Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures is, as its title points out, the further adventures of the dashing officer of the British Royal Navy, Horatio Hornblower. It's the dawn of the 19th century, and England and France are at war, or at best in an uneasy peace; Napoleon Bonaparte's dreams of European conquest are still a threat, and the high seas are the place to be if you're a young man dreaming of serving his country and leading a devoted crew to glory and fame.

Each of the two episodes in this set is self-contained, but they also clearly fit into the overall chronology of Hornblower's rise up the ranks. Viewers who have seen the earlier Hornblower stories will be immediately familiar with the characters and setting, of course; fortunately, these new adventures also stand very well on their own, and even though I hadn't seen the earlier episodes, I found the New Adventures very entertaining and immediately accessible.

"Loyalty" starts off with a land-bound Hornblower trying to make ends meet on peacetime half-pay. When the Admiralty needs a captain for a secret reconnaissance mission to find out what the French are up to under Napoleon Bonaparte's leadership, Hornblower leaps at the chance to assemble a picked crew for the Hotspur and demonstrate his talents of leadership. It's a very well-paced story with an interesting plot involving not just battles at sea but the possibility of a traitor on board the Hotspur.

"Duty" follows hard on the heels of the story developed in "Loyalty," both in terms of Hornblower's one-sided relationship with the adoring Maria and the ongoing hijinks of the French across the English Channel. The first half of the episode is very gripping, but here there's a sense that 100 minutes was a bit too long for this particular story, and the latter part of the episode sags a bit. It's nonetheless an interesting episode, and it makes good use of some of the secondary characters (and villains) of "Loyalty."

Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures offers a double dose of good old-fashioned adventure, made all the more interesting by its authentic-looking early-19th-century setting. On board the ship, there's a real sense of being transported to a very different era, and little details abound to build up the period flavor. From the low ceilings and swiveling wall lamps, to the rigid hierarchy of the crew and the intricate workings of the sails, it all feels right, and it's marvelous. That's not to say that the scenes set on land are less authentic, because they also have a solid, believable feel to them; it's just that the ship scenes stand out as being very distinctive. I'll be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about ships or life at sea, so for all I know, Horatio Hornblower may be completely inaccurate... but in any case, it's lots of fun.

The DVD

Each of the two 100-minute episodes is packaged in its own keepcase, with the two cases held inside a glossy paper slipcase.

Video

Both episodes of Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures are presented in an attractive anamorphic widescreen presentation at their original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. (Three cheers for British television!) The image does tend to be rather soft in the middle- and long-distance shots, but close-up shots look great and as a whole it looks very pleasing. Colors are bright and natural, contrast is handled well, and the print is very clean.

Audio

The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is satisfactory; it's clean and natural-sounding, and on the whole quite clear, though on a few occasions I found some of the dialogue to be very slightly muffled. This is one series that would have benefited from a 5.1 track, as there are quite a few sea battles and other occasions where a more aggressive surround track would have added a lot to the experience. All in all, though, it's a fine soundtrack.

Extras

The standout special feature is a pair of audio commentary tracks. "Loyalty" features director Andrew Grieve and producer Andrew Benson, and "Duty" features Grieve, Benson, and costume designer John Mallo. Apart from that, we get photo galleries and cast and crew biographies.

Final thoughts

If you're looking for swashbuckling sea adventure, you can't go far wrong with Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures. The stories are entertaining, particularly "Loyalty," the acting is excellent, the production values are high, and the transfer to DVD is solid. Recommended.