Reviewing a film that came out 17 years before my birth is an honor and a privilege. Watching Marlon Brando on screen at a time when he was Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and George Clooney rolled into one, is really a treat. Most people my age (28) stick to the classics of our generation; Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Goonie’s. Being the movie lover that I am I force myself to seek out titles from the top 1000 of the IMDb. I love the challenge of finding a film and digging into the nuance of it all. A film like Bounty, with its grand scope (2.76:1) and breathtaking cinematography is something to behold, regardless of your generation gap. To find a film so stark and vivid that holds up as if it were filmed yesterday makes this young man’s movie mind leap into overdrive.

The set-pieces, the care and the time spent putting a movie like this together are sadly a thing of the past. It gives a great sense of scale to watch the HD DVD extras at the conclusion of the film. To witness the extremes that the filmmakers went to in order to bring the history back to life can make even a film novice stand up and applaud. Reviewing Mutiny in its finest presentation to date (on HD DVD) I was able to revel in the splendor that is not only Technicolor glory, but cinematography that is second to none.

Robert Surtees, Cinematographer on Ben-Hur, The Last Picture Show, The Sting, The Graduate and The Cowboys just to name a few, shot the film in 65mm Panavision and set one of the grandest scales he could for such a majestic film and earned a Best Cinematography Oscar Nomination for his work. He may not have won that year the honor went to Freddie Young for his luminous work on a modest film called Lawrence of Arabia.

Another fun fact of note: Mutiny on the Bounty went so far over budget that it forced MGM to liquidate assets to cover the films budget! Still it was a major critic favorite and earned 7 Academy Award nominations in 1963 including Best Picture.

If you are looking for a great piece of film history look no further than Mutiny on the Bounty on HD DVD, sit back point due east and enjoy.

Video:
The HD DVD version of the film boasts restored elements from the original 65mm negative (in theatres it was stretched with an anamorphic lens to a 70mm presentation). Simply put-- it shows. Until now there were two previous incarnations of this film on DVD, neither of which were given the treatment that Warner gave this version. You can tell that much time went into the process of aligning the Technicolor negative as well and painstakingly cleaning that negative up from dirt and scratches. There were a few blemishes and a few dust marks visible throughout the film but it never once took away from the final product. Point of fact, the entire time I was reveling in how amazing the fabrics were in the costumes and how beautiful Tahiti looks with its vibrant color palette. The films 2.76:1 aspect ratio was astonishing, it gave a wide canvas to work with for the director and he used the entire frame nearly all the time. Rarely a close-up will be used that doesn’t show details left and right that draw your attention away from the center focus. It may not have been perfect by today’s digital standards but I can say that for a film that is now 44 years old it was nothing less than perfect.