The Bounty

Watch: The Bounty

5/4/19842h 12m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ After 200 years, the truth behind the legend. ~

Overview:

The familiar story of Lieutenant Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This version follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Lieutenant Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat.

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$25,000,000.00

Revenue:

$8,613,462.00

Key words:

sea
ship
exotic island
mutiny
lake
pregnancy
sailing
based on true story
tahiti
murder
great barrier reef
sailor
native peoples
18th century
storm at sea
whipping
british sailor
fiji
mutiny on the bounty

Cast

Mel Gibson

~ as ~

Fletcher Christian

Anthony Hopkins

~ as ~

Lieutenant William Bligh

Daniel Day-Lewis

~ as ~

John Fryer

Bernard Hill

~ as ~

William Cole

Phil Davis

~ as ~

Edward Young

Liam Neeson

~ as ~

Charles Churchill

Wi Kuki Kaa

~ as ~

King Tynah

Tevaite Vernette

~ as ~

Mauatua

Laurence Olivier

~ as ~

Admiral Hood

Edward Fox

~ as ~

Captain Greetham

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
7
When you already have a definitive version of a story on film (1935) it's always tough to remake it successfully. To be fair to Roger Donaldson, he has managed to come pretty close - and do far better than the 1962 iteration - with this well cast telling of a story of mutiny and brutality. It's told by way of a retrospective as Lord Hood (Lord Olivier) conducts an investigation into what happened aboard the ill-fated ship. Anthony Hopkins is the disciplinarian Lt. Bligh in charge of the glorified freighter "HMS Bounty" which is charged with heading to Tahiti to secure breadfruit trees that can be used to feed the slaves by the colonies in the West Indies. His second-in-command is the no-nonsense but eminently more fair Fletcher Christian (a competent effort from Mel Gibson) and as our journey progresses, the film takes it's time to develop the gradually building toxicity of that relationship as the former man treats the crew with scant humanity. After a great many trials and tribulations, their relationship is all but shot when they arrive at their destination and we know that the writing is on the wall for Bligh. Unlike the other "Bounty" films, this one spends a bit more time presenting the epic and perilous open-boat journey undertaken by the dispossessed - the high seas, the cannibals, the shortages - and Hopkins holds that together really well. This man may have been an inhumane individual, but he was no mean sailor too. The cinematography is top drawer, well complemented by Vangelis' score and Robert Bolt's adaptation of the story that keeps the dialogue tight and potent - especially from Hopkins. Not quite Laughton and Gable, but then...