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The Bounty (1984)
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:05 am
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:05 am
Good flick. Holds up well. I have read the 2018 book Mutiny on the Bounty.
How does the 1963 film Mutiny on the Bounty compare to this one?
Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson were great.
IMDB
How does the 1963 film Mutiny on the Bounty compare to this one?
Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson were great.
IMDB
5
Posted on 3/1/26 at 8:20 am to sgallo3
I like it better than the earlier one. Anthony Hopkins is phenomenal. If you like the bounty story this gives me a chance to recommend one of my favorite books of all time
it is amazing and most likely the “truest” version of what happened and how the aftermath shaped the story. Lt. Bligh had very many faults but he may have been the finest nautical navigator the royal navy ever produced
it is amazing and most likely the “truest” version of what happened and how the aftermath shaped the story. Lt. Bligh had very many faults but he may have been the finest nautical navigator the royal navy ever produced
Posted on 3/1/26 at 9:19 am to sgallo3
I've seen all 3 versions of it over the years. The 1935 version had Charles Laughton as Bligh and Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian.
The 1962 version was with Trevor Howard as Bligh and Marlon Brando as Christian. I found it better than the first version.
For me, the best version was the 84 version with Anthony Hopkins as Bligh and Mel Gibson as Christian. Also, smaller parts played by Daniel Day Lewis and Liam Neeson.
The 1962 version was with Trevor Howard as Bligh and Marlon Brando as Christian. I found it better than the first version.
For me, the best version was the 84 version with Anthony Hopkins as Bligh and Mel Gibson as Christian. Also, smaller parts played by Daniel Day Lewis and Liam Neeson.
Posted on 3/1/26 at 9:21 am to cgrand
The book you posted was great. I preferred the Mel Gibson movie (topless native girls didn't hurt the film, lol) but the Brando movie was good also.
In summary, everything Bounty is worth watching and reading.
In summary, everything Bounty is worth watching and reading.
Posted on 3/1/26 at 9:39 am to cgrand
quote:
Lt. Bligh had very many faults
stubborn as a mule
Posted on 3/1/26 at 10:19 am to sgallo3
quote:and incredibly brave, which may in fact be the same thing
stubborn as a mule
Posted on 3/1/26 at 11:49 am to gumbo2176
Does the 1963 movie show more of Fletcher on the pitcairn island?
The book covered it
The book covered it
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:11 pm to sgallo3
quote:
Does the 1963 movie show more of Fletcher on the pitcairn island?
It's been many years since I saw that version of the movie, but memory says there wasn't much in the way of their lives on Pitcairn Island
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:17 pm to sgallo3
IMHO it is pretty boring. Hopkins is good, but Gibson has neither the charisma of Gable nor the acting chops of Brando,
It does accurately present Christian & Bligh as being friends before the voyage, which neither the Gable or Brando versions do.
It also gives time to the most extraordinary aspect of the story -- Bligh's navigation of the open boat - which the Brando totally ignores
The Gable is a well done adventure w/entertaining chewing of scenery from Charles Laughton.
The Brando version has great color photography & an interesting music score. But it's very slow... Brando claimed he wanted it to be truthful, but it is just as inaccurate as the Gable (if not more so). Brando's last scene is especially untrue (& ridiculous).
There was yet another version, made on a microbudget in Australia a few years before the Gable & starring a very young Errol Flynn as Christian. This one is only for Flynn completists.
For years I've hoped someone would make a Bounty miniseries & tell the true story. But I guess that will never happen.
It does accurately present Christian & Bligh as being friends before the voyage, which neither the Gable or Brando versions do.
It also gives time to the most extraordinary aspect of the story -- Bligh's navigation of the open boat - which the Brando totally ignores
The Gable is a well done adventure w/entertaining chewing of scenery from Charles Laughton.
The Brando version has great color photography & an interesting music score. But it's very slow... Brando claimed he wanted it to be truthful, but it is just as inaccurate as the Gable (if not more so). Brando's last scene is especially untrue (& ridiculous).
There was yet another version, made on a microbudget in Australia a few years before the Gable & starring a very young Errol Flynn as Christian. This one is only for Flynn completists.
For years I've hoped someone would make a Bounty miniseries & tell the true story. But I guess that will never happen.
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:21 pm to sgallo3
quote:yes but what is shown is inaccurate
does the 1963 movie show more of Fletcher on the pitcairn island?
Posted on 3/1/26 at 12:30 pm to gumbo2176
quote:There are some scenes set there, but the reason for the burning and Brando's last scene are both unhistoricalquote:It's been many years since I saw that version of the movie, but memory says there wasn't much in the way of their lives on Pitcairn Island
Does the 1963 movie show more of Fletcher on the pitcairn island?
Ironically Brando had wanted the entire film to deal w/Pitcairn (w/the mutiny a brief opening scene), to tell the true story of what happened to the mutineers -- something the released film definitely did not do.
Posted on 3/1/26 at 1:01 pm to Kafka
Seems like a missed opportunity because there was a lot more to the story. The brando version was already 3 hours long though
Posted on 3/1/26 at 9:30 pm to sgallo3
I have watched the 84 version many times since its first release. Watched it again recently and ended up going down a rabbit hole of reading about the history of Pitcairn island since its was discovered as the the spot where the mutineers settled. Very interesting to read about. If you want to to move their they are actually offering free land and a small sum of money to get you started. Apparently they have a hard time keeping their population up. There is no type of college or university on island so many of the youth leave to go to Australia or Nee Zealand to further their education and then never return.
Posted on 3/2/26 at 12:10 pm to sgallo3
From my old Mutiny on the Bounty thread:
quote:
I just finished a movie kick of watching the four surviving film versions of the story of the HMS Bounty and its mutiny. The only version that I had seen previously was the Mel Gibson/Anthony Hopkins film (which I had left the theater with the sole memory of "titties").
My recent interest was launched by a viewing of Ruggles of Red Gap on TCM. Charles Laughton played one of the earliest "fish out of water" characters as a British Butler lost in a card game to new employers in the American west. Laughton did an amazing job of playing the effeminate eyerolling butler and I was amazed to find that he had played the iconic villain of William Bligh in the same year.
The four surviving films (an Australian silent version existed at one time):
In the Wake of the Bounty (1933)
An odd Australian film that is a mixture of a travelogue and a historical adventure film. It mixes badly acted vignettes of the mutiny with then-present-day footage of the descendants of the mutineers on Pitcairn Island. It's claim to fame is that it's the first appearance of Errol Flynn on film (as Fletcher Christian). At this point it's mostly interesting for Flynn and as a document of what Pitcairn Island was like at the start of the 1930's.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
This is the film that all other versions are measured by. My only exposure to it was through the Bugs Bunny parody and from impressionists in the 1960's doing their take on Bligh and Christian. I have to say, for a film made in the 30's, it stands up extremely well. Laughton gives Bligh layers of greed and spite and jealousy that make for an impressive character. Gable is fricking heroic as Christian. I wasn't a fan of his until seeing this movie.
Historians and biographers were mixed on what happened on the Bounty. Seems like the current take is that Bligh wasn't the animal portrayed in this film. But after Laughton was finished with it, Bligh was shorthand for tyrannical leader.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)
You can see from the start of the film why audiences were shocked by Marlon Brando's take on Fletcher Christian. Everyone still had Clark Gable's heroic man's man in their minds and Brando played him as an almost effeminate society playboy fop. He does have his heroic moments, but he keeps lapsing into playing the character as almost having a Scarlet Pimpernelish weak secret identity. Trevor Howard does a good job of playing a slightly less demonic Bligh. Richard Harris is on board as the leader of the mutineers. A decent film other than Brando's weirdness and his insistence on building a bizarre ending so that his character could get the last big scene.
Bounty (1984)
The most sympathetic Bligh to date. Anthony Hopkins gives the top notch performance that you would expect. Bligh's lunacy is a slow build in this one. I had no memory of Daniel Day Lewis or Liam Neeson being in this film, because they weren't name actors in '84. Lewis elevates the character of John Fryer to a major role, taking some of the villain weight off of Bligh's shoulders. Neeson takes Richard Harris' role as the head mutineer. Both do as well as you would expect them to. Gibson looks like an Errol Flynn or Clark Gable matinee idol, but he didn't do much with this role. Gibson is just there in the first half of the movie and then flips a switch and starts to chew the scenery. Christian isn't a man who's been pushed to his limit. He's a guy who goes insane from happiness on Tahiti and is ripe for Bligh's machinations. There was talk of this film showing some homo eroticism between the Bligh and Christian characters. I took it as being Bligh's jealousy of Christian's happiness. I think the gay erotica stuff came from everyone being dripping in sweat for the third act.
Oh, and, "titties".
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