The Bounty by Roger Donaldson is a rousing sea adventure with some fascinating character study and great acting. Anthony Hopkins portrays William Bligh who in real life was a subordinate of James Cook and later the master of the Bounty upon which the famous mutiny occurred. The cinematography is lush and the pacing efficient to say the least. The actors here are, apart from the aforementioned Hopkins- Mel Gibson, Liam Neeson, Daniel Day Lewis and in a cameo of sorts Laurence Olivier, so you can imagine the star wattage on display. All in all this is a great film for sea enthusiasts, history buffs or fans of the actors.

A magnificent cast is on hand to tell the story of "The Bounty" in this 1984 film directed by Roger Donaldson. Movie lovers know Captain Bligh as evil incarnate, so cruel and horrible that his crew, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied - but the story is more complex than that.The film begins in London, 1790 with Lieutenant William Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) in court, before Admiral Hood (Laurence Olivier) and Captain Greetham (Edward Fox) to explain why his ship, the HMS Bounty, was taken from him by mutiny. The story unfolds, with Bligh recounting how he brought his good friend, Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson) along as Master Mate on the voyage to secure breadfruit from Tahiti. Along as well is a Master of the Ship, John Fryer (Daniel Day-Lewis), and seamen, including rabble-rouser Charles Churchill (Liam Neeson). Bligh is determined that the ship round the Cape Horn; the horrendous weather nearly downs the ship.The ship arrives in Tahiti and the crew stays for some months waiting for the breadfruit to grow. Christian becomes involved with a local woman, Mauatua (Tevaite Vernette) the daughter of King Tynah, eventually impregnating her. He seems to have lost all interest in the activities of the Bounty, and he's not alone. The men become lazy. When they set sail again, Bligh is determined to restore discipline to the men with harsh penalties; he then announces they again will be going via Cape Horn. This news causes the crew, led by Christian, to mutiny, sending Bligh and non-mutineers off in a boat to fend for themselves.This film version presents Bligh as a strict man, perhaps not as strict as other captains, and the only officer on board, overseeing a small crew with no Marines to provide protection from hostile natives during stops or to enforce security on board ship. After the Bounty, Captain Bligh went on to a distinguished career.Anthony Hopkins is superb as the Captain, showing a decent man, who wanted a good diet with good quality food and a clean ship for his crew's welfare. The Bounty may have been taken over because some of the crew believed that Christian would return them to Tahiti.Mel Gibson in 1984 was a drop-dead gorgeous newcomer - in fact, now- famous names in the cast - Gibson, Day-Lewis, Neeson - were just starting out. Gibson doesn't have a ton of dialogue as Christian, but he's effective, particularly in his confrontation with Hopkins during the mutiny. Neeson and Day-Lewis are excellent.Magnificently photographed, The Bounty is fabulous to watch.Of interest, the mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island. Today almost everybody with the surname Christian on Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands is a descendant of Christian, as well as many descendants who moved to Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Liam Neeson...within a decade after The Bounty was released, each would be imprinted in the public consciousness. Mr Gibson as Riggs in Lethal Weapon, Mr Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and Mr Neeson as Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. Who would have thought that one movie would generate such star wattage big time?? I mean, with due respect, but can you imagine the Fast and the Furious generating such star wattage after a decade? The Bounty is a masterful movie that deals with the famous mutiny with sub-themes of betrayal, sex, power and the lust exhibited by the white male members of the Bounty crew towards the darker toned Tahitian women, the descendants of whom live on Pitcairn Island and Norfolk Island, where lust and passion still prevail amongst some female descendants and white male interlopers on Island ("jumped the fence").One thing that's overlooked in The Bounty...the crucial role of the chefs on the Bounty. I'd like to know the role they played in keeping the crew fed and watered during such trying times.

I finally got round to watching this film and I really enjoyed it. I brought two mirrors to bear in my mind as I watched. One was the film "Master and Commander", which is not a mutiny story but depicts the era and life on the oceans. The other is a masterpiece of investigative historical research. The book is "The Bounty: the true story of the mutiny on the Bounty" by Caroline Alexander. Examining this story from a wealth of rarely seen documents in Australia and New Zealand (if I recall) she was able to piece together many disjointed parts of the mutiny. Further she provided much background information about what became of Bligh and those involved in the mutiny. I cannot recommend her book enough for those who have a taste for this crazy story. First of all the film is gorgeous to look at. The scenery fairly drips with colours. The bare chested natives are also nice eye-candy. The uniforms of commissioned officers just about pop out of the screen with such bright shades. I quite enjoyed the manner in which the trial that Bligh, like all commanders or captains who had lost their ship had to endure, was juxtaposed back and forth into the story. (Now that I think about it, this would be a good time to plug all of the Aubrey/Maturin novels of the beloved Patrick O'Brian. From him you will learn as much if not more about naval life than by reading Alexander's terrific book). A few weaknesses in retrospect come to mind. Sir Joseph Banks was the man who put the entire breadfruit, Tahiti expedition in motion. That it was an adventure to find a way of growing food cheaply and efficiently to feed slaves on Jamaica makes the blood run hot. That they continued back to Tahiti once again to pursue the fruit was surely one of the lowest points in English history. I am surprised that Banks was not inserted more clearly as the initiator of this madness. I would normally say that Mel Gibson gives a strong performance in whatever role he inhabits, given that he is a very talented actor. Notwithstanding a loathing of him as a person outside of the movie industry, I didn't let my revulsion influence watching him act. I found his embodiment of Fletcher Christian a bit wobbly. I say this because instead of emoting something more clearly defined as turmoil when it was appropriate, too often, for my liking, he wore a blank look on his face. Compare this to the master actor, Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is famous for allowing the character he represents to be transparent and fully involved. Over all I think that it is under rated and if trashed by critics of that time, unjustly so. I saw a comment here from someone who said "forget Master and Commander". Not so. It also is a superb film and adheres very closely to the several O'Brian novels from which the script is crafted. Finally, I am not really a big fan of Vangelis. I mean, the only film that I associate his soundtrack music to is the always entertaining "Blade Runner". I can't imagine that film without the music. Seen these many years later, the 1984 film of the Bounty does not couple well with the electronic sounds that Vangelis was known for. A minor quibble but I'm a musician and am fussy about soundtracks. By comparison there is not one single sound of music that is out of place in "Master and Commander". The Bounty is good movie making.