, and were often frightened by the thought of evil spells, witchcraft and the like). They weren't quite the vacant, carefree people we see on screen, and that was a snapshot in time. A hundred years later, their population would be reduced by 80% by the white man's diseases, it was a French colony, Christian missionaries has done their work, and it was like any other port-of-call in the Pacific.
To get back to the film itself: Anthony Hopkins is good as Bligh; he's a talented actor. Look for Daniel Day-Lewis in his first film role; but he has few lines. Mel Gibson seems to sleepwalk through his role. The scriptwriters gave him little to say, (his lines are 10 words or less) and his acting has no flair whatsoever. He's upstaged by every actor he has a scene with, including his Tahitian girlfriend. The Tahitian chief has more charisma than Gibson.
Hopkins as Bligh comes out of this as the star, a somewhat priggish English gentleman of that day. The film implies that Bligh has a crush on Christian (Gibson), as we see cuts between Bligh in his sweaty bunk on the Bounty and Gibson having a ball on Tahiti, and this begins a rift between the two men. If this were so, it would not be unknown for that period, as the long voyages of those days with no women on board were known for such things.
The real Bligh might not have been such a wonderful character. While Governor of Australia in the early 1800s, his subordinates put him under house-arrest for two years.
If you see this film, unless you are an out-and-out Navy freak, it is Hopkins' performance that shines. Otherwise the film is a pedestrian walk-thru of no particular account.
But this movie never catches fire, perhaps the only real thrill is when Bounty sails in the the Tahitian harbor and is greeted by semi-naked women clambering over the gunnels. The crew, who know what awaits them, thanks to tales of a previous voyage by Capt Cook, are still bug-eyed. Had they died and gone to heaven?
In the Britain of that 1792, if you were poor, you could be hanged for any of a hundred different crimes, including petty theft. Poverty and drunkeness were endemic. Sex could be had, but for sailors, only if you had the money to pay for it.
Compared to conditions back in England, this was indeed a paradise, for British sailors. (Actually, the Tahitians themselves believed in a wide variety of deities, many malevolent, and were often frightened by the thought of evil spells, witchcraft and the like). They weren't quite the vacant, carefree people we see on screen, and that was a snapshot in time. A hundred years later, their population would be reduced by 80% by the white man's diseases, it was a French colony, Christian missionaries has done their work, and it was like any other port-of-call in the Pacific.
To get back to the film itself: Anthony Hopkins is good as Bligh; he's a talented actor. Look for Daniel Day-Lewis in his first film role; but he has few lines. Mel Gibson seems to sleepwalk through his role. The scriptwriters gave him little to say, (his lines are 10 words or less) and his acting has no flair whatsoever. He's upstaged by every actor he has a scene with, including his Tahitian girlfriend. The Tahitian chief has more charisma than Gibson.
Hopkins as Bligh comes out of this as the star, a somewhat priggish English gentleman of that day. The film implies that Bligh has a crush on Christian (Gibson), as we see cuts between Bligh in his sweaty bunk on the Bounty and Gibson having a ball on Tahiti, and this begins a rift between the two men. If this were so, it would not be unknown for that period, as the long voyages of those days with no women on board were known for such things.
The real Bligh might not have been such a wonderful character. While Governor of Australia in the early 1800s, his subordinates put him under house-arrest for two years.
If you see this film, unless you are an out-and-out Navy freak, it is Hopkins' performance that shines. Otherwise the film is a pedestrian walk-thru of no particular account.