Ioan Gruffudd parlayed a minor role in "Titanic" into the lead role of Horatio Hornblower, a green lad of 17 who in 1793 reports for duty as a midshipman about the battleship Justian. England is preparing for war with France and Mr. Hornblower's introduction to life in the British navy come at the hands of Midshipman Simpson (Dorian Healy), a sadistic brute passed over for promotion because of his incompetence. When young Mr. Hornblower proves himself to have a quick mind, Simpson makes it his person mission to make Hornblower's life miserable. Things escalate into a fateful duel, which takes a most unexpected turn. Transferred to the Indefatigable, Hornblower is presented with a most capable mentor, Captain Sir Edward Pellew (Robert Lindsay). Pellew is a real figure from history and one of the masterstrokes of this mini-series is elevating the man to a more important role in the stories and extending his presence accordingly. Lindsay is a formidable presence in the role and the rest of the cast meets his high standard: Michael Byrne as Captain Keene, Robert Bathurst as Lt. Eccleston and the two main members of Hornblower's gun crew, Paul Copley as Matthews and Sean Gilder as Styles. It is easy to see why the fictional Hornblower has become the epitome of British seamanship, because even as a mere lad he does the right things for the right reasons, putting duty and honor before anything else and never really fully realizing how good he is at what he does. "The Duel" is the first and for my money still the best of the Hornblower adventures filmed to date. I had never read Forester before watching this episode, but I bet you will be inspired to do so as well.

Excellent adventure!
Review date: 2002-07-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

I have never read the books about Hornblower, and do not know if this movie "is true" to the books. But it is a great adventure to watch! The actors are great and the environment looks real.
The only thing I didn't like about the movie, is that the bad guy -Simpson- doesn't seem so terrifying to me... At first I couldn't understand why people feared him.

Adventure like it used to be.
Review date: 2000-07-30 Rating: 8 out of 10

If you like the books and you can live with the disappointment that Ioan Gruffud doesn't look like YOUR mental image of Hornblower, then this series is for you.

Setting sail into a visual medium is not easy with Hornblower - that's probably why it's not done very often. In the books, our hero lives very much in his head and - at least after he progresses beyond midshipman - is not much given to frivolous conversation. He's also not a terribly sympathetic character which means that Hollywood would have some trouble with him. What he is - in modern terms - is a technician. In the books, C.S. Forester often describes, in some detail, Hornblower's habit of working out all the possibilities of any given situation with great mathematical precision and his unceasing efforts to improve and hone his sailor's skills. We live in age which somewhat venerates the technician and maybe that explains the enduring appeal of the Horblower stories - despite his infrequent sightings on film and TV.

As so often with historical novels, Hornblower is a man with semi-modern sensibilities grafted into a previous age - e.g. Hornblower's reluctance to use corporal punishment on men under his command.

If you are going to make Hornblower movies you can try to convey all the endless thoughts that coarse through Hornblower's mind, or you can concentrate on the adventures that result. The producers of this latest series wisely chose the latter course - though did not entirely disregard the former (especially in "The Duchess and the Devil"). When sprinkled with (mostly convincing) special effects and strong acting and locations the result is at worst very watchable, and at best, riveting stuff.

If you can cast adrift you mental image of Horatio Hornblower and take on board Ioan's offered replacement, then you are in for an 8 hour treat with this series - which all deal with Hornblower's early adventures as a midshipman. If you have never read the books, then these videos will make you want to do so!

Smell that salt air.....

Alan Trevennor

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