Hornblower: Duty

From Midshipman to Post-Captain, the fictional career in the Royal Navy of one Horatio Hornblower has been well documented by Andrew Grieve over the past few years. `Duty' is the latest in the series with our hero getting married to his landlady's daughter (Julia Sawalah) and then sailing off across the channel for some close and personal stuff with the French.

There's nothing to the story and yet somehow you are dragged in. Maybe it's Ioan Gruffud's saturnine charm as Hornie (or `Horrie' as his wife calls him). He's actually a bit of a prig but unlike most of his species acts fast and gets away with things a more hesitant man would never achieve. His facility for putting his own neck on the line strangely endears him to his crew (if my boss was that reckless I think I'd ask for a transfer to something less hazardous, like fireships). His attitude towards his new wife is peculiar; he has married her out of a sense of duty, he doesn't dislike her but he is aware she's not Admiral's wife material. Still when a character's mother-in-law is played by Barbara Flynn, a man has to take his chances.

Realism is not a big feature of this show (the French unconcernedly moving their troops around with a British ship in the bay) despite the use of what looks like a full-sized replica of the sloop `Hotspur'. In an earlier episode a few hundred British troops manage to get ashore in full view of the French on the beach without being noticed. It's also not too likely that a steward as good as Doughty would have been put on a capital charge for accidentally striking a junior officer, nor that a younger brother of Napoleon Bonaparte would wind up aboard one of His Majesty's ships (though come to think of it one did become King of Naples). But all that doesn't matter. C S Forester could tell a good yarn and the series makers have ultilised his formula to good effect. The whole thing is overflowing with chauvinism and xenophobia (even the Americans can't be trusted) and yet we cheer every time Hornie puts his sword through some unlucky foreigner.

There's plenty of good period detail without too much pedantry and Matthews the Bosun (Peter Copley and Styles (the lower deck trouble magnet played by Sean Gilder) are always entertaining. It's simple, but not mindless stuff and its US popularity is intriguing. I can't see it having much appeal to the French, though.

I was flipping threw the channels and came across this tv show and was blown away. It pulled me in and ever let go. This is the newest show in the series I watched it this week 12/02/2003, I had no idea they had made new ones. After reading some reviews I agree that the acting is better than any American made for tv movie, except "Lonesome Dove", Ioan Gruffudd is great, but he is no Robert Duval or Tommy Lee Jones.

The set and I use that word loosely, is a 19th century ship. Every aspect of the ship feels like it came out of the 19th century. It does feel tight and dark. Exactly what a ship back like then feels like.

The story is not really great, good is what i would say. You are able to determine what happens with in a few minutes. The acting is what I paid more attention to. Some of the action sections are ok. It's not movie quality but you don't really let it bother you. If "Master and Commander" and "Pirates of the Carribean" was not released I don't think the American viewers would watch this. I hope A&E will keep showing this series if i continues.

Over all I would recommend anyone this show who love the sea and watching acting, a great tv movie.

Bracegirdle(Coy, driven) and his ship have disappeared, mysteriously. Horatio(Gruffudd, with a strong sense of justice and honor) is sent out to find him, and learn of the circumstances. Along the way, he rescues a few foreigners, including a married couple - only, they may not be the best people to have aboard.

By the end of this, the final entry, everything is resolved, all loose ends tied up, in a satisfactory and not rushed manner. Hornblower's marriage is contrasted well to that of the aforementioned couple, and classic, age-old issues are explored - when the seaman is out, he misses land, and vice versa, and how can a husband put both his wife and his country before himself? "Duty" is indeed gone into, beyond those examples(in hierarchical relationships). Filming(barely showing that this was made for TV), editing, tension(you will be glued to the screen), action, story, pacing, acting, dialog, humor, all top-notch.

There is some disturbing, bloody, brutal and violent content in this. I recommend this to any fan of drama and swashbucklers. 8/10

A great series, based on the books by CS Forester.

The adventures of Horatio Hornblower, an officer in the Royal Navy at the start of the 19th century. The movies follow his rise up the ranks.

Very realistic in its actions, commands, uniforms, ships etc. Some great action and human drama.

Special effects are good, except for the explosions. Those seem very cheap and unrealistic.

The other area that seems unrealistic is Hornblower's home life. The relationship with Maria seems very clumsy and unnatural.

Great performance by Ioan Gruffudd in the lead role. This is surpassed by Robert Lindsay as Admiral Pellew. He provides the perfect mix of authority, gravitas, compassion and father-like doting.

Good support from Paul McGann as Lt Bush, Paul Copley as Matthews and Sean Gilder as Styles.

The biggest pity is that this movie is the last one they made, when there are several books left.

The final (to date) episode of the TV Hornblower saga is not one of it's strongest. I'm a great fan of the books, but despite some great performances, the scale of the effects budget along with some dreadful writing, sloppy editing and a few doubtful casting choices make this a good, but never a great series. All throughout, one can't help but compare Ioan Gruffudd's, Hornblower performance to Sean Bean's Sharpe, and sadly he never quite measures up, when this is coupled with some trite dialogue, you just wish some scenes had been edited out. I'm not even sure that, had the series been made a few years later with the benefit of CGI, it would have compensated for these moments. All that said, I hope we do see some further episodes, if only to explore the potential of one of the greatest set of adventure stories ever written.