LastingAware The greatest movie ever!

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews We meet Hornblower(Gruffudd, with a strong sense of justice, though he doesn't always make the right decisions) in prison - facing the charge of mutiny! With the framing device securely put in place, the rest of this is presented as one long flashback. Him and his men serve under Capt. Sawyer(Warner, who renders the role explosively unpredictable, going back and forth between unflinching determination, and resigning confusion, in his eyes), who they gradually come to doubt the mental well-being of. But the man is a hero! One of the most revered commanders - and his own crew hold him in such high regard.This is one of the most thrilling entries. With Sir Pellew(Lindsay, tough, but fair) no longer in charge of our heroes, the problem they face is at the top of their own ranks. This explores potential problems with the military where each post has the hands necessary to run it - what if just a few vital ones fail to live up to their responsibility? The filming(barely ever letting slip that this was made for TV), editing, writing, acting, production values(just look at those ships!), richness in detail, realism, all superb. Themes explored include the enemy within, loyalty, rules, leadership, and acceptance.There is some disturbing, bloody, brutal and violent content in this. I recommend this to fans of drama. 8/10

Spilling_Moonbeams I am now addicted to Hornblower! This is one of the most realistic historical dramas out there.Everything in Hornblower is played to perfection, from the sets(fantastic, towering ships) to the costumes to the cast. The actorsare all so believable in their roles that it's hard to pull yourself outof that world. I had only flicked onto it by accident on TV, but I couldn't pull myselfaway. I have to say, Ioan Gruffudd is one of the best British actorsaround. If you haven't watched any of the series, well then, shame on you!

wfurger-1 To anyone not familiar with c.S. Forrester's book this film should be interesting. It is colorful, well acted and depicts high adventure, but to those of us who know the original stories it is appalling. I could hardly sit through it.For some reason screen-writers seem compelled to rewrite the stories they are working on. Of course, the spoken word is different from the written word, and there are some episodes that would be difficult to film. But, why do the screen-writers rewrite the story instead of just adapting it? In this case the writers out-did themselves.Just a few examples: There was no mutiny on the Renown. The officers did take over the ship after the half-insane Captain was driven completely mad when he fell through a hatchway -for reasons implied but never given. There was no court martial. The court of inquiry was conducted in an almost congratulatory atmosphere. Captain Pellew does not appear appear in this part of the Hornblower saga, nor does Col. Ortega's wife. Hornblower, himself, was never in the brig either on the ship or on shore. There are plenty of such manipulations of Forrester's story.On a purely technical basis, I think the film's repeated use of the flash-back device hurts the continuity of the story.Why, oh why did screen-writers have to mess up a good story?

owl69 I have been following these since A&E first started making them. I have always found them to be reasonably historically and nautically accurate. However, I must say that I found the pacing a bit slow on this one. Perhaps because it is Part one of two? Ioan Gruffudd is great as always. Robert Lindsay is always wonderful. And the chemistry these two actors have achieved in this series is truly wonderful. Very much like that between a father and son. David Warner is brilliant as the slightly crazed Capt. James Sawyer.See it if you like a good sea drama!