7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In 1787, British ship Bounty leaves Portsmouth but the savage on-board conditions imposed by the disciplinarian Captain trigger a mutiny.
Starring: Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris (I), Hugh Griffith, Richard HaydnHistory | 100% |
Drama | 78% |
Romance | 65% |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.77:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.75:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
German: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
English SDH, French, German SDH, Portuguese, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Marlon Brando was one of the first superstars of the post-World War II era—arguably the superstar of that era —and he ushered in a whole new way of film acting which affected virtually every major actor who followed in his wake, and indeed even some who had preceded Brando into stardom. Audiences had never seen anything like the Brando of A Streetcar Named Desire or The Wild One, and that slightly (maybe even more than slightly) dangerous quality made Brando an instant sensation, a sensation that hardly showed signs of abating even when the actor essayed more relatively restrained roles. But Brando also ushered in a more flagrant era of “star temperament,” and the actor’s moodiness and demanding persona made headlines early on, something that was not the usual public relations fodder of that day (at least to this extent, anyway). Brando’s excesses became headline stories during the long and protracted production of the remake of Mutiny on the Bounty, mirroring in a way for Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer what Fox was experiencing with their equally gargantuan Cleopatra at more or less the same time (yes, a bit later, but you get the point). This was a time when stars frequently called the shots, despite the studio system still hanging on by the very nubs of its fingernails, and that dialectic meant that at times no one knew who was really in charge. It’s instructive to remember a quote that Robert Forster, in his recent interview with me here at Blu-ray.com, attributed to Brando: “You have to make them fear you.” Certainly Metro and probably director Lewis Milestone were at least wary of Brando, who allegedly gained so much weight during the shoot and ended up engaging in a torrid romance with Tarita, the gorgeous Tahitian who plays his love interest in the film (and would later marry Brando, giving birth to his children) that the film came close to shutting down on more than one occasion. Daily papers and magazine articles churned through copious newsprint chronicling these events, so that when Mutiny on the Bounty finally opened in 1962, it was already laboring under an enormous weight (no irony intended, considering Brando’s increased girth) of advance negative publicity, and so perhaps the film was never really given its proper due. The 1962 Mutiny managed to do rather formidable business, perhaps due to the public’s interest in seeing exactly what all the hubbub was about, and it raked in a nice collection of Academy Award nominations (winning none, more about which a bit later), but the film is often thought of as a bloated relic and no match for the 1935 original film with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton (both garnering Oscar nominations, along with co-star Franchot Tone, though Victor McLaglen won that year for The Informer).
Okay, I'll confess it: the main reason I bought an HD-DVD player back in the day was so that I could get Mutiny on the Bounty in what was then the only HD release available. As fans of the film know, it underwent a new transfer for its 2 disc DVD version and HD-DVD version. This new Blu-ray offers an AVC encode (not the VC-1 of the HD-DVD) in 1080p and 2.77:1, so at the very least, this is a new encode if not a new transfer. However in doing a side by side comparison with the DVD (I no longer have an HD-DVD player or the disc of this film), there is simply no comparison in terms of the Blu-ray's sharpness, clarity and, above all, color and saturation. Now could this film have been sharper? Undoubtedly, especially considering its ultra-wide format and the spectacular results that Warner has attained with other catalog titles. However, there is no denying the economic realities of the fact that the 1962 Mutiny on the Bounty is most likely not going to have the sales numbers of, say, Ben-Hur or The Ten Commandments, and so while Warner's press release insist the film was sourced from 65mm negative elements, they simply may not have been scanned at today's superior resolution. That said, there is so much about this transfer that is simply mind boggling. The gorgeous color, especially those luscious deep reds evident in several of the screencaps I've posted, are astonishing at times, and the Tahitian sequences look spectacular. Close-ups reveal a wealth of fine detail and while, yes, there is more softness in this presentation than in other wide format catalog releases over the past year, this is a solid offering that is at the very least the equal of the HD-DVD, which I personally found to be an outstanding transfer.
Mutiny on the Bounty is presented with a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix which will be something of a revelation to those of you who like myself consider Bronislaw Kaper's score for this film to be one of the enduring masterpieces in the entire annals of film music. This lossless track fairly bristles with sonic energy, with incredible an incredible low end that fully brings to life Kaper's snarling brass motif which aurally indicates the Bounty crew's raging resentment against Bligh. Surround channels are used convincingly and consistently throughout the film, at least with regard to the copious sound effects and Kaper's score. Dialogue is almost always centered in the front channels, as was the practice in the early sixties. Fidelity is outstanding on this track, with brilliant highs and a really appealing, well bodied midrange. The storm sequence and some of the Tahitian drumming segments really provide ample LFE and this is certainly one of the best lossless upgrades in recent memory of a classic catalog title.
All of the supplements from the previous 2 DVD and HD-DVD releases have been ported over to this new Blu-ray:
Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The online critics are already lamenting what Mutiny on the Bounty might have been had it been accorded the same tender loving care that some other catalog titles recently have. I've owned every home video release of this film going back to pan and scan VHS days and on through HD-DVD, and I also saw the film in 70mm, so I have at least an inkling of what it's looked like through the years. While this release is not the sharpest looking ultra-widescreen epic that's been released on Blu-ray this year, it is head and shoulders above the DVD release and to my eyes it's significantly better than even the HD-DVD release, which really was outstanding. Add to that the opportunity to hear Kaper's magnificent score in lossless audio, and this release comes Highly recommended.
Warner Archive Collection
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