So much average

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Stars the always wonderful Alec Guinness as Crawford, the ship's Captain, who tries to convince the tyrannical Lieutenant Scott-Paget, (played by Dirk Bogarde), that being unnecessarily harsh on the ships crew is counter-productive. This only serves to make the Lieutenant demeanour even worse, and he takes his revenge in an unexpected way. The battle scenes are really well done, as are the shots of the sailing ships, and they add great realism to the film.There are several wonderful character actors in this film, namely Maurice Denham, Nigel Stock, Tom Bell, Bryan Pringle, and Anthony Quayle. Watch out also for Coronation Street's Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs), in a role as a member of the mutinous crew. Very enjoyable - 8/10.

I am quite surprised that this film only has a rather ordinary score of 7.1 at this time, as it's one of the best naval films I have seen--and perhaps the best one about this period in history. Exceptionally good acting and writing make this a definite must-see.The story itself is based very, very loosely upon various mutinies and strikes that occurred in 1797 aboard British war ships. In the film, crew members were pushed to do this desperate act due to their sadistic treatment at the hands of some of the officers (in particular, Dirk Bogarde's character). However, in reality, the strikes and mutinies occurred for far less noble reasons--such as for higher pay or to spread the spirit of the French Revolution to the British navy. Still, despite this discrepancy, the film is top entertainment.The film begins with the Captain (Alec Guinness) preparing to return to sea with his very young son on board his first assignment. While Guinness seems like a decent sort of man, you immediately are taken aback by the violent press gangs that secure replacement crew members by kidnapping hapless Brits. In addition, once the cruise begins, you can't help but hate Bogarde as the second in command. While he is competent, he's also a sadist and power-hungry. Again and again, he ignores the Captain's orders and abuses the crew--pushing the men to the breaking point. While the Captain is no wimp, Bogarde finds ways to assert himself without doing enough to merit his arrest--at least until late in the film.The acting by Guinness and Bogarde is awfully good and makes the film. Bogarde does a great job of playing an evil bully, though the most kudos should go to Guinness, as his character has a lot of depth--making this one of his better film roles. However, this is no surprise as he was a wonderful actor and had an astounding skill at immersing himself into a very wide range of characters--and doing it in a very believable and understated way. Interestingly enough, this film was very quickly made (so that Guinness could get back to filming LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) but you sure can't tell that from his performance. In addition, the supporting actors really did an excellent job and I have no real complaints about anything in the film--a rarity for a picky guy like me.Exceptional throughout and quite gripping--this film is tough not to like and will keep you on the edge of your seats.

Enjoyed the great acting by Alex Guiness, (Captain Crawford) and Dick Bogarde, (Lt. Scott Padget) who both sailed together on a ship where they practiced shanghiling when they were in port and just plain grabbed all civilian men and brought them aboard their ship and made sailors of them. All these men had to do very undesirable jobs on the ships and many of them rebelled against the military officers in charge of the ship. Captain Crawford just so happened to have his son aboard the ship who was being mistreated by his officers and other men who were forced to serve aboard the ship were whipped and beaten regularly for rebelling and refusing to take orders Captain Crawford was not aware of the cruelty that was inflicted on his men and then there started to become rumors about a mutiny aboard the ship. Great story about the old Navy days on British ships that sailed the ocean.

Dirk Bogarde is a villain in this movie just like in "Libel" and The Singer not the Song" and he is good at it as the cruel executive officer of the Defiant blithely dispensing floggings at the yardarm at the slightest or even imagined infractions. Nothing gets my goat as much as handsome evildoers in positions of power. What's their excuse? Alec Guiness does well as the kindly captain who nevertheless must deal with the impressed (meaning forcibly recruited) sailors according to the rules and customs of the day.Both actors were already well known to us in the Philippines so the one who really caught our attention was Anthony Quayle as the leader of the mutineers out to petition the Crown for more humane treatment of His Majesty's rank-and-file sailing men.I remember these scenes very well: A sailor harassed to the limit by Padget (Bogarde) gestures as if to strike him or tried to strike him but missed. In those days, that called for capital punishment. But when called to account for it, the sailor replied: "Impulse of anger, Sir. Instantly regretted." So he got a severe flogging to an inch of his life instead, thank you. That made the Captain realize that the recruits had been drilled and that they were up to something.The crew did take over the ship but gave up the mutiny and conformed to their officers' orders when they sighted French enemy ships. Sea battle ensues between the two forces and in a dramatic moment, the Captain (Guiness) whispers in the ear of the dying Vizard (Quayle), the commendations of the admiralty to the Defiant and its crew "for swift and effective action."If there are any errors in my recollection of these scenes, it is because I saw it precisely on its initial release when I was in Grade 6.