1984 The Bounty VOST Streaming
The Bounty
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Bounty is a 1984 British
historical drama film directed by
Roger Donaldson, starring
Mel Gibson and
Anthony Hopkins, and produced by Bernard Williams with
Dino De Laurentiis as executive producer. It is the fifth film version of the story of the
mutiny on the Bounty. The screenplay was by
Robert Bolt and it was based on the book
Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian (1972) by
Richard Hough. It was made by
Dino De Laurentiis Productions and distributed by
Orion Pictures Corporation and
Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment. The music score was composed by
Vangelis and the cinematography was by
Arthur Ibbetson.
Plot
The film is set as flashbacks from the court martial at Greenwich of Commanding Lieutenant
William Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) for the loss of
HMS Bounty to mutineers led by his friend
Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson), during its expedition to
Tahiti to gather
breadfruit pods for transplantation in the Caribbean.
Bligh sets out from
Great Britain in December 1787, electing to sail the
Bounty west round the tip of South America in an attempt to use the expedition to fulfill an ambition to
circumnavigate the globe. The attempt to round
Cape Horn
fails due to harsh weather, and the ship is obliged to take the longer
eastern route. Finally arriving in Tahiti in October 1788, Bligh finds
that due to the delays, the wind is against them for a quick return
journey and they must stay on the island for four months longer than
planned.
During their stay in Tahiti, ship discipline becomes problematic,
many of the crew develop a taste for the easy pleasures that island life
offers, making the relationship with their Captain tense. Bligh, at the
same time, subjects the crew to pressure, eventually reaching breaking
point. When the ship leaves
Tahiti, Fletcher is forced to leave his native wife, Mauatua, behind.
The resumption of naval discipline on the return voyage turns Bligh
into a tyrant not willing to tolerate any disobedience whatsoever,
creating an atmosphere of tension and violence. Bligh insists that the
ship is dirty and orders the crew to clean up several times a day. Many
of the men, including Christian, are singled out for tongue-lashings by
Bligh.
Playing on Christian's resentment against Bligh's treatment of both
him and the men, the more militant members of the crew finally persuade
Christian to take control of the ship. Bligh is roused from his bed and
arrested, along with those considered loyal to him, and they are forced
into a ship's boat, minimally supplied, and cast adrift. The film
follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the
reach of British punishment, and the epic voyage of Bligh to get his
loyalists safely to the
Dutch East Indies in a
longboat.
Bligh, through courage and excellent seamanship, and a return of his
good character and leadership qualities, successfully manages to reach
civilization after a very harrowing journey without navigational charts
nor firearms. One man, however, is killed by natives as the crew stop
for supplies on a hostile island. Bligh is portrayed as a man who, on
the one hand takes his sense of discipline and command too far,
exceeding the limits of the ship's company, but whose character
ultimately successfully protects his loyal non-mutineers and guides
their overcrowded boat to safety.
The mutineers sail back to Tahiti to collect their wives, girlfriends, and native friends. King Tynah (
Wi Kuki Kaa),
however, is concerned that their presence on the island could incite
King George to declare war against Tahiti and his people. Realizing the
folly of staying, they gather supplies and sail away to try to find a
safe refuge. Christian pleads with Tynah to allow Mauatua to decide her
own destiny. Tynah concedes, and Mauatua chooses the uncertainty of a
life with Christian over remaining with her father.
The search for a safe haven is long and seemingly impossible, as they
realize that any pursuing Royal Navy vessels will search all known
islands and coastlines to find them. At this point, those who remained
on board the
Bounty are so frustrated that they are ready to
rebel against Christian to turn the ship back towards Tahiti. After
Christian forces the crew to continue on, they eventually find
Pitcairn Island, a place which Christian realizes is not marked on British maps of the region.
As the crew of the
Bounty burn the ship to keep it from being
found (as well as to motivate the crew to tough it out on the island),
the judgment of Bligh's
court martial is read: Bligh is found to have not been responsible for the loss of the
Bounty,
and is commended for the voyage of the open boat. Meanwhile, Fletcher
Christian and his men realize that they will never go back home to
England.
Cast and characters
Production
This version was originally a longstanding project of director
David Lean and his frequent collaborator,
Robert Bolt, who worked on it from 1977 until 1980. It was originally to have been released as a two-part film, one named
The Lawbreakers that dealt with the voyage out to Tahiti and the subsequent mutiny, and the second which was to have been named
The Long Arm, a study of the journey and the mutineers after the mutiny, as well as the admiralty's response in sending out the frigate
HMS Pandora.
Lean could not find financial backing for both films after Warner Bros.
withdrew from the project; he decided to combine it into one, and even
looked at a seven-part TV series, before finally getting backing from
Italian magnate
Dino De Laurentiis.
Unfortunately for Lean, the project suffered a further setback when
Bolt suffered a massive stroke and was unable to continue writing; the
director felt that Bolt's involvement would be crucial to the film's
success.
Melvyn Bragg ended up writing a considerable portion of the script.
Lean was ultimately forced to abandon the project after overseeing casting and the construction of the
Bounty
replica; at the last possible moment, Mel Gibson brought in his friend
Roger Donaldson to direct the film, as producer De Laurentiis did not
want to lose the millions he had already put into the project over what
he thought was as insignificant a person as the director dropping out.
[1]
Anthony Hopkins was one of two actors considered for the role of Captain Bligh by David Lean. The other was
Oliver Reed.
Christopher Reeve,
Sting and
David Essex were considered for the role of Fletcher Christian. The role of
Peter Heywood (who inspired the character 'Roger Byam' in the
novel and earlier film versions) was originally intended to be played by
Hugh Grant.
The replica of the
Bounty
used in the film was built in New Zealand before the script was even
completed at a cost of $4 million, the entire film cost $25 million.
However, unlike many other films filmed on water,
The Bounty was finished under budget.
[2] As well as the New Zealand–built
Bounty, Lean had also looked at refitting the
frigate Rose to play the role of
Pandora. The latter has since gone on to become
HMS Surprise in
Peter Weir's
Master and Commander. For the storm sequences a detailed 25-foot model of the
Bounty was built.
The film was shot on location in
Moorea, French Polynesia,
New Zealand and at Greenwich Palace and the
Reform Club,
Pall Mall, London. Many of the shots of the ship were filmed in
Opunohu Bay, Moorea, which is the same bay Captain
James Cook anchored in, in 1777.
Gibson described the making of the film as difficult because of the
long production time and bad weather: "I went mad. They would hold their
breath at night when I went off. One night I had a fight in a bar and
the next day they had to shoot only one side of my face because the
other was so messed up. If you see the film, you can see the swelling in
certain scenes." Anthony Hopkins, who had battled with
alcoholism until becoming
abstinent
in 1975, was worried about Gibson's heavy drinking, saying, "Mel is a
wonderful, wonderful fellow with a marvelous future. He's already
something of a superstar, but he's in danger of blowing it unless he
takes hold of himself." Gibson, who likewise self-identified as an
alcoholic, agreed with this concern, and added his admiration for the
Welsh actor: "He was terrific. He was good to work with because he was
open and he was willing to give. He's a moral man, and you could see
this. I think we had the same attitudes."
[3]
Differences from earlier versions
The first version, an Australian silent film,
The Mutiny of the Bounty, was made in 1916. The second,
In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) was another Australian production, starring
Errol Flynn in his film debut.
The third and most famous version,
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935), starred
Clark Gable,
Charles Laughton, and
Franchot Tone. The fourth,
a remake of the third film, released in 1962, starred
Marlon Brando,
Trevor Howard, and
Richard Harris.
The most recent movie, starring Mel Gibson, is generally regarded as
more revisionist as well as a more historically accurate depiction of
the mutiny than the two earlier film versions. According to director
Donaldson,
"The major difference between our film and the other versions is that
none of the others pointed out that Bligh and Christian were friends.
They'd made voyages together before they sailed on the Bounty. And while they were on the Bounty,
Bligh demoted another officer and promoted Christian, who was at that
stage nothing but a midshipman, and made him second in command. What
interested me was to explore how their relationship deteriorated from
that point to where Christian leads a mutiny against Bligh."[2]
Unlike earlier versions, this film did not portray Bligh as a
villainous character. According to Gibson, "It was a kind of fresh look
at Captain Bligh, and I think of all the renditions of who Bligh was,
his was probably the closest. His Bligh was stubborn and didn't suffer
fools, but he was brilliant and just had a lot of bad luck."
[4] The Bounty
also paints a far less heroic portrait of Christian. In Gibson's
description, “Fletcher was just a lad of twenty-two and he behaved like
one. The first time he decided to test his horns and fight for the herd,
it was a mistake. He shouldn't have done it.” Gibson later expressed
the opinion that the film did not go far enough in correcting the
historical record.
"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."[4]
The film also portrays the sailors exploiting the islanders. Unlike
the earlier film versions, the native women are shown (accurately)
totally topless. Gibson said, “It was a complete culture shock and it
was unbelievable to them. It was paradise in terms of personal freedoms –
freedoms that shouldn't have been taken advantage of. They exploited
the people, fooled them, and didn't tell them the whole truth”.
[5]
Gibson chose to suddenly erupt in violent emotion during the mutiny
scene because eyewitness accounts had described Christian as 'extremely
agitated' and 'sweating and crying'.
[6]
Historical errors
Advisor
Stephan Walters was responsible for much of the film's great attention
to historical detail. However, director Roger Donaldson also noted that
dramatic license was taken in the areas where factual evidence is
lacking.
- Admiral Hood is shown presiding at Bligh's court martial for the loss of the Bounty at a location presumably intended to represent the Admiralty
building. In reality Hood did preside at the court martial of the
alleged mutineers in 1792 but not at Bligh's in 1790. In addition both
courts martial were actually held aboard warships at anchor.
- Australia is mentioned in the dialogue even though it would be more than a decade before Matthew Flinders would promote that name for what was then known as New Holland. However, Bligh also mentions 'New Holland' when discussing how he will proceed after being cast adrift.
- The Bounty's logbook is shown with the title "H.M.A.V. Bounty, her
log" on the front cover and on the first page before Bligh makes an
entry dated 23 December 1787, recording the first day at sea. The actual
log, now in the State Library of New South Wales,
has only 'Bounty's Log' in Bligh's hand on the spine and begins with
'Remarks at Deptford' describing preparations for the voyage with the
first daily entry being the initial unsuccessful attempt to leave
Spithead on 1 Dec 1787.[7]
- Bligh's decision to make a second attempt to round Cape Horn
and circumnavigate the globe is a fictional plot device serving to
trigger the mutiny in the film. The real Bligh had strict orders to take
his cargo of breadfruit plants from the Society Islands to Jamaica via the Endeavour Strait, Sunda Strait, and Cape of Good Hope, and to embark additional useful plants en route.[8] To attempt the homeward journey via Cape Horn would have endangered the cargo of tropical plants due to the near Antarctic temperatures to be encountered en route.
Critical response
The
film received generally favourable reviews, many liking the film for
realism and historical accuracy as well as being entertaining. It has
received an 81% 'fresh' rating from 16 critical reviews on film
aggregate site
Rotten Tomatoes.
[9] Roger Ebert gave the film a very impressive review, stating, "this
Bounty is not only a wonderful movie, high-spirited and intelligent, but something of a production triumph as well."
[10]
However, others were disappointed with the film, especially given its
distinguished cast. Many critics singled out Gibson's performance as
bland, particularly when compared to the performances given by
Clark Gable and
Marlon Brando in the two earlier MGM versions.
Vincent Canby of the
New York Times
stated, "Both Bligh and Christian are unfinished characters in a
screenplay that may or may not have been tampered with... The movie
seems to have been planned, written, acted, shot and edited by people
who were constantly being over-ruled by other people. It's totally
lifeless.
[11]
The film was entered into the
1984 Cannes Film Festival.
[12]
Royaume-Uni
Royaume-Uni
Universal Pictures, Orion Pictures Corporation, 
C.I.C
