- Actors: Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone, Herbert Mundin, Eddie Quillan
- Directors: Frank Lloyd
- Writers: Carey Wilson, Charles Nordhoff, James Norman Hall, Jules Furthman, Margaret Booth
- Producers: Albert Lewin
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Warner
- VHS Release Date: 2 April 2001
- Run Time: 132 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B00005A7UB
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 11,280 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
A true classic. If you need to convince anyone that films aren't as good as they used to be, this is the one to show them. Gorgeous photography, brought vividly to life in this impeccable transfer, a rattling good story, wonderful performances, and no expense spared on sets and locations.
This version is a fictionalised account, based on Nordhoff and Hall's novel rather than the true history. (For a more accurate retelling, check out the 1984 version, 'The Bounty'.) In terms of events it's broadly correct but of course, in keeping with a good adventure story, it presents Bligh as a sour-faced sadist rather that the complex, troubled character he really was. As such, Charles Laughton turns in a performance to relish, perhaps the greatest of his career.
If you can accept Clark Gable as a Cumbrian, this is a good old adventure movie of the very best kind, and a terrific film by any standards.
This version is a fictionalised account, based on Nordhoff and Hall's novel rather than the true history. (For a more accurate retelling, check out the 1984 version, 'The Bounty'.) In terms of events it's broadly correct but of course, in keeping with a good adventure story, it presents Bligh as a sour-faced sadist rather that the complex, troubled character he really was. As such, Charles Laughton turns in a performance to relish, perhaps the greatest of his career.
If you can accept Clark Gable as a Cumbrian, this is a good old adventure movie of the very best kind, and a terrific film by any standards.
A fascinating bonus on this disc is the short documentary 'Pitcairn Today', showing life on the island as it was in the 1930s.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The Gable-Laughton version of Mutiny on the Bounty bears about as much relation to history as Michelle Pfeiffer does to Idi Amin and in some ways it's a rather under-ambitious and repetitive bit of work for all the splendor of its staging. Much of the first half is just a catalog of brutalities completely at odds with the facts (the unlucky Bligh was a much more lenient captain than was good for him and the loss of the Bounty was cited by many contemporaries as proof that then-recent reforms of conditions were a disastrous mistake) and more in keeping with Victorian melodrama. Laughton's performance certainly takes the hint and delivers an unsubtle but entertaining essay in bluster and volume, although his unfortunate statement that "I have a way of my own with seamen" is an unintentional double-entendre worthy of Smithers from The Simpsons.
Gable's Fletcher Christian is rather one-dimensional here and knows it, calling on as much star power as he can muster to make a watered-down part the heroic focus of the film, while Franchot Tone backs him up with naïve enthusiasm to make him look more manly by comparison. Herbert Mundin's comic relief is a tad irritating and William Bambridge's King Hitihiti looks more like a Mexican villager that Tahitian royalty: you keep on expecting him to say that "In the end, only the farmers win."
But it's more than entertaining enough, and it's the only one of the Bounty films to include the British Navy's pursuit of the mutineers and the Wreck of the Pandora, so earns extra points for that.
Warner Home Video's DVD offers a nice transfer but is a bit light on extras - a vintage short film Pitcairn Island Today, which would be very different if made today, a newsreel extract from the Academy Award newsreel extract and the original theatrical trailer. The US region-free Blu-ray also includes a trailer for the 1962 Marlon Brando version with the initial copies in a handsome hardback digibook presentation.
Gable's Fletcher Christian is rather one-dimensional here and knows it, calling on as much star power as he can muster to make a watered-down part the heroic focus of the film, while Franchot Tone backs him up with naïve enthusiasm to make him look more manly by comparison. Herbert Mundin's comic relief is a tad irritating and William Bambridge's King Hitihiti looks more like a Mexican villager that Tahitian royalty: you keep on expecting him to say that "In the end, only the farmers win."
But it's more than entertaining enough, and it's the only one of the Bounty films to include the British Navy's pursuit of the mutineers and the Wreck of the Pandora, so earns extra points for that.
Warner Home Video's DVD offers a nice transfer but is a bit light on extras - a vintage short film Pitcairn Island Today, which would be very different if made today, a newsreel extract from the Academy Award newsreel extract and the original theatrical trailer. The US region-free Blu-ray also includes a trailer for the 1962 Marlon Brando version with the initial copies in a handsome hardback digibook presentation.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
This true story, with, admittedly, plenty of liberties taken with that truth, has gone down in popular consciousness as a true folk tale that everyone is familiar with. It has even been filmed three times. Captain Bligh has gone down in history as the epitome of tyranny and Fletcher Christian has become a symbol of man’s struggle against tyranny. Good against evil. Tyranny against freedom. A David verses Goliath story, if you will, or a George Washington verses George III. If you want to know why this myth has become so enduring – and it is a myth. The true story is no-where near as black and white, as the 1980s remake hints at - then watch this film.
Clark Gable is utterly convincing as the hero who can take no more of Captain Bligh’s tyrannical leadership and leads the men to mutiny against him. His performance knocks both Marlon Brando and Mel Gibson’s later feeble efforts into a three-cornered hat. Best of all is Charles Laughton’s portrayal of Captain Bligh. Bligh is tyranny personified. His very presence on screen oozes menace. His eyes glare malevolently at his crew. Every word that comes out of his mouth drips with contempt. Never has an actor portrayed evil so convincingly and so thoroughly. Most actors would overplay it. Laughton, the master that he is, gets it exactly right. Loathsome though Bligh is, he never becomes a caricature. He is a man as well as a monster. (Tim Roth and Alan Rickman should eat their hearts out.) It is one of the best performances in 20th Century cinema.
This film works at every level: the brisk pacing, the characterisation of the ships crew, the sets scenes on board ship and on the Island of Tahiti, and the cinematography. It is a wonderful film to watch and one that has ingrained itself into our collective memories thanks, mainly, to Charles Laughton.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
the best
Charles Laughton is a very good actor with a screen presence and provided a lasting impression in his portrayal of Bligh. Read more
Published 9 months ago by dja
The Best Bounty Bar None.
Don't let the antiquity discourage you. This Charles Laughton/Clark Gable pairing is a cracker, and still my personal favourite. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Seatinthestalls
Bountyful adventure
I can't add much to the reviews, just a couple of details.
When Laughton came to make the movie, he approached the tailors who made naval uniforms and asked if they had... Read more
When Laughton came to make the movie, he approached the tailors who made naval uniforms and asked if they had... Read more
Published on 5 July 2006 by M. Allen
Not the most exciting classic
Inspired by true events on board of HMS Bounty, the film tells the story of a group of sailors rebelled against their cruel captain. Read more
Published on 17 July 2004 by Miguel M. Santos
Carry on Columbus?
This film is thoroughly enjoyable, with the handsome charasmatic Gable alongside the deliciously pedantic Charles Laughton. Read more
Published on 13 Dec 2001
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