"The music score was composed by Vangelis and the cinematography designed by Arthur Ibbetson. The film is set as flashbacks from the court martial at Greenwich of Commanding Lieutenant William Bligh (Anthony Hopkins) for the loss of ""HMS Bounty"" to mutineers led by his friend Fletcher Christian (Mel Gibson), during its expedition to Tahiti to gather breadfruit pods for transplantation in the Caribbean. Bligh sets out from Great Britain in December 1787, electing to sail the ""Bounty"" west round the tip of South America in an attempt to use the expedition to fulfill an ambition to circumnavigate the globe. The"
"Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ""Bounty"" during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny on the ""Bounty"", Christian seized command of the ship from Bligh on 28 April 1789. Christian was born on 25 September 1764, at his family home of Moorland Close, Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth in Cumberland, England. Fletcher's father's side had originated from the Isle of Man and most of his paternal great-grandfathers were historic Deemsters, their original family surname McCrystyn. Fletcher was the brother to Edward and Humphrey,"
"the ship's Master, but the Navy Board turned down this request due to Christian's low seniority in service years and appointed John Fryer instead. Christian was retained as Master's Mate. The following year, halfway through the Bounty's voyage, Bligh appointed Christian as acting lieutenant, thus making him senior to Fryer. On 28 April 1789, Fletcher Christian led a mutiny on-board the Bounty and from this point forward was considered an outlaw. He was formally stripped of his naval rank in March 1790 and discharged after Bligh returned to England and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty Board. In 1787, Christian"
"of novels uses fictionalised versions of minor crew members as narrators of the stories. ""The Bounty,"" released in 1984, is less sympathetic to Christian than previous treatments were. Notes Bibliography Further reading General information Genealogical information The following genealogical information about Fletcher Christian and the other ""Bounty"" crew members comes from descendants of the ""Bounty"" crew, who may not be reliable and from historical archives. Related information Fletcher Christian Fletcher Christian (25 September 1764 – 20 September 1793) was master's mate on board HMS ""Bounty"" during Lieutenant William Bligh's voyage to Tahiti during 1787–1789 for breadfruit plants. In the mutiny"
"added a level of homoeroticism to the Bligh–Christian relationship. In 1998, in advance of a BBC documentary film aimed at Bligh's rehabilitation, the respective descendants of the captain and Christian feuded over their contrary versions of the truth. Dea Birkett, the programme's presenter, suggested that ""Christian versus Bligh has come to represent rebellion versus authoritarianism, a life constrained versus a life of freedom, sexual repression versus sexual licence."" Footnotes References Online Newspapers Bibliography Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher"
"other than Bligh (who was then only a commissioned lieutenant), a very small crew, and no Marines to provide protection from hostile natives during stops or to enforce security on board ship. To allow longer uninterrupted sleep, Bligh divided his crew into three watches instead of two, placing his protégé Fletcher Christian—rated as a Master's Mate—in charge of one of the watches. The mutiny, which took place on 28 April 1789 during the return voyage, was led by Christian and supported by eighteen of the crew. They had seized firearms during Christian's night watch and surprised and bound Bligh in"
"Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by Acting Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain Lieutenant William Bligh and set him and 18 loyalists adrift in the ship's open launch. The mutineers variously settled on Tahiti or on Pitcairn Island. Bligh meanwhile completed a voyage of more than in the launch to reach safety, and began the process of bringing the mutineers to justice. ""Bounty"" had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants"
"John Fryer (Royal Navy officer) John Fryer (15 August 1753 – 26 May 1817) was the sailing master on HMAV ""Bounty"", a British vessel made famous by the Mutiny on the ""Bounty"". He had the interesting position of being a strong critic of both Lieutenant William Bligh and mutiny leader Fletcher Christian, even at one time accusing Bligh of favouring Christian. Despite his anger at Bligh, he did not support the mutiny. Fryer was born at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. After his naval service, he returned to Wells, and his grave in the churchyard is now clearly identified. In 1787, Fryer was"
"(Golden Cockerel Press). John Fryer (Royal Navy officer) John Fryer (15 August 1753 – 26 May 1817) was the sailing master on HMAV ""Bounty"", a British vessel made famous by the Mutiny on the ""Bounty"". He had the interesting position of being a strong critic of both Lieutenant William Bligh and mutiny leader Fletcher Christian, even at one time accusing Bligh of favouring Christian. Despite his anger at Bligh, he did not support the mutiny. Fryer was born at Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk. After his naval service, he returned to Wells, and his grave in the churchyard is now clearly identified. In"
"Bligh Water In 1789 the English Royal Navy Cutter the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh was overtaken by 18 crew led by Master's Mate Fletcher Christian in what has been named the ""Mutiny on the Bounty."" The area known as the Bligh Water is the body of water (approximately 9500 km² in extent) in the western Fiji islands through which Bligh sailed his 7 m (23 ft) launch during his 3,618 mile journey from Tofua to the Dutch port of Timor. At the time some of the local Fijian tribes were considered hostile and many were cannibalistic so Bligh"
"Channel and off the Channel Islands. She joined John Elliot’s squadron in Autumn 1782 and on 14 October 1782 she captured the French ""Amis"" off Île de Batz. ""Eurydice"" was paid off between 1782 and 1783 but recommissioned in April 1783. An 18-year-old Fletcher Christian, later to be the instigator of the mutiny on the ""Bounty"", signed on aboard HMS ""Eurydice"" on 25 April 1783 at Spithead. She was the first Royal Navy ship that Christian signed on to. ""Eurydice's"" next posting was to the East Indies, to which she sailed on 10 April 1783. On 24 May 1784, in"
"the time of his return to England in August 1793, following his successful conveyance of breadfruit to the West Indies aboard ""Providence"", professional and public opinion had turned against him. He was snubbed at the Admiralty when he went to present his report, and was left on half pay for 19 months before receiving his next appointment. In late 1794 the jurist Edward Christian, brother of Fletcher, published his ""Appendix"" to the court martial proceedings, which was said by the press to ""palliate the behaviour of Christian and the Mutineers, and to criminate Captain Bligh"". Bligh's position was further undermined"
"in the open boat. At Tahiti they were also assisted by John Brown, who had been left on the island by an English merchant ship, ""The Mercury"". Unknown to Edwards, twelve of the mutineers, together with four crew who had stayed loyal to Bligh, had by then already elected to return to Tahiti, after a failed attempt to establish a colony (Fort St George) under Fletcher Christian's leadership on Tubuai, one of the Austral Islands. The disaffected men were living in Tahiti as 'beachcombers', many of them having fathered children with local women. Fletcher Christian's group of mutineers and their"
"Christian to turn the ship back towards Tahiti. After Christian forces the crew to continue on, they eventually find Pitcairn Island, a place which Christian realises is not marked on British maps of the region. As the crew of the ""Bounty"" burn the ship to keep it from being found (as well as to motivate the crew to tough it out on the island), the judgment of Bligh's court martial is read: Bligh is found to have not been responsible for the loss of the ""Bounty"", and is commended for the voyage of the open boat. Meanwhile, Fletcher Christian and"
"sailed for the island of Tubuai, where they tried to settle. After three months of bloody conflict with the natives, however, they returned to Tahiti. Sixteen of the mutineers – including the four loyalists who had been unable to accompany Bligh – remained there, taking their chances that the Royal Navy would find them and bring them to justice. Immediately after setting the sixteen men ashore in Tahiti in September 1789, Fletcher Christian, eight other crewmen, six Tahitian men, and 11 women, one with a baby, set sail in the ""Bounty"" hoping to elude the Royal Navy. According to a"
"appointed master of the HMAV ""Bounty"", with Fletcher Christian as master's mate. The ""Bounty""'s captain William Bligh on 10 January 1788 put his crew on three watches, giving one of them to Christian; and on 2 March 1788 promoted Christian to acting lieutenant. Some have speculated that this was the source of the ill-will that later developed between Fryer and Bligh. However, as a Master, Fryer would never have been promoted to lieutenant at sea. Indeed, he never did become a lieutenant. Fryer remained loyal, and accompanied Bligh in reaching Timor. Bligh's account of the mutiny vilified Fryer, but Fryer"
"at the end of the War with France when allied with the North American rebelling colonies in the War of American Independence (1775–1783). In 1787, Bligh was selected as commander of His Majesty's Armed Transport ""Bounty"". He rose eventually to the rank of vice admiral in the Royal Navy. William Bligh's naval career involved various appointments and assignments. He first rose to prominence as Master of ""Resolution"", under the command of Captain James Cook. Bligh received praise from Cook during what would be the latter's final voyage. Bligh served on three of the same ships on which Fletcher Christian also"
"in the ship's launch, while 25, a mixture of mutineers and detainees, remained on board under Fletcher Christian. Bligh led his loyalists to safety in the open boat, and ultimately back to England. The mutineers divided—most settled on Tahiti, where they were captured by in 1791 and returned to England for trial, while Christian and eight others evaded discovery on Pitcairn Island. The Admiralty rated ""Bounty"" as a cutter, the smallest category of warship—this meant that she was commanded not by a captain but by a lieutenant, with no other commissioned officers aboard, and without the usual detachment of Royal"
"the mutineers' lives on Pitcairn. Christian was portrayed in films by: The 1935 and 1962 films are based on the 1932 novel ""Mutiny on the Bounty"" in which Christian is a major character and is generally portrayed positively. The authors of that novel, Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, also wrote two sequels, one of which, ""Pitcairn's Island"", is the story of the tragic events after the mutiny that apparently resulted in Christian's death along with other violent deaths on Pitcairn Island. (The other sequel, ""Men Against the Sea"", is the story of Bligh's voyage after the mutiny.) This series"
"letter to Edward Christian, contradicted the respect Heywood had accorded Bligh in the courtroom, and, in turn, it led to the publication in late 1794 of Edward Christian's ""Appendix"" to the court martial proceedings. Presented as an account of the ""real causes and circumstances of that Unhappy Transaction"", the ""Appendix"" was said by the press to ""palliate the behaviour of Christian and the Mutineers, and to criminate Captain Bligh"". In the controversy that followed, Bligh's rebuttals could not silence doubts as to his own conduct, and his position was further undermined when William Peckover, a Bligh loyalist, confirmed that the"
"was then forced below at bayonet-point; according to Fryer, Christian told him: ""I have been in hell for weeks past. Captain Bligh has brought this on himself."" Christian originally thought to cast Bligh adrift in ""Bounty""'s small jolly boat, together with his clerk John Samuel and the loyalist midshipmen Hayward and Hallett. This boat proved unseaworthy, so Christian ordered the launching of a larger ship's boat, with a capacity of around ten. However, Christian and his allies had overestimated the extent of the mutiny—at least half on board were determined to leave with Bligh. Thus the ship's largest boat, a"
"was appointed Governor of New South Wales. He returned to London in 1810 having suffered a further rebellion by local army officers who opposed Bligh's attempts to reform local practices, as well as his rule by ""fiat""; Bligh was again court-martialed and acquitted. On his retirement he was promoted to rear admiral; he died in 1817. Fletcher Christian, who had taken the ""Bounty"" to Pitcairn Island and founded a colony there with a group of hard core mutineers and conscripted Tahitians, was killed in September 1793 during a feud. Christian's last recorded words, supposedly, were ""Oh, dear!"" Peter Heywood Peter"
"divers each year visit to enjoy and photograph. Bligh Water In 1789 the English Royal Navy Cutter the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh was overtaken by 18 crew led by Master's Mate Fletcher Christian in what has been named the ""Mutiny on the Bounty."" The area known as the Bligh Water is the body of water (approximately 9500 km² in extent) in the western Fiji islands through which Bligh sailed his 7 m (23 ft) launch during his 3,618 mile journey from Tofua to the Dutch port of Timor. At the time some of the local Fijian tribes were"
"officers. These signed the ship's roster as able seamen, but were quartered with the midshipmen and treated on equal terms with them. Most of ""Bounty""'s crew were chosen by Bligh or were recommended to him by influential patrons. William Peckover the gunner and Joseph Coleman the armourer had been with Cook and Bligh on HMS ""Resolution""; several others had sailed under Bligh more recently on the ""Britannia"". Among these was the 23-year-old Fletcher Christian, who came from a wealthy Cumberland family descended from Manx gentry. Christian had chosen a life at sea rather than the legal career envisaged by his"
"William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of in 1789; after being set adrift in ""Bounty""s launch by the mutineers, Bligh and his loyal men reached Timor, a journey of . Seventeen years after the ""Bounty"" mutiny, on 13 August 1806, he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia, with orders to clean up the corrupt rum trade of the New South Wales Corps. His actions directed against the trade resulted in the"
"unfortunate in his timing: The story of the mutiny became public knowledge when the Romantic poets first commanded the literary scene. Bligh's chief apologist was Sir Joseph Banks, while Christian was championed by Wordsworth and Coleridge. Among historians' attempts to portray Bligh more sympathetically are those of Richard Hough (1972) and Caroline Alexander (2003). Hough depicts """"an unsurpassed foul-weather commander ... I would go through hell and high water with him, but not for one day in the same ship on a calm sea"""". Alexander presents Bligh as over-anxious, solicitous of his crew's well-being, and utterly devoted to his task,"
"""Bounty"" on 28 April 1789, Ellison was standing his watch as the ship's wheelsman, which gave him a vantage point to view the personal confrontation between Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian at the heart of the mutiny. Ellison described himself as continuing to obey the captain's orders to ""clap the helm down"". However, the young seaman then handed control of the helm to a mutineer, John Mills, and left the scene to ask for advice from a loyal crewman, Lawrence LeBogue. When the time came for Ellison to tell his story at his court-martial, he tried to portray this incident"
"to return to Britain and testify to Bligh's wrongdoing and asks his men to sail with him. To prevent this possibility the men set the ship on fire and Christian is fatally burned while trying to save it. Following the success of 1935's ""Mutiny on the Bounty"", director Frank Lloyd announced plans in 1940 to make a sequel which focused on Captain Bligh in later life, to star Spencer Tracy or Charles Laughton. No film resulted. In 1945 Casey Wilson wrote a script for ""Christian of the Bounty"", which was to star Clark Gable as Fletcher Christian and focus on"
"them to Tahiti (despite his rational protestations that it was the last port of call for the ""Bounty"" and inevitably the first place the Admiralty would search once word of the mutiny was received or the ship was reported overdue). The mutiny is made more mysterious by the friendship of Christian and Bligh, which dates back to Bligh's days in the merchant service. Christian was well acquainted with the Bligh family. As Bligh was being set adrift he appealed to this friendship, saying ""you have dandled my children upon your knee"". According to Bligh, Christian ""appeared disturbed"" and replied, ""That,—Captain"
"the ship, CAPT. Blah, was a domineering man with a uniform resembling the historical figure, William Bligh. Mutiny, on channel 4 in the UK, charts a recreation of Bligh's journey to Timor. It aired in 2017. Bligh was mentioned in the film ""Clear History"" by Larry David's character while rowing a boat off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. Bligh was mentioned in the television show ""Survivor"" during the reunion show of """" by Jeff Probst describing the next season """". Bligh has been portrayed in film by the following actors: William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7"
"boat during the Mutiny on the Bounty (1789). The Mutiny on the Bounty took place about 30 nautical miles (56 km) from Tofua in the Tonga islands. Lt William Bligh navigated the overcrowded 23 foot (7 m) open launch on an epic 41-day voyage first to Tofua and then to the West Timor city of Kupang equipped only with a sextant and a pocket watch— no charts or compass. He recorded the distance as 3,618 nautical miles (6710 km). He passed through the difficult Torres Strait along the way and landed on 14 June. The only casualty of his voyage"
"had been killed, either by each other or by their Polynesian companions. No action was taken against Adams; descendants of the mutineers and their Tahitian consorts live on Pitcairn into the 21st century. The generally accepted view of Bligh as an overbearing monster and Christian as a tragic victim of circumstances, as depicted in well-known film accounts, has been challenged by late 20th- and 21st-century historians from whom a more sympathetic picture of Bligh has emerged. His Majesty's Armed Vessel (HMAV) ""Bounty"", or HMS ""Bounty"", was built in 1784 at the Blaydes shipyard in Hull, Yorkshire as a collier named"
"Complement of HMS Bounty The complement of , the Royal Navy ship on which a historic mutiny occurred in the south Pacific on 28 April 1789, comprised 46 men on its departure from England in December 1787 and 44 at the time of the mutiny, including her commander Lieutenant William Bligh. All but two of those aboard were Royal Navy personnel; the exceptions were two civilian botanists engaged to supervise the breadfruit plants ""Bounty"" was tasked to take from Tahiti to the West Indies. Of the 44 aboard at the time of the mutiny, 19 (including Bligh) were set adrift"