Best movie of this year hands down!

To me, this movie is perfection.

Good concept, poorly executed.

An Exercise In Nonsense

Touching upon a subject that sounds about as dull as ditchwater, 'Longitude' brought into focus one of the standards of measurement that we nowadays take sublimely for granted. How easy it is to forget, in our simple, mundane lives, the single-minded search of scientists and engineers who laid down the fabric of modern knowledge and the means to express it. Whole lives often became dedicated to resolving an individual problem or attaining some obscure goal.The programme added further interest by interplaying a story of instrument restoration with its original creation and perfection, shifting from one period of history and another.This mini-series (available edited on DVD) had me completely enthralled in a way that I'm rather ashamed to say a documentary might not. The splendid drama helped to drive home the personal intensity of research and painstaking craft in its execution, as well as their implications for family. There was also great insight into the politics of the day. Irons and Gambon set a masterclass in their respective roles. Though, as with all of the best British drama, everyone played their parts to a nicety. Sets, styles, costumes and even period manners were very well observed.Because so much has been discovered by so many, especially since the enlightenment, 'history' tends to concentrate unfairly upon the 'sexy' and dramatic issues like wars, nation-building and so forth. Even when science is touched upon, it is usually preoccupied with the power to amaze. Yet so much in our acquisition of knowledge was down to dogged determination over years rather than 'eureka moments'. This programme wasn't just an excellent way of revealing the issues of longitude - which it did in a most interesting way - it also served as a microcosm of scientific steadfastness as a whole. We all know the big names, but in their shadows stand many many more without whom even those big names would likely have been unsung. As Isaac Newton himself once observed 'If I see further than other men it's because I stand on the shoulders of giants'.Very highly recommended, both as a drama and source of education.

All great stories deal with conflict and overcoming difficulties. The vast majority of films that are produced thesedays feature heros who triumph based on who is a bigger bad ass or has got the biggest guns or bombs. Here is a film that has virtually no 'action' other than a few cannons fired and a lashing or two during the parts at sea, but is filled with the sort of tension and drama that keeps the viewer constantly involved.If you enjoy intelligent movies, then you should definitely seek this film out. It sounds dreadfully boring if you read the plot summary, but it isn't. It is wonderfully written and produced and contains much light humor as well, making it truly entertaining.One film that it reminded me of is "Master and Commander" because of the similar scenes of the British navy and the theme of the struggle of science and progress in the face of war and politics with intelligence and perseverance winning out in the end.The interwoven story of Rupert Gould is just as interesting and provides an artistic counterpoint to the main story. Again, we have the story of a man who continues with his work in spite of numerous obstacles of the most serious magnitude because he knows that the world will be a better place as a result of that work.The film is long and you should wait until you have enough time to sit down and watch it through to the end because once you begin you will have difficulty turning it off.

Having read the book by the same name, seen the movie, read all the previous reviews, I would generally agree with most of the reviews. I note that no one has yet mentioned that the movie gave much more prominence to JH's son than the book of the same name suggested.Overall, a very good movie. Very informative, a more complex and interesting plot than one might at first imagine, with only two negative aspects. Firstly, I think that the 1930s subplot detracted from rather than added to the movie.And secondly, in my opinion, British movies are generally grossly overdramatised and overacted, and this was certainly consistent with that. For example, the Neville Maskylene was very villanous, overacted to the point of being a melodramatic villain. I felt like booing the TV out loud every time the camera closed in on his face. Ditto for Brian Cox, in a role that seemed not too different from his Herman Goering.Nevertheless, in summary, a very interesting movie for what I would suspect to be a very very very limited audience. As always, the BBC production seems pretty well flawless in its creation of the atmosphere and props of the period.

Dec2004 update: I did eventually buy the DVD set, and it is very nice."Longitude" is a towering achievement as a movie. Shown in 4 hours on A&E network, I taped it to skip the commercials and was able to watch it in just over 3 hours. I only give ratings of "10" to truly remarkable movies, and this is one. It helps to be a scientist, and to have had a life-long fascination with navigation and timepieces.The story is historical - the British government passed an act in the early 1700s for a prize of 20,000 Pounds for the first to provide an accurate and practical means of establishing longitude at sea. A Board of Longitude,comprising self-important scientists, would judge when the challenge was met.John Harrison, a carpenter who understood the sun's apparent movement with the Earth's rotation, figured you could do it with a very accurate clock. He, with help from his son William, did it over a period of about 50 years, and met all conditions with his 4th clock, but the board kept throwing up roadblocks to avoid giving the award to someone who was not a scientist but a mere "carpenter." Finally, when Harrison was 80, ironically in the year 1776, was given the prize by Parliament. He died only two years later.The ancient story was interwoven with a WWII-era story of a man, played by Jeremy Irons, who undertook to restore all of Harrison's old clocks, and finally succeeded against similar resistance that Harrison had faced.If you either are not a scientist, or do not appreciate the magnitude of Harrison's effort, and its contribution to modern navigation, then it is possible that you would find this movie somewhat boring. Do yourself a favor - don't waste your time. For me, it remains one of the absolute best movies I have ever seen, both in significance of the story and the mastery of the acting and direction.