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• Not Essential, Mostly Listless

  • aleks
  • 2/18/13

  The 1935 film is much better in almost every way, including and especially the performances. Trevor Howard is good but lacks movie star charisma. Brando is a captivating presence but so brooding and mysterious and strange that he seems to be acting in a separate meeting. His voice and accent are both hard to listen to. Overall an odd, slow, unpleasant movie with overblown music, pretty images and stultifying dialogue.

• Mutiny on the Bounty

  • Dashiell B.
  • 12/16/12

  An overblown, epic remake of the 1935 Best Picture winner. Of all the things Brando could do, ace an English accent wasn't one of them, however his character's changes makes this film interesting. Magnificent cinematography is the visual highlight of the film, a film with story that has some present flaws. Entertaining at times, but slow for the most part. I give it a 3/5.

• Mutiny on the Bounty

  • Natacha
  • 11/8/10

  I have to agree with Robert Osborne on his assessment. This version of the story isn't an essential and is nowhere near as good as the Clark Gable-Charles Laughton version, which IS an essential. I agree that the cinematography is beautiful. I like Trevor Howard's understated performance as Capt. Bligh. I understand Alec Baldwin's appreciation of Brando as an actor, in other roles, especially in "Streetcar"--he would know more than I about the talent it took to turn out the fine performances in other films like "Streetcar" and "On the Waterfront", but Brando was foppish and uninspiring in this role. I also think it's nice that Alec was allowed to choose a film he liked as an essential even though Robert disagreed with his assessment.

• Filme de alto nível

  • Sonia
  • 11/7/10

  Eu gosto muito deste remake com o Marlon Marlon. Acho o filme uns dos melhores por causa das locações e O FILME RECEBEU 7 indicações ao Oscar provando que a qualidade dele é excelente.

• Brando Bummer

  • Bruce Reber
  • 6/7/10

  I watched "Mutiny On The Bounty" (the 1962 remake) on TCM Essentials 6/5/10 and I don't get why MGM felt they had to do a remake of their 1935 classic starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. It's definitely no improvement on the original, and I agree with Bob Osborne that it's not an essential film and surprised at Alec Baldwin thinking that it is. It's especially ironic because the far superior 1935 original version was aired on TCM Essentials in May of 2009. I am a huge Marlon Brando fan, and his performance as Fletcher Christian in my opinion rates as one of the worst of his career. Brando is so outrageously over-the-top that it seems he's trying to give the same method acting interpretation to the role of Christian that he did with the characters in his early films. It just doesn't work, and it can't begin to compare with Gable's fine performance in the original. Baldwin also commented that he thought "Mutiny On The Bounty" marked the beginning of the weakest part of Brando's career, and I have to agree with him there - the first few films Brando made, "A Streetcar Named Desire", "The Wild One" and "On The Waterfront" are considered among his best. In fact the 1950's is probably his best film period. Starting with the 1960's the quality of his films and performances declined somewhat. Also, the '62 remake of MOTB was a very troubled production, mainly because of Brando's tempermental attitude, and Lewis Milestone replaced Carol Reed as director. Maybe if a British actor was cast as Christian (Brando was the only American in the cast), the '62 version of MOTB could have been a pretty good film. Very mediocre - two stars.

• Agree with Robert Osborne - NOT an essential

  • spunkylubbock
  • 6/6/10

  Alec Baldwin has let his Brando Worship influence his brain in calling this film an essential. Brando ruins an otherwise OK film. Trevor Howard's performance is understated but great. Brando is so weird that it's hard to watch this movie. Anyone else giving an OK portrayal as Fletcher would have resulted in a middle of the run film. But with Brando's performance it was hard to sit through the whole movie & I'm a TCM fanatic. Couldn't find anything else to watch so I stuck it out & watched the whole thing this time, I've had to switch the channel other times I've tried to watch it. Awful movie! I don't care about any controversy about the making of this movie. I'm judging the mediocre results.

• Mutiny on the Bounty (1962)

  • Alicia
  • 6/6/10

  I can understand why Alec Baldwin considers this film an "Essentials." I saw it at 8 years old in '62 and though I can see the missteps people note in it, there's a mesmerizing quality about it. It may be attributed to Surtees' cinematography of fine vistas in paradise, or Milestone's direction of Christian's foppishness to Bligh's insecurity of his class to perpetrate horrors upon the crew to make himself appear superior - morally and by education. It should be noted that certain crew members in this version have a different profile either enhanced or subdued. And, I have viewed both the Gable/Laughton version of '35 and Gibson/Hopkins version of '84...many times, and each of them has qualities that are not replicated by the others. Perhaps more time has to pass before people who have no knowledge of the back story of the '62 production will be able to look upon the film for its merits or deficiencies to determine if it does the book justice or works to its detriment. [Besides: Alec is seeing a little of his own acting prowess every time he looks at the body of work of his birthday buddy - Marlon Brando.]

• Critical Mutiny Unjustified

  • Bob Hendrick
  • 1/6/09

  I remember all the controversy during the filming of this movie; Brando was unprofessional; he was tempermental; ran the film overbudget, etc. Nevertheless, Brando is something to behold. His remarkable, (if bizarre) interpretation of Fletcher Christian is riveting. What is interesting is what it took to push Christian over the edge. Bligh's verbal abuse? Withholding food and drink from the crew? The lashings? The killings? No . . . Captain Bligh's kicking the water ladle out of Fletcher's hand that pushed him to mutiny. Was this Milestone's idea; or Brando's? Who cares. It worked. It was entirely within the character that Brando created from the outset. Whatever; this is a beatifully filmed movie and very entertaining.

• Brando horrid

  • Paul
  • 8/29/08

  This movie is very hard to watch. Brando is horribly miscast, terrible, and just plain ridiculous. His acting stands out like a sore thumb against the other professionals in the cast, and there is no sense of chemistry with any of them. Even Trevor Howard, usually a fine actor, seems disheartened and gives a subpar performance. Brando seemed to either make or destroy movies.

• Munity on the Bounty (1962)

  • Gregory
  • 9/10/06

  A great version of a classic tale of adventure, desperation & love on te high seas. In this spin on the conflict between Fletcher Christian and Capt. Bligh, Marlon Brando delivers a great performance as the young aristocratic Fletcher, whose aloof nature & casual devotion to duty are put to the test as he falls in love with a young girl from Tahiti, all while enduring the insufferable tyranny of his Captain. I find this version to be the best of the three films made to date about this mutiny. Perhaps it's the cinematography or the performances, but it stands out as an all time classic.

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