MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY MEL GIBSON ANTHONY HOPKINS MARLON BRANDO CHARLES LAUGHTON CLARK GABLE
YAHOO                         RATING  -  B+
IMDb                         RATING  -  6.8 out of 10
COMMENT                         - More historically accurate than the 1935 film,                         but Bligh is still presented unfairly.  The  movie concludes with scenes from the court-martial of                         William Bligh for the loss of his ship.  (Bligh was                         acquitted.)...There are lots of beautiful sunsets and                         lush island scenes, where great efforts are made to hide                         the frontal nudity of natives.
 
TRIVIA  -  Brando was at his most outrageous in Tahiti,                         ordering changes to the script (e.g., he wanted the                         final scenes on Pitcairn Island reshot to include his                         ideas about man's inhumanity to man), demanding that                         film crew members prepare for a friend's wedding, and                         insisting that planeloads of champagne and other goodies                         be flown in for his consumption.  He married a                         Tahitian actress in the film (his third wife) and bought                         an atoll on which he created a posh resort and an                         environmental reserve.
 
The                 1984 Version
 
In                 1984, the movie The                 Bounty starring Anthony                 Hopkins as Bligh and Mel                 Gibson as Christian was released. The movie is set during                 the trial of Lt. William Bligh upon arriving home after the                 mutiny had occurred. In this movie, the events of the voyage up                 to and after the mutiny are shown as a series of flashbacks.
 
Bligh                 is not so much portrayed as a cruel tyrant in this film, but                 rather as a traditional ship's captain - a man of his times.                 While some savage beatings were carried out under Bligh's watch                 in this film, it seems to be in this film no different than any                 other captain would have done.
The                 crew is shown in a different light than in the previous two                 films. They are shown to be a much more "rough and                 tumble" group than the crews in the other films. Many of                 them are shown as typical sailors of the time. Their motivations                 in this film are not always as noble as in the other two films.
 
In                 this film, Fletcher Christian is a more complex character. He is                 shown at first as a friend of Bligh. At first Bligh thinks so                 much of Christian that he asks the man to sail with him for a                 second time. However over the course of the film both men turn                 against each other. The feelings become much more acrimonius                 after the ship leaves Tahiti after Fletcher has been forced to                 leave his wife behind on Tahiti. In this film, she is more of a                 reason that Fletcher mutinied than in the previous two films.                 Afterwards, Fletcher is shown as feeling remorseful because of                 the mutiny. He tells another mutineer that he wished he had                 given Bligh some muskets.
 
In                 this film, the crew is shown as having more responsibility than                 they did in other films. This film does not so much hold Bligh                 as responsible - rather it is the desire of some of the crew to                 go back to Tahiti. However, it does make the fact that Bligh was                 going to try circumnavigation as one of the reasons that some of                 the crew decided to mutiny.
 
Like                 the 1935 film, this version also concentrates on the trials of                 Bligh and those who were forced into the launch with him. It is                 the only film to show that one man died because of an attack by                 the natives of an island where the launch stopped.  Once                 Bligh's launch reaches a Dutch colony, his part in the story                 comes to an end. It shows the later voyages of the Bounty as                 they go to Pitcairn Island. It then goes to Bligh's trial where                 he is subsequently acquitted by the Admirality.
 
The                 1984 film was probably one of the more historically accurate of                 the films dealing with the Bounty. It shows both Bligh and the                 crew as more products of their time than anything else. This                 film also suggests that the motives behind the mutiny might not                 have been as noble as suggested in the other films. It also                 portrays the natives mostly nude as they would have appeared at                 the time of The Bounty's visit to the island (the previous films                 couldn't portray this because of censorship and decency                 concerns).
 
Despite                 the distinguished castï¿½including Daniel                 Day-Lewis and Liam                 Neeson in supporting roles and Laurence                 Olivier in a cameo                 appearance as Admiral Hoodï¿½the film had a tepid critical                 reception (the capsule review in Newsday read in its entirety as follows: "Man the bilge                 pumps") and was not a great commercial success.
 
PLOT                   DESCRIPTION
 
The                 1932 publication of Charles Nordhoff and James Norton Hall's                 Mutiny on the Bounty sparked a revival of interest in the                 titular 1789 ship mutiny, and this 1935 MGM movie version won                 the Oscar for Best Picture. Clark                 Gable stars as Fletcher Christian, first mate of the                 infamous HMS Bounty, skippered by Captain William Bligh ( Charles                 Laughton ), the cruelest taskmaster on the Seven Seas.                 Bligh's villainy knows no bounds: he is even willing to flog a                 dead man if it will strengthen his hold over the crew. 
 
Christian                 despises Bligh and is sailing on the Bounty under protest.                 During the journey back to England, Bligh's cruelties become                 more than Christian can bear; and after the captain indirectly                 causes the death of the ship's doctor, the crew stages a mutiny,                 with Christian in charge. Bligh and a handful of officers loyal                 to him are set adrift in an open boat. Through sheer force of                 will, he guides the tiny vessel on a 49-day, 4000-mile journey                 to the Dutch East Indies without losing a man. 
 
Historians                 differ on whether Captain Bligh was truly such a monster or                 Christian such a paragon of virtue (some believe that the mutiny                 was largely inspired by Christian's lust for the Tahitian                 girls). The movie struck gold at the box office, and, in                 addition to the Best Picture Oscar, Gable, Laughton, and Franchot                 Tone as one of the Bounty's crew were all nominated for Best                 Actor (they all lost to Victor                 McLaglan in The                 Informer ). The film was remade (badly) in 1962 and adapted                 into the "revisionist" 1984 feature The                 Bounty with Mel                 Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony                 Hopkins as Captain Bligh. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
 
Type: Features
 Rating: NR (Mild Violence)