The Bounty (1984)

Anthony Hopkins: Lt William Bligh

Photos 

13 more photos

Quotes 

• Lt. William Bligh : We are still faced with a long, hard voyage. I mean to make good use of every hour of sailing time, and to assist me in this, I am replacing Mr. Fryer with Mr. Christian, who will now act as executive second in command, with the rank of Acting Second Lieutenant...

  [Fryer walks away] 

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Fryer, come back here.

  [shouts after Mr. Fryer, who is continuing to walk away] 

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Fryer, sir! Come back here!

  [Mr. Fryer returns; Bligh continues, quietly] 

  Lt. William Bligh : I will dismiss when I have done with you, sir. Do you hear me?

  John Fryer : This is an outrage!

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Fryer!

  John Fryer : In all my years at sea...

  Lt. William Bligh : Your "years at sea"? Good Lord, man! If I'd known your nature, I would not have accepted you as boatswain of a river barge.

  John Fryer : Must I suffer this before the men?

  Lt. William Bligh : You will suffer my correction whenever you're at fault, sir!

  John Fryer : What fault?

  Lt. William Bligh : [shouts]  God damn your eyes, man! You turned your back on me!

  John Fryer : Well for that, I apologize.

  Lt. William Bligh : Very well.

  John Fryer : But I protest.

  Lt. William Bligh : You protest, do you?

  John Fryer : I am Master of the Bounty!

  Lt. William Bligh : [shouts]  And I, sir, am *Commander*! By law! I am the first! Do you understand? God damn your hide! And now you may dismiss, sir!

• Fletcher Christian : William, about your decision to go around the Horn.

  Lt. William Bligh : "William"? Not "Sir", not "Captain"; "William"?

  Fletcher Christian : I don't think the men will have it.

  Lt. William Bligh : Oh, the men won't have it. Are they in charge of the Bounty?

  Fletcher Christian : They might be if you insist.

  Lt. William Bligh : Again, would you repeat that please. "The men might be in charge." What are you threatening me with?

  Fletcher Christian : It's not a threat, it's a warning.

  Lt. William Bligh : [sarcastically]  Oh, there are rumblings, are there?

  Fletcher Christian : No, there is fear.

  Lt. William Bligh : Around the Horn is the easiest way, the better way, and that is how we will go. Anything more?

  Fletcher Christian : Don't put Adams under the lash.

  Lt. William Bligh : He was insubordinate, cowardly and insubordinate, he frightened the men, I did not put that fear there, he did. So he will be lashed and we will go around the Horn. Are you frightened to go around the Horn, Mr. Christian? Are you a coward too, sir?

• [last lines] 

  Admiral Hood : This court finds that the seizure of His Majesty's Armed Vessel Bounty was an act of mutiny by Fletcher Christian and others of her crew, and that her captain Lieutenant William Bligh is, in the opinion of this court, to be exonerated of all blame on this occasion. Indeed in the matter of his command of the Bounty's open launch we commend Lieutenant Bligh for his courage and exemplary seamanship. Will you please come forward, Lieutenant?

  [hands Bligh his saber] 

  Lt. William Bligh : [Bligh sheathes his saber]  My lord, thank you.

• Lt. William Bligh : So, you think I'm harsh with you, hey? I've been at sea many years Fletcher, since I was 12, and in that time I've seen many men, many good men fall for island women in these waters. I've never once seen it come out well. Of course I understand the excitement and the - but think to yourself, man. Think. Could you bring a woman like that home to your friends and your family? No, of course you couldn't. They're not like us, Fletcher. You think I was harsh with you, but you needed someone to show you where your duty really lay, because you were at a loss, my friend. You may not thank me now but you will later. So, let's get the ship running properly and - get back to where we were before.

• Captain Greetham : [after learning at the trial that Bligh told King Tynah that Captain Cook is still alive]  You told that to this man Tynah?

  Lt. William Bligh : King Tynah, sir.

  Admiral Hood : A savage king.

  Lt. William Bligh : A king, milord, descended from many kings.

  Admiral Hood : As our King George is descended from many kings?

  Lt. William Bligh : Yes, in a way, sir.

  Captain Greetham : Then why did you lie to him? Why did you not tell him Captain Cook was murdered in Hawaii ten years before?

  Lt. William Bligh : Because they believe that Captain Cook is immortal.

  Admiral Hood : Literally?

  Lt. William Bligh : Yes, I think so, sir. They seem to regard his likeness as a sacred image.

  Admiral Hood : Interesting.

  Lt. William Bligh : They also believe that every British officer is more or less related to him.

  Admiral Hood : So you were more or less immortal too.

  Lt. William Bligh : It would appear so, sir. And I also needed their assistance. Captain Cook was our guarantor.

• Fletcher Christian : I am in hell! Hell, sir! Why are you being so damn reasonable now? Goddamn your blood to hell with mine, sir! Goddamn your blood!

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Christian, get a hold of yourself!

  Fletcher Christian : You will be quiet or I will run you through!

  Seaman Matthew Quintal : Do it, Christian! Kill him!

  Fletcher Christian : Just shut your mouth! You shut your mouth! I will run you through and then I will kill myself after. You get him dressed now! Get him dressed!

• Lt. William Bligh : [Bligh is nervously waiting for Christian to get him so he won't have to sleep with one of King Tynah's wives]  Enter.

  Fletcher Christian : Uh, excuse me, sir.

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Christian.

  Fletcher Christian : Sir.

  Lt. William Bligh : What demands my immediate attention?

  Fletcher Christian : Well it could wait until tomorrow, sir.

  Lt. William Bligh : [quietly]  What is it, damn you?

  Fletcher Christian : The ship is sinking, sir.

  Lt. William Bligh : Good.

• Lt. William Bligh : The Royal Navy is not a humorous institution, sir, and insubordination is no laughing matter.

• Lt. William Bligh : My dear God. I had hoped to avoid this.

  Fletcher Christian : Avoid what, sir?

  Lt. William Bligh : Damn it all, man. I'm expected to sleep with her. She's one of King Tynah's wives. A gift from one chief to another, as it were. Now look, five minutes after I go below you must call me up on some important business, all right?

  Fletcher Christian : Yes, sir. What business?

  Lt. William Bligh : Business, damn it; any bloody business.

• John Fryer : What are we going to do, sir?

  Lt. William Bligh : Well, we shall have to try and reach Kupang.

  John Fryer : Without charts?

  Lt. William Bligh : Well, I shall have to try and navigate from memory, Mr. Fryer. It will take us close to the most savage islands in these waters, the Fiji Islands, where cannibalism is perfected almost to a science, and from there, my friends, God willing, we shall proceed on to the Great Barrier Reef itself, then to New Holland, and from there across the Timor Sea to Kupang. And now it will take us at least two months, and we have provisions and water enough to last us one week. So that is the situation, gentlemen, plain and simple.

  John Smith : Well we'll just have to make the best of it, won't we, sir?

  Lt. William Bligh : Make the best of it, Smith? Yes! But will you? That's what I'd ask myself. Will you make the best of it? You hear me? Are you prepared to make the best of it, all of you? Because all I can promise you, lads, is relentless pain and hardship. Now if you're prepared to make do, and make sacrifices, and furthermore are willing to swear by it, I promise you our chances of survival are fair. You hear me? You all say "Aye"?

  All : Aye.

  Lt. William Bligh : Good!

• Lt. William Bligh : [in his log]  I hope never to see Fletcher Christian again. Unless it is to see him hanged.

• Lt. William Bligh : Three men jumped ship last night. Churchill was one of them. You don't seem surprised?

  Fletcher Christian : Well no, now that it's happened I'm not, I'm not surprised.

  Lt. William Bligh : Well, I must say I'm no longer surprised myself now that I see the example that's being set by my first officer. Just look at yourself, man, look at the way you're dressed. Come on, you're no better than one of these natives.

  Fletcher Christian : Well, at least I am no worse.

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Christian, I think your brain has received too much sunlight and your body overindulged in sexual excess.

  Fletcher Christian : I have done no more than any natural man would do.

  Lt. William Bligh : No, you've done no more than any wild animal would do. It always makes me laugh that whenever men lose their self-restraint they always say they're "natural".

  Fletcher Christian : They are more natural than men who have nothing to restrain.

  Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Christian, you will report to the ship by sundown tonight.

  Fletcher Christian : No.

  Lt. William Bligh : What did you say? No? Is that what you said? Is that what you said? No? All right, you will report to the ship immediately and you will stay on the ship. There'll be no more fraternizing with the damned degenerate natives of these islands by any of my officers or any of my crew. You comprehend my meaning, sir?

  [shouts] 

  Lt. William Bligh : Good!

• Lt. William Bligh : [shouting]  Filth, sir! Filthy, Mr. Christian! Still filthy! Look!

  Fletcher Christian : I see nothing, sir, but your finger.

  Lt. William Bligh : [shouting]  I'll not have your vile ways brought aboard my ship, sir! Do you understand? Now you'll call up the swabbing party yet again! And this time you will make bloody sure that the decks are clean, or by God you will answer for it, sir! I'll not have any of your foul, filthy, gutter ways on board my ship! Do you understand? Good God, pigs in a sty have more comprehension of cleanliness than you buggers have! Now you'll get these decks clean, or by God I'll make you lick them clean with your tongue if you don't mend your ways!

• Lt. William Bligh : Do you really think you'll be able to command this rabble?

  Fletcher Christian : I'll do my best.

  Lt. William Bligh : Well I did my best, and I had the authority of the law. You're a dead man Fletcher.

• Lt. William Bligh : [as the loyalists flee from Tofua]  Row for your lives! We're chops and livers to them if they catch us. That's the spirit. Come on! We'll do it!

• Captain Greetham : [at the trial]  So, it did began at the ceremony?

  Lt. William Bligh : No, sir. Not at the ceremony. No, it was just Fletcher Christian and the native girl.

  Captain Greetham : And you didn't understand the depth of the emotion between them?

  Lt. William Bligh : Yes, I realize that now. No, I assumed it was just youthful passion.

  Admiral Hood : It takes more than an infatuated youth to make a mutiny. It takes a discontented crew.

  Lt. William Bligh : The crew were anything but discontent, sir. Fletcher Christian corrupted them.

  Captain Greetham : Yes, but what made them so easy to corrupt?

  Lt. William Bligh : I don't know. It was the place itself.

• Lt. William Bligh : God damn you, man. Don't you bloody cross me.

• David Nelson : Mr. Bligh, when my spirit is gone there will be nothing but flesh remaining. I beg you, use that poor flesh to save the others.

  Lt. William Bligh : No, no, Mr. Nelson. We're civilised men, not savages. And as civilised men we shall die. Have no fear.

• Lt. William Bligh : Well gentlemen, between ourselves and home lies 2300 sea miles, the Endeavor Straits and the Great Barrier Reef. Now the crew is deeply demoralized and I must accept, as every captain must, the inevitable and theoretical responsibility for that. The actual and immediate responsibility, however, I place on you, my fellow officers who met this crisis with lethargy, impudence and flagrant defiance, publicly uttered. And perhaps for that I am also to blame. I counted on a strength of character which you do not possess. However, the cure for our predicament is discipline and I shall apply it with an even hand of course, but most where it is most required.

• Lt. William Bligh : You will clean up this ship and yourselves!

• Lt. William Bligh : [as the half-dead loyalists finally sight land]  Mr Cole, hoist the Jack. It's not proper to land without identification.

• Fletcher Christian : Why take breadfruit to Jamaica?

  Lt. William Bligh : Cheap fodder for the slaves on the plantations there. Bananas are very expensive there these days.

• Lt. William Bligh : It is their deep belief that the earth is rendered fruitful by the coupling of their gods and that the gods can be roused by the coupling of men and women.

• Lt. William Bligh : I want to be advised of their progress every day, Mr. Christian, unless you need the time to cover the rest of your body in pretty pictures.

• Fletcher Christian : William, a toast. To circumnavigation.

  Lt. William Bligh : To circumnavigation.

  John Fryer : To circumnavigation.

  Lt. William Bligh : To circumnavigation.

• John Fryer : We shall be like pigs in a sty, shan't we?

  Lt. William Bligh : No, sir, we shall not. I run a healthy ship, Mr. Fryer.

• David Nelson : A fine musician. We're lucky to have him.

  Lt. William Bligh : Yes. He is not there by chance, Mr. Nelson. Having him there is good for morale.

• Lt. William Bligh : Mr. Fryer, I seem to have made a misjudgment.

  John Fryer : You don't make many, sir.

• Lt. William Bligh : Haven't you ever seen a woman before? Keep your mind and your eyes on your work!

• Lt. William Bligh : Very well. You shall kiss the gunner's daughter.

• Lt. William Bligh : Do you think this is a humorous occasion? You are mistaken. From now on, there is going to be discipline on this ship. We're going to have order and we're going to be like seamen. In one week's time, we will put to sea. There will be no more grog. There will be no more shore leave. You have become a rabble, all of you. And you will clean up! This ship and yourselves!

• Lt. William Bligh : Administer the punishment now.

• Lt. William Bligh : You're a mindless animal, Churchill. I will decide your punishment when you're fit to receive it.

• Lt. William Bligh : Now, look, Fletcher. Look. Listen to me. I am prepared to forgive and I am prepared to forget. Do you understand me?

  Fletcher Christian : Will that be all, sir?

• Lt. William Bligh : Put aside this madness! Put aside this madness! You'll hang!

• Lt. William Bligh : Bloody savages!

• Lt. William Bligh : Take your clothes off. Throw them your clothes.