Why so much hype?

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Hornblower(Gruffudd, showing a strong sense of honor) is escorting a Duchess(Lunghi, a woman who speaks her mind), when his luck seems to start running out - he and his men are captured and imprisoned. He maintains his composure, and plans an escape. But will his men keep trusting him to take care of the situation? Things are made no better by midshipman Hunter(Fulford, a man of short temper) second-guessing the acting lieutenant's decisions, and a surprise or two are revealed while our friends are captives.This goes into the application of force and a direct approach, vs. the use of wit and outsmarting the enemy, to solve conflicts. As in the film immediately prior to this, there is no "villain", it is merely a question of a difference of perspective, and, as usual, everyone is a fleshed out human being. Performances, production values, filming(very little reveals that it's made for TV), stunt work, realism(with small details that say so much without being obvious), all highly impressive.This takes risks by confining its cast, and thus the audience, to a single location, a jail, for the vast majority of the running time. While there are tense situations, and not everything looks bad, this does recreate the tedious nature of such an existence, and a palpable sense of hopelessness, of never being able to get out. Themes gone into include strength of character, duty, nobility, etc.There is disturbing, brutal and bloody violent content in this. I recommend this to any fan of drama. 8/10

This entire Hornblower series has been stunning. This isn't a mini-serial, but rather separate, stand-alone episodes that are each a prize. The series, based on CS Forsters writings, are about a young Royal Navy officer, Horatio Hornblower. He is perfectly portrayed by Ioan Griffudd. This third installment also stars Robert Lindsay as Capt. Pellew, a man whom I think we'd all love to have as our Captain. The series beautifully portrays the way people of various ranks related to each other during the Napoleonic times. There is some humor and much adventure in every episode. This particular episode also features Cherie Lunghi as the Dutchess of Wharfdale. I love her character, because she's not only "proper", but she has a certain randiness to her as well. All is not as it seems, or so it seems. I believe that everyone had a good time making this episode. The entire series is beautifully done, but this is probably my favorite episode.

SPOILERS As Shakespeare's Henry V once said "once more unto the breach dear friends, once more". Applicable in so many situations, this phrase feels particularly appropriate when considering the adventures of Horatio Hornblower. In this third and finest episode, Hornblower once more faces countless odds and once more he entertains throughout.Still serving aboard Captain Pellew's (Robert Lindsay) Indefatigable, Horatio Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd) experiences a new side to life when he is invited to dine with the Governor of Gibraltar. Escorting the flamboyant Duchess of Wharfedale (Cherie Lunghi) back to England, Horatio is then captured by the Spanish as a Prisoner of War. Now with an obligation to escape, he ponders his next move, with the lives of his crew, old friend Archie (Jamie Bamber) and the Duchess all at stake.Led by yet another great performance by Gruffudd (it's slowly becoming expected), this episode is the finest episode of the series due to the majestic performances by one guest appearance and one reoccurring regular.As the extreme Duchess, Cherie Lunghi must surely give the finest performance of her career. Appearing in television series and films since 1973, Lunghi is at her best as she walks around in the classical outfits and works with Gruffudd and others.Not to be outdone however, Jamie Bamber is this episodes other shining reemergence. Back (by popular demand, not just due to the plot) from the apparent grave, Bamber's Archie is a shadow of his former self. Far from well, the character must not have been an easy role to play. Bamber performs brilliantly however and demonstrates an ability which science fiction fans come to love in the modern remake of "Battlestar Galactica".Compared with the slow pace of the previous episode, the scripting of this third encounter is a considerable improvement too. Not purely action based, it sustains enough moments of excitement to really keep up the intensity, but it also features some moments of comedy from Cherie Lunghi's Countess. Basically, this episode's plot manages to contain not only the intensity of the pilot and the grit of the second, but it manages much more too.In a near perfect series, it should be difficult to choose an episode which stands out. Amazingly though, the creators of the Hornblower series managed with "The Duchess and the Devil" to not only outshine their previous two episodes, but to create an episode which outshines all later episodes too. This is the finest of the series, and there's little else which can be said.

The Hornblower books were an excellent read. Though it has been nearly 30 years since I have read them, they are fondly remembered. This long film which has been separated into four episodes for television is very representative of Horatio Hornblower and what he stood for. The filming is outstanding, the costuming great, the models extremely realistic, in fact the first three episodes are truly outstanding television in themselves. The lead player, the young Welsh actor, Ioan Gruffud (spelling) is good looking, athletic enough for the extracurricular activities and very realistic. There are a number of secondary players in some of the episodes if not all. Robert Lindsay, who reminds me of the American actor famed for the Usual Suspects and L.A. Confidential, Kevin Spacey, is also outstanding. An English actress whose name is something like Cherry Lunghi and the wonderful English actor who play the Russian expatriot, Yaki, in the memorable Masterpiece Theatre series, Fortunes of War, are also very welcome. This is a series well worth seeing.