Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998)

With its high end production values, 'Horatio Hornblower: The Duel' never belies its made for TV origins. The ships are real, the sets are real, and never once do they try to pass off cut rate CGI for the real thing. It may lack slick, Hollywood style action, but every frame of it feels absolutely authentic.If I had one complain it would be about its brevity. Hornblower's journey from seasick landlubber to competent midshipman feels way too rushed, robbing the final act of some of its dramatic punch. But once the buckles begin swashing you won't care about all that other stuff anyway.

I was frankly not expecting much because my exposure to Ioan Gruffudd has been exclusively the dismal Fantastic Four movies. I was stunned to learn that he can actually act -- or could once, anyway -- and his performance completely carries this film. The rest of the cast, for the most part unfamiliar to me as an American viewer, do a fine job as well. I would make something of an exception for Dorian Healy, but I fault him less for his performance than the script for giving him so little to work with other than moustache-twirling villainy. That's a minor nitpick, though. The acting is solid across the board, with a great supporting performance by Robert Lindsay. In general, the action moves along briskly, the characters are well-defined, and the overall production values are surprisingly high. There are a few weak special effects where the budget shows a bit, but for the most part this is a really well-mounted production. The sets and costumes are top-notch, and a lot of attention seems to have been paid to period detail. It would be easy to believe this was a big-screen theatrical production if not for the periodic commercial fade-outs (which, by the way, were uniformly ignored on the telecast I watched -- is it really that difficult, Ovation?) Oh, and for other American viewers, the reason Kennedy looks so familiar but you can't quite place him is because he buried his natural accent so successfully on Battlestar Galactica.At any rate, I highly recommend this film and now look forward to seeing the others in the series. I can only marvel at whatever happened to Horatio Hornblower to turn him into such a lackluster Reed Richards. Perhaps a lifetime of attempting to spell "Ioan Gruffudd" has just worn him down.

Like all the Hornblower series, this is British television at its best.The story line moves swiftly, the dialogue and acting are superb, and (for the American audience) there are explosions, battles and special effects. Robert Lindsay (Captain Pellew - best remembered for his role in "Citizen Smith" in the 70s) and Ioan Gruffudd (more recently Sir Lancelot in King Arthur) are a treat to watch.Having recently watched Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, I'd say the Hornblower series has the edge.What are you doing still reading this - go rent it on DVD now!

I Have just finished watching the entire series of Hornblower and must say that few seafaring adventures can beat it.It ranks up there with the original Mutiny on the Bounty,The Sea Hawk and Master And Commander as one of the greatest of its kind. Ioan Gruffudd is perfectly cast as young Hornblower,a seasick midshipman who tranforms gradually into a courageous leader of men. Robert Lindsay offers great support as Capt.Edward Pellew,one of the most important characters in the story who guides Hornblower along his journeys.Jamie Bamber,Paul Copley and Sean Gilder are all excellent as Hornblower's loyal shipmates. Ireally can't pick any one episode as they are all magnificent.I also liked Paul McGann who portrays Lt.Bush. All in all i just hope that in the future their will be more parts to this truly brilliant adventure series!!! EASILY 10 OUT OF 10 !