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I viewed this film for the first time ever last night, (HBO). I skipped seeing it in San Francisco when it came out, can't recall as to why. So now I've seen the 1935 version with Clark Gable and the 1962 version with Marlon Brando and now the 1984 version with Mel Gibson. The overall winner here for me is the earliest version, with the Marlon Brando version a close second because of it's scope, music, cinematography and it's plethora of details about the reasons FOR the sailing as well as FOR the mutiny.
This version by Dino de Laurentis has some gorgeos panoramic shots, backed up with a subtle, sensous Vangellis score, (and you get to see a very young Mel Gibson's butt), however, that's pretty much it. The film has a listed director, Roger Donaldson, but it feels almost 'directionless'. For the audiences who don't know anything about the book or the previous filmed versions, they would have no clue as to any of the reasons for the sailing, really. The mutiny is handled sloppily beause, I think, it was scripted incoherantly by Robert Bolt. Bolt seems to have gone into the other versions and simply pulled out the 'centers' of each film and left it at that. The beginnings and the endings are kind of left out for the most part. Everyone is SO YOUNG here. Mel Gibson, Daniel Day Lewis, Liam Neeson. Anthony Hopkins (excellent actor that he can be), seems miscast here as Captain Bligh. He's capable, but he's not vicious enough, not deep-down sadistic enough to have gotten his crew to (believably) rise to the boiling point of mutiny. And the first half of the film, there's almost this, I don't know what...'sexual jelousy' of Fletcher Christian by Captain Bligh, or perhaps I was reading more into what I saw? The best role in the film was of The Tahitian King, who's name I've forgotten.
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Anthony Hopkins (excellent actor that he can be), seems miscast here as Captain Bligh. He's capable, but he's not vicious enough, not deep-down sadistic enough to have gotten his crew to (believably) rise to the boiling point of mutiny. And the first half of the film, there's almost this, I don't know what...'sexual jelousy' of Fletcher Christian by Captain Bligh, or perhaps I was reading more into what I saw?
Wasn't this meant to be the "Sympathy for Bligh" version?
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Oh, you mean Wi Kuki Kaa, my favourite maori actor? Know him well. 
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Oh, you mean Wi Kuki Kaa, my favourite maori actor? Know him well.
Yes, i looked it up, that's his name. His performance, not as large as the leads, was still the best in the film.
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Dreadful film. Had to watch it with a girlfriend at the time coz she liked Mel gibson.
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Posted: |
Jan 24, 2020 - 12:15 PM
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By: |
dogplant
(Member)
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Starring Tony Hopkins, Mel Gibson, Daniel Day Lewis, Dexter Fletcher, Bernard Hill, Liam Neeson… and me! I was an extra for the filming of the below-the-decks scenes on this film, huddled on a claustrophobic tilted set with director Roger Donaldson and cinematographer Arthur Ibbetson, at Lee International Studios in Wembley, sometime in the 1980s:
http://www.flashfilms.us/Blog/Entries/2015/3/3_Extra!_Extra!.html
Strangely, I don’t remember DD Lewis at all; but Mel Gibson was a sweetheart, who showed up on his day off and played cards with us extras. And I vividly recall quaking in my boots as Hopkins delivered his volcanic excoriation, ‘God damn your eyes, man!’* in this clip:
https://youtu.be/KDc6dZxh0Cs
[*At least, it sounded like 'eyes' to me, 35 years ago; and that terrified me. He damns his eyes? I'd never heard of such a thing. Off stage, Hopkins was a quiet and gentle man, and we were all in awe when a bunch of us extras got up the courage to knock on his dressing room door to meet him later. But Donaldson had asked 'Tony' to keep a low profile, and not to mingle before his first scene, barging in below decks and railing at his Sailing Master in front of all his crew. I still remember the terror he evoked, and the spittle flying from his lips. He was an elemental force. Just wonderful, man.]
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Love this film as well !!!
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Well it gets an extra mark coz dogpant was in it! 
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Posted: |
Jan 25, 2020 - 7:48 AM
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By: |
Solium
(Member)
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My friendly rebuttable:
Marlon Brando version a close second because of it's scope, music, cinematography and it's plethora of details about the reasons FOR the sailing as well as FOR the mutiny.
They clearly explain the reasons for the sailing both the actual mission and Bligh's personal quest.
This version by Dino de Laurentis has some gorgeos panoramic shots, backed up with a subtle, sensous Vangellis score, (and you get to see a very young Mel Gibson's butt),however, that's pretty much it.
There were thousands of naked islanders showing off their wonderfully tanned assets. Then again I swing differently.
The film has a listed director, Roger Donaldson, but it feels almost 'directionless'. For the audiences who don't know anything about the book or the previous filmed versions, they would have no clue as to any of the reasons for the sailing, really.
Again, it was all explained in the beginning of the film when Bligh goes over the mission with Christian.
The mutiny is handled sloppily beause, I think, it was scripted incoherantly by Robert Bolt.
It was brilliantly set up as a slow burner as frustration and dissolution grew.
Anthony Hopkins (excellent actor that he can be), seems miscast here as Captain Bligh. He's capable, but he's not vicious enough,
This was already explained.
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The Bounty remains a gorgeous, compelling, breathtaking piece of work that hits all the right buttons. While I can respect the earlier versions, they do not move me in any way. This one did, whether it was Vangelis' hypnotic score or Hopkins' fantastic (and much underrated) performance. The film is impressively manipulative in an emotional sense. I sympathize with Bligh throughout, and during the final moments of the film when he chokes up with emotion after his legal proceeding, I choke up as well. And it continues with that stunning painting-in-motion, the Bounty on fire at sea. One of the best films of the 80s IMHO.
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