Watch The Bounty For Free

Really Surprised!

Let's be realistic.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This version of "The Bounty" story was one of David Lean's unrealized projects. The screenplay was by Lean's longtime collaborator Robert Bolt and it finally reached the screen under the direction of Roger Donaldson who actually does a very good job. This takes a different slant on the usual take on the mutiny making Bligh, (an excellent Anthony Hopkins), if not exactly the hero, considerably less of a villain than he is usually painted while Christian, (Mel Gibson), is weak and dissolute with his own, selfish motives for rebelling. There is also a much greater emphasis on the events after the mutiny than in previous pictures.It may lack the physical excitement of the Frank Lloyd version but it's definitely an improvement on the elephantine Brando/Howard remake. The large cast includes early performances from Daniel Day-Lewis and Liam Neeson as well as Edward Fox and Laurence Olivier as officers presiding at Bligh's court-martial and there's a terrific performance from the New Zealand actor Wi Kuki Kaa as King Tynah. Like all good yarns this has stood the test of time remarkably well.

Well, on paper it seemed like a mutiny was all but a given, wasn't it? Stick a group of dishevelled, starved, barely experienced sailors on a boat for months on end with no female contact and then introduce them to basically paradise, and they are not going to want to leave any- time soon. The first error of The Bounty is that it goes to little lengths to actually visualise this agonising duration on a dirty boat. It doesn't feel like they have been shackled to one area for a long period of time. Everything is forwarded to us via characterisation - every beating, lashing, gagging. We spend little time on that dinghy that Bligh and his loyalists are cast off on, and what is supposed to be a courageous and harrowing journey back to civilisation happens in a few blinks of the eye, a few dissolves to show time. It's also been praised for a more moderate representation of Bligh, not as a monster, but as a measured, intelligent captain that was overcome by unfortunate situations. I do not see it. Hopkins is a fine actor, but his Bligh is seemingly written as a complete and utter dictator of HMS Bounty, punishing every small indiscretion severely, refusing to acknowledge his men's perspectives, full of blustering pride for himself and disdain for even his commanding officers, and finally completely blinded by any adverse effects his decisions may result in. A final confrontation before the mutiny itself between Hopkins and Gibson is riveting; Fletcher offers him a final out, a chance to renounce his totalitarian rule, and Bligh responds with seething disapproval, Hopkins shivering with sweat and a delirious rage. Well it would be riveting, but this is not an explosion of anger for Bligh's character, merely the predictable end for such a despicably written captain. It would be much more affecting had the movie not already set its sights on that sudden redemption once he has been cast off the Bounty, and naming him a hero at the movie's end. Vangelis has done many an iconic score, but this must count as one of his most overbearing. It doesn't wait for an appropriate moment to chime in, but merely powers its way through ever scene with a feigned dramatic importance. In the early sequences where the sunlight blasts, the wind rips through the sails and the promise of the sea is a fresh adventure the score is dreamy and inviting, using these harp glissandos to earmark the moments of bliss like dropping anchor for the first time in weeks. And then it turns foreboding and unrelenting; a relatively unsubtle bit of symbolism is the heavily percussive track which plays as Fletcher first chases and kisses his native bride-to-be, and the banging of the drum is almost like a loud, ominous cannonball shot. And then it will match each furious glare from Hopkins at his crew's insubordination - piercing as he looks upon the couple becoming more intimate, pulsing with anger as the deserters are lashed, high- pitched as he repeatedly orders the ship to be cleaned spotless. It does no favours for Bligh's characterisation - after a while you feel like mutiny yourself, because the soundtrack has made it like Hopkins is right next to us, bellowing into our ears himself. It also makes the silly mistake of using a flashback structure so that the entire series of events are narrated from a future court adjudicating on Bligh's actions. A better movie could make this work, but here it just serves to telegraph every little detail of the plot and remove all tension created. We know that Bligh and his loyalist ultimately make it back, so it becomes less a case study for him and more one of Gibson and the dilemma he faces with his mutiny. When Hopkins' weary voice-over chimes in and thinks back on how he thought it was just youthful passion that made his master's mate abandon his duties, it not only immediately signals what is to come, but it significantly weakens his own insight as well. Add to that the paradoxically suffocating soundtrack that drowns out any actual acting and it becomes near insufferable.

I'm sure i got my taste for ship travels, pirates, exotic island and English Navy thanks to the library of my poor grandmother. It was before American comics and she got only a few books to offer us and among them, i think there was Treasure Island, Robin Crusoe and a team of animals seeking a treasure ! With this movie, i feel immediately this special wind which wasn't the case with « pirates of Caribbean ». Here, the production feels real, rich ; the locations are beautiful and the natives are indeed exotic. Thus, Mel's romance seems authentic and i really understand his passion to stay unlike Hopkins. In a way, the key to understand the movie (and my summary) is here: the prestigious captain grasps the daughter while the simple aid wins the beautiful one! In addition, the movie offers surprises, adding to Mel and Hopkins, young Day-Lewis and Liam Neeson ! And maybe you will be seasick because the life aboard a ship is well done : it's claustrophobic and overcrowded : in a way, you can't get mad without being noticed ! It's also a good illustration about authority : this is a strange power build on imagination and consent of everyone because when the numbers wake up, they can take it back from the individual.

example of measure. in acting, story, characters portraits. a remarkable cast. and inspired music. a film who can be disappointed for the hunters of historical truth details. but a good gift for admirers of Anthony Hopkins or Laurence Olivier. a film who has as axis the music of Vangelis and examples of admirable performances- except, maybe, Mel Gibson who prefers create a role without root - but the work of Wi Kuki Kaa is a nice compensation, wise in solutions for atmosphere and for the tension, with a little brutal end, it is more than a good film. the source of this status - the balance between courage and science.and the flavor of pure chronicle of an exceptional case.