That was an excellent one.

Fresh and Exciting

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A strong film, and it's surprising that it was panned when it came out in 1962. One of the issues is that it was being compared to the 1935 version with Charles Laughton and Clark Gable; another was that stories of Brando's difficult behavior while filming were followed by filmgoers seeing his unconventional portrayal of Fletcher Christian. Personally, I highly enjoyed it. The film has an epic feel, but even at three hours long, didn't feel padded at all. The cinematography is beautiful, showing a replica Bounty on the ocean, sailing into sunsets or brutally rough seas, as well as the natural beauty of the islands in the south Pacific. The film is loose with the facts, most notably in the treatment of natives and the final outcome on Pitcairn Island, which may put off viewers. It's also a little unbelievable in its depiction of the love Christian had for Princess Maimiti (played by Tarita Teriipaia), but the gist is accurate, and it's a fascinating story.Trevor Howard turns in a fantastic performance as Bligh, and while Brando's foppish and almost effeminate Fletcher Christian had me scratching my head in the beginning, it really grew on me, and he's strong as well. The difference between the two men is clear from the beginning, and I appreciated the film's balanced presentation of them over the first hour or so. Bligh gets the chance to explain that he's driven by duty above all else, and that the crew need to fear the captain and his officers. Christian understands duty, and while he has his personal opinions, is a model of behavior until the actual mutiny. The two of them express their opinions and disdain for one another in deliciously restrained British dialogue.The scenes in Tahiti are gorgeous, and Tarita is stunning. Her hip shaking is mesmerizing, and her smile enchanting. The world these men landed in may seem idealized, but if you read other informed or first-hand accounts (such as Herman Melville's 'Omoo'), it's accurate. Aside from the beauty, the Tahitians were for the most part extremely friendly. The scenes of sailors pursuing women get a little silly, such as when Fletcher Christian is in the bushes with Maimiti when Bligh wanders by, and the rapidity with which Maimiti later picks up English is surprising. Most of all, though, it's unfortunate that the film is stilted towards a white male fantasy, showing delight and frolicking, without showing rape, sexually transmitted diseases, or the devastation to the native culture. The reality was that Tahitians were forced as slaves to go along with Christian and his mutineers when they tried to find a new place to live, not willing adventurers. That's a pretty damning omission.Brando gives us a Fletcher Christian who believes he was morally right to overthrow Bligh, but also knew he no longer had a country as a result. He's a tortured soul from then on, to the point of thinking about returning to England to state his case. That will probably seem odd to the filmgoer, and should - the real Fletcher Christian wanted to do no such thing. It's a shame they took this liberty to set up further dramatic scenes, when the real story itself is so captivating.The film was also of interest to me because as the excellent documentary "Listen To Me Marlon" explains, it marked the point at which Brando started to prioritize enjoying life - realizing that acting, even great acting - was a means, not an end for him. Surrounded by beauty, and in love with his co-star Tarita (who he would marry before the film was released), he felt the same thing that some of the sailors from the Bounty felt - and other such as Gauguin felt - that one could just retire from the world, and live happily in paradise. For film lovers, his approach to his career after "Mutiny on the Bounty" was a real shame, with the exception of a few high points, since he was such an outstanding actor. It wasn't his last great performance, but clearly marked a turning point for him.

MGM dusted off the same property that brought it the best picture Oscar in 1935 and gave it the 1960s epic roadshow treatment. The result is a lumbering film that, for all its seafaring adventure, has not an ounce of narrative momentum to keep it moving forward.Trevor Howard seems to enjoy his role as Captain Bligh, the sadistic commander whose mistreatment of his crew drives them to mutiny. Marlon Brando plays Fletcher Christian, leader of the revolt, as a swishy dandy. All of the actors are overwhelmed by the film's physical size; this was the decade of film spectacle, and "Mutiny on the Bounty" works overtime to give its audience that. Unfortunately, director Lewis Milestone can't figure out what to do with it all, so he decides to cram every ridiculously widescreen shot with a lot of stuff without ever managing to create any visual interest. A saggy middle section set on Tahiti goes on forever and grinds the film to a halt. It never manages to get started again, and by the time the mutiny itself actually happens somewhere around the 2:30 mark, I was hoping I could be left behind with Captain Bligh so that I wouldn't have to endure another 30 minutes of finding out what happened to the Bounty, which I had long ago stopped caring about."Mutiny on the Bounty" received seven Oscar nominations in 1962, but lost all of them, five to "Lawrence of Arabia." Its nominations included Best Picture, Best Color Art Direction, Best Color Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Original Song (only heard during the entr'acte), and Best Special Effects, for some meager sea storm scenes and another toward the end when the Bounty goes up in flames.Grade: C

Mutiny on the Bounty was the Pirates of the Caribbean or Kong Skull Island of the 1960s. This was the big budget spectacle of that era. The spectacle was not limited to the special effects, cheap thrills or long shots of grand vistas like in the mediocre films of today. Watching and listening to Trevor Howard's glorious acting and Marlon Brando's body language and the two thespians running circles around each other is a part of the package. Actors like them do not exist anymore.A British expedition to gather breadfruit from Tahiti runs into trouble due to the extreme cruelty of Captain Bligh (played by Trevor Howard). But Christian Fletcher (Brando) keeps his own and the crew's temper at bay until they reach Tahiti. But things fall apart on the way back and the crew led by Christian stages a mutiny against Captain Fletcher.The scenes in the Tahitian island are worth their weight in gold. The mating dance that the Tahitian women put up for the new arrivals was sexy as hell. I loved the great overhead pan shots that move from the dancing Tahitian women to the new arrivals. The fishing scene where the Tahitian women are gathered in a circle and the ship's crew runs at them was beautiful.Parts of the film were directed by the great Carol Reed before he left due to differences with Brando. I think Brando got Kubrick fired from One Eyed Jacks.Trevor Howard upstages Brando in some scenes. He certainly has some of the best dialogs. But Brando's brooding presence and body language cannot be ignored. He looked like a petulant child in the scene where he finally takes on Captain Bligh. Tarita who later became Brando's real life wife was very sexy. Hugh Griffith and Richard Harris played two of the hapless sailors who are constantly punished by Captain Bligh. They might have had too much make up on. Everyone seemed a little over made up at times. And I could tell that some of the scenes were shot in a studio with fake sets.But I really enjoyed the film though reviews and trivia on IMDb suggest that the film wasn't too well received when it first came out. People had issues with Brando's British accent. It is really long at almost three hours. But the frequent and beautiful shots of the sea interwoven into the tense drama makes this one a real classic for me. The film looks really good on Blu-ray.(8/10)

MGM's "Mutiny on the Bounty" from 1935 was a nearly perfect film (even with Clark Gable's very American accent). Despite being a black & white movie, it was vastly superior to any of the remakes--which makes you wonder why they would think of remaking the film in the first place. Because of this, the 1962 "Mutiny on the Bounty" was destined to be a failure regardless of the quality of the film. Now, had there been no 1935 version, I am pretty sure the '62 film would have been much more successful. That's because this later version is STILL darn good entertainment--despite one serious problem. I'll talk about that problem a bit later in the review.The story of the Bounty is based on a true incident--and actual mutiny on a ship by the same name and with people of the same name as in the film. There really was a Captain Bligh and the First Officer, Fletcher Christian. However, despite many of the facts influencing the plot, one thing that's been left up to filmmakers to interpret is Bligh himself. In the 1935 version, Bligh is an evil and contemptible man and Christian a good man who has no choice but to rebel. In the 1962 version, it's more neutral--with Christian being much of the problem with his insubordination and Bligh being tough but understandable for his toughness. In the Mel Gibson version "The Bounty", Bligh is pretty reasonable and Christian is a complete nut-case! There is a lot to like about the 1962 version. The color is vivid and gorgeous. The acting is, for the most part, very good. The music and locale are terrific. The only thing I didn't like was the bizarre interpretation of Fletcher Christian by Marlon Brando. His accent was strange and his performance amazingly disconnected from what is happening around him--and a bit foppish at times. It's inexplicable to say the least and I can understand why audiences of the day disliked this performance and Brando's reputation began to sag. But, with so much in the film to like, you can easily look past this and enjoy the film. It is gorgeous and enjoyable.This movie apparently broke even at the box office--making it a failure but not a serious one. Much talk at the time was how Brando contributed to the costs of the film, but I wonder if the film ended up costing so much because the director had to shoot and re-shoot scenes again and again so as to avoid showing breasts! Almost all the ladies in the film were topless but hair and flowers were used to strategically hide the boobage. "The Bounty", because of changing mores and standards, didn't have to worry about this and just showed the women topless. Oddly, this version is by far the least famous and least financially successful--boobs and all! One thing that is neglected in these films is what actually happened with the mutineers in the long run. In recent years, the story has been pieced together after investigating Pitcairn Island where many of them eventually settled. Apparently, some of the men appeared to have killed each other and chaos ruled the early years on the island. This would lend credence to the notion that Christian was THE problem and Bligh a competent captain who was unjustly deposed by his crew. Unlike the 1935 version, this 1962 version at least addressed SOME of the problems on the island shortly after their arrival and gives a very different view of why the Bounty was eventually burned.