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By
WADE GOSSETT
I'm a great admirer of the
A&E "Horatio Hornblower" saga. They have done an
absolutely first-rate job of bringing C.S.
Forrester's stalwart, intelligent naval hero to
life. Both "The Complete Adventures" and "The
Adventure Continues" DVD sets should grace every
DVD collector's library. They're truly about
old-fashioned, rousing adventure. Production
values are stellar, the cast is perfect and Ioan
Gruffudd was born to play the role.
I also love the idea of allowing Hornblower to
mature and progress naturally. The treatments
follow the novels chronologically, so with each
adventure Hornblower is older and more esteemed --
and so is Gruffudd.
But...the latest installment, "The New
Adventures," is a bit disappointing. A bit mind
you, but still not up to par with the earlier
features. I think the problem is not so much with
a drop in quality, as with the original stories
themselves. If it's anybody's fault it's
Forrester's. As Hornblower ages, his integrity and
sense of honor are almost transformed to
priggishness.
Two movies are included in "The New Adventures":
"Duty" and "Loyalty." Both bring back Admiral
Pellew (Hornblower's Navy father figure) and his
second-in-command, Lieutenant Bush (his Navy
brother figure). And both run together, continuing
the fight with Napoleon.
Hornblower marries here, not out of love but,
well, his sense of duty. Julia Sawalha plays Maria
Mason, a young woman who's most obviously beneath
Hornblower -- not only in the 19th century sense
of social station, but intellectually and
emotionally. Yet he marries her because he fells
he must. It's a relationship devoid of passion and
it's a bad idea, as we will find out eventually.
As we move away from Hornblower's domestic
misadventures we get some seafaring,
swashbuckling, swordfights and spies when
Hornblower is picked for a secret reconnaissance
mission to find out what the French are up to. He
seems to leap for the opportunity to be away from
Maria and her impossibly unpleasant and bitter
mother. He assembles a crew for the Hotspur and
he's off.
Even if these new adventures are not a grand as
the old ones, this is still one set that should be
treasured by fans. Both movies are presented in
widescreen, at their original British TV 1.85:1
aspect ratio, and Dolby 2.0. In terms of specials,
there are two audio commentary tracks: "Loyalty"
features director Andrew Grieve and producer
Andrew Benson, and "Duty" features Grieve, Benson,
and costume designer John Mallo. There are also
galleries of stills and filmographies. |
