Fed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.Fed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.Fed up with their Captain's harsh discipline, a sailing ship's crew decides to take action.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
- Young
- (as Philip Davis)
- Director
- Writers
- Robert Bolt
- Richard Hough
- Ian Mune(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMel Gibson was disappointed with his performance and the finished movie. He later said of the movie, "I think the main problem with that film was that it tried to be a fresh look at the dynamic of the mutiny situation, but didn't go far enough. In the old version, Captain Bligh was the bad guy and Fletcher Christian was the good guy. But really Fletcher Christian was a social climber and an opportunist. They should have made him the bad guy, which indeed he was. He ended up setting all these people adrift to die, without any real justification. Maybe he'd gone island crazy. They should have painted it that way. But they wanted to exonerate Captain Bligh while still having the dynamic where the guy was mutinying for the good of the crew. It didn't quite work."
- GoofsWhen Bligh, Fryer and Christian are in Bligh's home planning the voyage, Bligh refers to a route that would take them around the coast of 'Australia'. But at the time of the Bounty's voyage in 1789 what we now know as Australia was instead universally called New Holland - a name which also appears on Bligh's map and which he later uses after being cast adrift. 'Australia' only came into common usage in the early 19th century; it gained official status in 1824.
- Quotes
Lt. William Bligh: We are still faced with a long, hard voyage. I mean to make good use of every hour of sailing time, and to assist me in this, I am replacing Mr. Fryer with Mr. Christian, who will now act as executive second in command, with the rank of Acting Second Lieutenant...
[Fryer walks away]
Lt. William Bligh: Mr. Fryer, come back here.
[shouts after Mr. Fryer, who is continuing to walk away]
Lt. William Bligh: Mr. Fryer, sir! Come back here!
[Mr. Fryer returns; Bligh continues, quietly]
Lt. William Bligh: I will dismiss when I have done with you, sir. Do you hear me?
John Fryer: This is an outrage!
Lt. William Bligh: Mr. Fryer!
John Fryer: In all my years at sea...
Lt. William Bligh: Your "years at sea"? Good Lord, man! If I'd known your nature, I would not have accepted you as boatswain of a river barge.
John Fryer: Must I suffer this before the men?
Lt. William Bligh: You will suffer my correction whenever you're at fault, sir!
John Fryer: What fault?
Lt. William Bligh: [shouts] God damn your eyes, man! You turned your back on me!
John Fryer: Well for that, I apologize.
Lt. William Bligh: Very well.
John Fryer: But I protest.
Lt. William Bligh: You protest, do you?
John Fryer: I am Master of the Bounty!
Lt. William Bligh: [shouts] And I, sir, am *Commander*! By law! I am the first! Do you understand? God damn your hide! And now you may dismiss, sir!
- Alternate versionsGerman version misses ca. 26 minutes.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Making of 'the Bounty' (1984)
One of the great villainous portrayals on the screen is Charles Laughton's Captain Bligh from the stirring 1935 film. Laughton is pretty unforgettable with that jutting lower lip and that bellowing voice at the crew. Anthony Hopkins has given us a kinder, gentler view of Bligh which may be far closer to the facts.
Bligh certainly was a stern taskmaster as a captain of a naval vessel. In fact he served with distinction in several naval battles during the Napoleonic wars. What he unfortunately had was a sarcastic tongue, something not really needed for what in fact was a peaceful voyage to obtain breadfruit plants.
Scurvy which is caused by a Vitamin C deficiency ran rampant on the ocean going ships of the time, none more so than in British ships because they had the most of them. This was a pretty important voyage, to bring back Tahitian breadfruit to see if it could be cultivated in the climate of the United Kingdom. Maybe the mistake was in not sending a civilian ship to do the job, who knows.
Anyway Bligh punished men who got out of line, no more so than what was normal. The problem arose when after months at sea, his crew got just too used to frolicking among the female population of Tahiti. That would also unfortunately include Bligh's second mate Fletcher Christian, played in this version by Mel Gibson.
It wasn't Bligh's fault they lingered in Tahiti, the plants had to be mature enough to stand the voyage to Great Britain. Nevertheless the lack of discipline there, contrasted with what was expected of British seaman on a naval vessel, a return to that life was what led to the mutiny.
Certainly Fletcher Christian by all accounts was a charismatic guy, he would have to have been to get the men to mutiny. He was portrayed by four charismatic actors, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, and now Mel Gibson. Only his intervention prevented the men from killing Bligh and a few others.
What I like most about this version is the fact that it does give due attention to Bligh's remarkable voyage in a long boat to Timor which was some 1500 miles from where he and the loyalists were cast adrift. It was a remarkable piece of seamanship, no mutinies during that voyage.
The luckless Captain Bligh also had the misfortune to be the Governor of New South Wales, appointed by the Crown, and was overthrown there in a power struggle with the merchants of the colony. That didn't help his historical reputation a bit.
Among the crew of the Bounty you will find Daniel Day-Lewis as John Fryer who Bligh replaced mid voyage with Fletcher Christian and Liam Neeson as one of the mutineers. Laurence Olivier plays Admiral Hood who led the court of inquiry that cleared Bligh of blame for the mutiny.
Still Hopkins and Gibson dominate the film with their skills and talents. Who knows who might bring the saga of this troubled ship next to the screen. This story has fascinated us for generations.
- bkoganbing
- Dec 16, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Lawbreakers
- Filming locations
- Moorea, French Polynesia(South Seas locations)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $25,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,613,462
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $2,622,306
- May 6, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $8,613,462
- Runtime2 hours 12 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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