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Horatio Hornblower: The Adventure Continues
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Review:
I'd never seen A&E's mini-series of C.S. Forrester's Horatio Hornblower, but on a recommendation I watched the 2 disc sequel that followed called Horatio Hornblower: The Adventure Continues. While a bit long, it was an overall good film that fell victim to its length in a few places.
Hornblower is a 3rd lieutenant in the British Navy where tradition is old and strict. Despite his earlier hinted at heroics, the famous Captain Sawyer (David Warner) seems to have it out for Hornblower and the rest of the crew in general. The first hour of the movie moves fairly slowly while pulling out several tried and true methods to get you interested in the story. From an early death to vicious beatings, it is meant for you to know that this is a bad Captain. As the movie continues, it becomes obvious that all is not well with the Captain and this explains away his behavior and is supposed to make it more forgivable.
As the crew reaches it's breaking point, like any good sailing movie, mutiny is hinted at. As the mutineers hash out their plans, the Captain comes looking for the officers, Hornblower included. He falls under mysterious circumstances and is left incapacitated, therefore allowing the First Officer to assume command.
The Captain floats in and out of consciousness for the next several days as their battle draws nearer. He reawakens and takes back his command as they near the fort they are to attack. Things go wrong and Hornblower takes matters into his on hands and demands the Captain be declared unfit to command. As the first part ends, Hornblower is awaiting trial for mutiny on the ship.
Disc 2 picks up where the first left off and it turns out there is another set of adventures that took place before returning to port. This episode focuses more on Hornblower and his unique and unconventional ideas. He becomes more of the hero in this film than in the previous and I found myself more and more interested. Still, after so many coincidences and great ideas he began to look more like an unstoppable action than the everyman he started out as.
While on trial, theses exploits are recounted and praised while the acting Captain is taking the blame for the mutiny. Sensing his defeat and being ridiculed, the First Commander reveals who supposedly pushed the Captain making him fall. His story is contradicted several ways and you know that lies are afoot. A last act of honor clears Hornblower but leaves you wondering about much more. Is Hornblower the real hero he is made out to be?
The DVD:
The Video: For a direct to TV film , the video looks astonishingly good. The colors are bright and there is little to complain about. There are no distracting print flaws or other spots on the video. It is presented in its original 4:3 full frame and perhaps this is the only problem I had. The cinematography just didn't work for me. There were too many standard shots that didn't add anything to the film. It was a story being told as plainly and efficiently as possible, no eye candy to look at.
The Sound: The Sound was disappointing. It's a sub-par stereo mix that falls flat in the middle. No highs or lows are obvious, with the vocals being muddied in the mix as well. It's sad that something more wasn't done with the wonderful canons, ocean sounds and gunfire that was available to work with.
The Extras: While not packed to the gills, each disc has a few extras worth mentioning. Disc one has a 3D view of a cannon that explains how it works and what each individual piece does. Nice, but the back and forth navigation gets old. There's also a 45-minute documentary on the disc as well. Call Sail 2000, it's a brief history of modern Naval sailing, packed into a nice propaganda / recruiting film. Little is mention of the British Navy the film was about, but you get a full history of the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. Both are hyped up as a great place to learn essential skills and leadership abilities. Time and time again these facts were repeated without introducing little new or relevant material.
Disc tow contained far less that the first. A brief text biography of C.S Forrester is included. I had no idea Hornblower was such a popular set of literature with such a history. There is also a brief description of the different types of British Naval vessels that would have been nice had they been accompanied by appropriate photos.
Overall: This is a nice set of films when watched together. I feel they could have been much stronger if pared down into one single 3-hour film. More focus on Hornblower and a more liner structure would have allowed the viewer to care about the character as his is standing trial. As it is, you learn of his most interesting exploits and endearing qualities in the second half of the film. It forces you to unnecessarily play catch-up with an otherwise engaging story.
I'd never seen A&E's mini-series of C.S. Forrester's Horatio Hornblower, but on a recommendation I watched the 2 disc sequel that followed called Horatio Hornblower: The Adventure Continues. While a bit long, it was an overall good film that fell victim to its length in a few places.
Hornblower is a 3rd lieutenant in the British Navy where tradition is old and strict. Despite his earlier hinted at heroics, the famous Captain Sawyer (David Warner) seems to have it out for Hornblower and the rest of the crew in general. The first hour of the movie moves fairly slowly while pulling out several tried and true methods to get you interested in the story. From an early death to vicious beatings, it is meant for you to know that this is a bad Captain. As the movie continues, it becomes obvious that all is not well with the Captain and this explains away his behavior and is supposed to make it more forgivable.
As the crew reaches it's breaking point, like any good sailing movie, mutiny is hinted at. As the mutineers hash out their plans, the Captain comes looking for the officers, Hornblower included. He falls under mysterious circumstances and is left incapacitated, therefore allowing the First Officer to assume command.
The Captain floats in and out of consciousness for the next several days as their battle draws nearer. He reawakens and takes back his command as they near the fort they are to attack. Things go wrong and Hornblower takes matters into his on hands and demands the Captain be declared unfit to command. As the first part ends, Hornblower is awaiting trial for mutiny on the ship.
Disc 2 picks up where the first left off and it turns out there is another set of adventures that took place before returning to port. This episode focuses more on Hornblower and his unique and unconventional ideas. He becomes more of the hero in this film than in the previous and I found myself more and more interested. Still, after so many coincidences and great ideas he began to look more like an unstoppable action than the everyman he started out as.
While on trial, theses exploits are recounted and praised while the acting Captain is taking the blame for the mutiny. Sensing his defeat and being ridiculed, the First Commander reveals who supposedly pushed the Captain making him fall. His story is contradicted several ways and you know that lies are afoot. A last act of honor clears Hornblower but leaves you wondering about much more. Is Hornblower the real hero he is made out to be?
The DVD:
The Video: For a direct to TV film , the video looks astonishingly good. The colors are bright and there is little to complain about. There are no distracting print flaws or other spots on the video. It is presented in its original 4:3 full frame and perhaps this is the only problem I had. The cinematography just didn't work for me. There were too many standard shots that didn't add anything to the film. It was a story being told as plainly and efficiently as possible, no eye candy to look at.
The Sound: The Sound was disappointing. It's a sub-par stereo mix that falls flat in the middle. No highs or lows are obvious, with the vocals being muddied in the mix as well. It's sad that something more wasn't done with the wonderful canons, ocean sounds and gunfire that was available to work with.
The Extras: While not packed to the gills, each disc has a few extras worth mentioning. Disc one has a 3D view of a cannon that explains how it works and what each individual piece does. Nice, but the back and forth navigation gets old. There's also a 45-minute documentary on the disc as well. Call Sail 2000, it's a brief history of modern Naval sailing, packed into a nice propaganda / recruiting film. Little is mention of the British Navy the film was about, but you get a full history of the Naval Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. Both are hyped up as a great place to learn essential skills and leadership abilities. Time and time again these facts were repeated without introducing little new or relevant material.
Disc tow contained far less that the first. A brief text biography of C.S Forrester is included. I had no idea Hornblower was such a popular set of literature with such a history. There is also a brief description of the different types of British Naval vessels that would have been nice had they been accompanied by appropriate photos.
Overall: This is a nice set of films when watched together. I feel they could have been much stronger if pared down into one single 3-hour film. More focus on Hornblower and a more liner structure would have allowed the viewer to care about the character as his is standing trial. As it is, you learn of his most interesting exploits and endearing qualities in the second half of the film. It forces you to unnecessarily play catch-up with an otherwise engaging story.
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