The Bounty is a 1984 British epic historical drama film directed by Roger Donaldson. It depicts the voyage and mutiny of HMS Bounty, with Robert Bolt's screenplay adapting the 1972 book Captain Bligh and Mr. Christian by Richard Hough. It stars Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian and Anthony Hopkins as William Bligh, with supporting roles played by Laurence Olivier, Daniel Day-Lewis, Liam Neeson, Bernard Hill and Edward Fox.
The Bounty began pre-production in late 1978 under director David Lean as a long-time passion project, but multiple complications, including a prohibitively high budget and screenwriter Robert Bolt suffering from a heart attack, led to a period of development hell that ended with the hiring of newcomer director Donaldson. Filming took place primarily on location in Donaldson's home country of New Zealand, French Polynesia, and England. Vangelis composed the film's score.
The film was made by Dino De Laurentiis Productions and Bounty Productions Ltd. and distributed by Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment in the UK, and Orion Pictures internationally. It premiered on 4 May 1984 and received generally positive reviews, with praise for Hopkins' portrayal of Bligh, and was noted by critics and historians as being a more historically accurate depiction of the mutiny than previous depictions, though reactions to Gibson's performance were more polarised. The Bounty was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or.
Plot
The court of inquiry of Commanding Lieutenant William Bligh for the loss of Bounty to mutineers begins. Via flashbacks, Bounty sets out from Portsmouth on 23 December 1787, on an expedition to Tahiti to gather breadfruit pods for transplantation in the Caribbean; Bligh electing to sail the ship west round the tip of South America to fulfill a lifelong ambition to circumnavigate the globe. After 31 days, the attempt to round Cape Horn fails due to harsh weather, and the ship is obliged to take the longer eastern route. Bligh promotes his friend, master's mate Fletcher Christian, to sailing master. The ship's alcoholic surgeon, Thomas Huggan, escapes punishment for killing a man in a botched operation.
Arriving in Tahiti in October 1788, Bligh finds that due to the delays, the wind is against them for a quick return journey, and they must stay on the island for four months longer than planned. Many of the weary crew, relieved to land, eventually develop a taste for the pleasures that island life offers, especially the native women; Christian immerses himself in Tahitian culture, making his relationship with Bligh tense. Three crew members, including the popular Charles Churchill, desert rather than be forced to leave the island. Bligh hunts the men down and has them flogged. Huggan is found dead after excessive drinking.
When the ship departs Tahiti, Fletcher is forced to leave his pregnant native lover, Mauatua, behind. Bligh tightens shipboard discipline in response to the desertion attempt. He insists that the ship is filthy and orders the crew to clean it several times a day, hands out more arbitrary chores, and limits rations. Many of the men, including Christian, are singled out for tongue-lashings, especially when he dares suggest to Bligh that they should avoid going around Cape Horn.
Christian considers constructing a raft to escape; playing on his resentment against Bligh's treatment of both him and the men, midshipman Edward Young persuades Christian to take the Bounty by force. When Bligh again dismisses his concerns, Christian has the captain roused from his bed and taken to the deck. There, Bligh and those loyal to him are forced into a longboat, minimally supplied, and cast adrift. Following an incident where natives on the island of Tofua kill one of their number, Bligh and his crew agree to try to reach the Dutch East Indies. Forced to restrain his arrogant personality, Bligh's leadership and resourcefulness enable the remaining loyalists to reach safety.
Christian and the mutineers sail back to Tahiti. King Tynah, however, fears that their mutiny could incite British retaliation against his people. Realizing the folly of staying, the mutineers get permission to collect food and take their lovers with them. Christian pleads with Tynah to allow his daughter to decide her own destiny. Tynah concedes, and Mauatua chooses the uncertainty of a life with Christian over remaining with her father. Churchill and several others force Christian to leave them behind as he tries to find a safe haven where the Royal Navy cannot find the mutineers.
After suppressing another attempted mutiny, Christian finds Pitcairn Island, a place not marked on British maps of the region. As the crew burn the Bounty to cover their tracks, seaman John Adams muses to Christian that they will never see England again. The judgement of Bligh's court-martial is read by Admiral Hood: Bligh is exonerated of all blame of the loss of the Bounty and receives a commendation for courage and exemplary seamanship. Bligh sheathes his sword with a slight tremor, thanks Hood and departs. A resigned Christian watches Bounty sink.
Cast
Production Development David Lean The film was originally a longstanding project of director David Lean and his frequent collaborator, Robert Bolt. They started working on a script in Bora Bora in October 1977. Lean and Bolt planned to make two films, one named The Lawbreakers that would deal with the voyage out to Tahiti and the subsequent mutiny, and the second named The Long Arm, which would be a study of the journey and the mutineers after the mutiny, as well as the admiralty's response in sending out the frigate .
In November 1977, producer Dino De Laurentiis announced he would finance the project and make it after his version of the Hurricane. Phil Kellogg was to produce the films. In December of that year, Paramount announced they would finance and distribute. The intention was to shoot the film in Tahiti, where De Laurentiis had built a large facility for shooting Hurricane, including a brand-new hotel.
While working on the script, Lean directed a documentary, Lost and Found: The Story of Cook's Anchor, about discovering an anchor that belonged to a ship of Captain James Cook. In August 1978, Lean said he expected each film to cost $25 million. "With the high brow critics you're as good as dead if you spend that sort of money on a film", he said. "For that kind of money, the argument runs, anyone should be able to make a good picture. Which is absolute rubbish." A replica of The Bounty was built in New Zealand. A script was finished by November 1978.
Bernard Williams became attached as producer. He says Lean and De Laurentiis assumed both films could be made for $40 million in total, but Williams budgeted The Lawbreakers alone at $40 million. De Laurentiis decided he could not afford to proceed. "Dino is no longer behind the project", said Kellogg in November, adding "The first script is finished and the second is underway. I expect the pictures to go in about a year by now and we'll make them back to back."
On 12 April 1979, Bolt suffered a massive heart attack, followed by a stroke two days later, with the second script incomplete. In August 1979, Anthony Hopkins announced Lean had asked him to play William Bligh. The producers looked at making the project as a seven-part TV series. Paramount were interested but decided to pull out after two months feeling the project was too "masculine" and lacked female interest. Lean tried to interest Sam Spiegel who persuaded the director to make just the one film. Lean had a go at the script himself.
Lean was ultimately forced to abandon the project after overseeing casting and the construction of the Bounty replica which cost $4 million. In June 1981 the producer was trying to sell the replica. "It was three years' work wasted", said Lean later. "And the sad part is, it was the best script I've ever had. It was really a cracker it would have made a marvellous film. But after all that work they pulled the rug from under me." De Laurentiis did not want to lose the millions he had already put into the project—$2 million in development costs plus the cost of the ship—and looked for another director.
Roger Donaldson Roger Donaldson was an Australian who had forged a career as director in New Zealand with Sleeping Dogs and Smash Palace. The latter was the first New Zealand film to obtain a distributor in the US. Donaldson said he met with De Laurentiis to discuss filming Conan the Destroyer, the sequel to Conan the Barbarian. Donaldson worked on a new script for that film. "Some time during that period I mentioned that I thought The Bounty sounded like an interesting project", Donaldson said. "Well, when I finished with the Conan script, he didn't really like it so I figured, well, I'm finished with Dino."
Di Laurentiis then offered Donaldson The Bounty despite not having seen any of the director's films and the fact that his biggest budget to date had been $1 million. (De Laurentiis later said he gave Donaldson the job on the basis of Smash Palace.) "Making the movie was something that, initially, I wasn't sure I wanted to do", said Donaldson. "I thought it might be perceived as some sort of a remake. But I looked at it and decided I'd do it as long as I could do something completely on my own, not a remake at all, but based much more on fact—something to set the record straight." "I saw it as an intense personal drama about two friends who have a tragic and violent falling out—a drama in which your sympathies change as events change", Donaldson said. "When you leave the movie, I hope that deep down you feel that you've understood a relationship between two men."
Casting Anthony Hopkins was one of two actors considered for the role of Captain Bligh by David Lean. The other was Oliver Reed. Hopkins was approached as early as 1978.
In April 1980, when David Lean was still attached, Christopher Reeve was the favourite to play Fletcher Christian. Lean had enjoyed Superman and Katharine Hepburn had recommended Reeve to Lean. "It's not a remake", said Reeve. "The other versions were just remakes of the first movie. This is the true story based on the diaries of those actually on the Bounty and from the trial of the mutineers. It's the best screenplay I've ever read and it would be an honor and a privilege to accept the part of Christian."
Reeve stayed on the project through the change in director. However he dropped out at the last minute and was replaced by Mel Gibson. Gibson was looking for a project after The Night of the Running Man at MGM was cancelled. "I liked the idea they were going to show Bligh and Christian as the young men they were", said Gibson. "I also liked the idea of playing a role that Errol Flynn first attempted."
The role of Peter Heywood (who inspired the character Roger Byam in the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel and earlier film versions) was originally intended to be played by Hugh Grant. Tevaite Vernette was spotted at Papeete Airport and offered the female lead Mauatua. She had to be persuaded and only agreed to play the lead once filming began.
Filming Filming started 25 April 1983. The final script was completed only the day before filming began.
The film was shot on location over 20 weeks in Mo'orea, French Polynesia, Port of Gisborne, New Zealand and at the Old Royal Naval College and the Reform Club, Pall Mall, London. Many of the shots of the ship were filmed in Opunohu Bay, Mo'orea, the bay where Captain James Cook anchored during 1777. Below-the-deck scenes were shot at Lee Studios outside London.