Prismark10 The first Hornblower film is based on the books by CS Forester, however it is clear that some of the flavour of the books is hard to replicate on the screen especially on television when frankly to mount naval battles and widescreen sea based shots require a Hollywood style budget.Set in 1793, in The Even Chance, we see a young 17 years old midshipman, Horatio Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd) getting to grips with the navy, he feels the full effect of sea sickness but even worse bullying from senior officer Jack Simpson (Dorian Healy.)Luckily for Hornblower when Britain goes to war with the French he is transferred to another ship led by Captain Pellew (Robert Lindsay.) Under Pellew Hornblower thrives, his crew respects him, he shows bravery, tenacity, cunning and intelligence.However it is not long before Hornblower duels with the sadistic and despicable Simpson.This is a rip roaring adventure but I did find the script and some of the scenes a little cheesy. Some of the staging looked a little sub-par even for television but at least it was not dull.

felix-alongshore In my opinion the film does not exploit the full potential of the story. Ioan Gruffudd is great in the Hornblower role, but at least some of the supporting actors play not as convincing as he does. For example Dorian Healy, the bad guy, appeals threatening primarily through the lighting and the music, not so much through his acting. The captains are portrayed in a rather static way. At times the cutting is clumsy, in particular during naval battles. There are no aesthetically outstanding images. The music is expectable and too conventional. You immediately realize that this is a TV production with less resources behind it than a cinema production such as "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (2003), which is far more impressive.

bill-987 I'm quite sure Forester would have approved.I think that almost any novel (or series of novels) which achieves 'favorite' status is at a competitive disadvantage when turned into a film. The most notable exceptions are works written, either consciously or not, with a screenplay in mind (I'm convinced Michael Crichton ONLY writes screenplays).I think it safe to assume that C. S. Forester was not writing with the screen, either large or small, in mind so I have to say that this series is hands down the best series of films (they're not really a miniseries because they're not really interdependent) ever produced from another media.The series is well paced, the characters well developed and wonderfully cast, the action scenes excellently shot, but to my way of thinking the series best feature is the development and maturation of the character of Hornblower himself..I've always been a fan of 'coming of age' films (my all time favorite – A Bronx Tale), but to watch the growing relationships which Hornblower develops with Mathews, Styles, Captain Foster, Taping, and particularly with Captain/Admiral Sir Edward Pellew is truly a joy.Ioan Gruffudd's portrayal produces an honorable man, a character which every guy should secretly want to be and which every woman should want to hook up with. This series is a 'must have' for every film library. Ten stars!

TexasRedge If America only knew how good this was,it would be the highest rated Made-For-TV movie series of all time(hard to believe there are more people out there that would rather watch "The Columbo Mysteries" than Horatio Hornblower- that just goes to show the power of major network name-brand advertising.The Hornblower movie series has been television at its finest. I have seen all 6 of the A&E Horatio Hornblower movies,"The Duchess and the Devil" is my favorite of the 6 films. However I tune in to A&E everytime they air a new Hornblower movie. So far all 6 movies have been based on the Horatio Hornblower adventure novels written by C.S. Forester(the same author who wrote African Queen). Each Movie chronicles the on-going adventures of Horatio Hornblower who is a Brittish Lt. in the Brittish Navy during the late 1790's-to early 1800's during the Napoleonic era in Europe. I sincerly believe that each one of these 6 Films has been good enough to have shown at the movie theaters,if the producers had wanted to. Unlike other Made-For-TV films,The Hornblower films do not have that Made-For-TV feeling to them,like most television movies have.A common misconception that people who havent seen these movies have is that all 6 of these films go to gether as a mini-series- that is not true. The Hornblower movies are not a mini-series,all 6 of these films are individual movies about the same charactor- with all the same actors playing the same roles in each film(EXAMPLE:think of the James Bond films-They are not sequels, but they are all about the adventures of James Bond- that same principle applies to the Hornblower movies) I give the entire Horatio Hornblower movie series 5 out of 5 stars. Its Perfect entertainment- but you cant please everyone, so for those of you dont like epic battleship battles,historic style drama,high stakes adventure, and danger on the high seas,if you dont like stuff like that-there is always Columbo re-run for you to watch.