Review of The Bounty (1984) by Dawdlingpoet — 25 Nov 2021

This is quite a sobering watch, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing the strict, no-nonsense (read cruel) lieutenant Bligh. This film benefits from a decent cast, including (other than Sir Anthony Hopkins as Bligh), Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian (a typical womaniser type), Laurence Olivier as Admiral Hood, Daniel Day-Lewis as Fryer and Liam Neeson as Churchill (not Winston, its the wrong century for that, for one thing!).

I found some scenes a little uncomfortable to watch, due to the way the natives were regarded, a fair bit of ignorance on show. There's the hypocricy of Bligh claiming to know for a fact that such exotic natives are cannibals (which is ironic given Hopkins went on to portray Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs) and scenes featuring torture, with bloody violence depicted.

I imagine it doesn't shy away from the cruel times the crew would have had to endure. Hopkins performance really makes this film quite good - the other cast members do alright but his is the stand out performance in my mind.

This is a decent film and so I'd recommend it on that basis. Its not one of the better films I've ever seen but its certainly a decent, reasonably solid watch regardless.