Captain Horatio Hornblower (DVD, 1951)

Starring: Gregory Peck, Virginia Mayo Director: Raoul Walsh

Captain Horatio Hornblower is a solid, Captain Horatio Hornblower DVDengrossing seafaring tale (but see also our review of Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian on DVD). Forester himself worked on the script for the 1951 film, which mines its plot from three Hornblower books (Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line and Flying Colours).

Set during the Napoleonic era, the movie kicks off by steering British captain Hornblower (Gregory Peck) into the middle of a nimble cat-and-mouse game with anti-Spanish rebels in the New World--only to find that in the months since he set sail from Old Blighty, national alliances have changed, causing a reversal in his original mission. The action later shifts to Europe, and throughout there is a love story involving a noblewoman, Lady Barbara Wellesley (Virginia Mayo), who takes unexpected lodging aboard Hornblower's ship (she later becomes Hornblower’s wife).

These are great novels, and this is a great film. Gregory Peck does a stellar job as Captain Hornblower, and Barbara Mayo puts in a fine performance as Lady Barbara. At the time there were some complaints that both leads were Americans, but the film justified the casting choices both in the eyes of the critics and at the box office. A must for Hornblower fans!

Horatio Hornblower: Collector's Edition

Starring: Ioan Gruffudd Director: Andrew Grieve

Based on the novels by C.S. Forester, A&E's Horatio Horatio Hornblower: Collector's Edition Hornblower was a made-for-TV series that ran from 1998-2003. The eight individual films that make up this Collector's Edition chronicle the unlikely rise of young Horatio from lowly midshipman to powerful commander, during the early years of the Napoleonic Wars. The stories are engaging and entertaining, the production grand and lavish, and the overall result brilliant. This is a treasure chest of sweeping naval adventure and lavish historical drama.

Joining the British Royal Navy at the outset of the Napoleonic Wars, the enterprising Horatio Hornblower rises quickly from raw recruit to seasoned sailor, charting a course from the West Indies to the coast of Africa in the name of the Crown. Along the way he encounters roiling sea battles, cannon thunder, mutiny, plague and love, but always proves himself equal to the task. Gorgeously filmed and richly produced, A&E's Emmy®-winning adaptations of C.S. Forester's classic novels star Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four, Black Hawk Down) and a stellar supporting cast.

The HORATIO HORNBLOWER COLLECTOR'S EDITION contains all eight feature-length Hornblower films (with many a bonus material below deck): The Duel, The Fire Ships, The Duchess and the Devil, The Wrong War, The Mutiny, Retribution, Loyalty, Duty.

Nothing was spared in making these films and they're worth watching for the visuals alone. As well, the story lines are enthralling, the characters fully developed, and the performances powerful and good all around. This is a series that will keep anyone engaged; from small children to grandparents.

Each film (or "episode") runs about an hour and a half, and each can stand independent of the others.

Three Bonus Programs (England's Royal Warships, Sail 2000: Aboard the Eagle, and The Making of Horatio Hornblower) give an exclusive look at English ships from the past to the present, with fascinating descriptions and documentary footage on how these amazing machines are manned and run, as well as the incredible feats they're capable of.

For anybody interested in nautical and/or historical fiction, this is simply an extremely entertaining and wonderfully produced series and a good buy. Run and get it! What more an I say? This set of DVD’s is the finest presentation of naval adventure I have ever seen.

Links to Hornblower movies at amazon US, amazon UK and at amazon CAN.