Horatio Hornblower: The New Adventures (2003)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Niall Leonard (Loyalty) and Stephen Churchett (Duty), based on the novel Horatio and the Hotspur by C.S. Forester
Directed by Andrew Grieve
Starring Ioan Gruffudd, Robert Lindsay, Paul McGann, Paul Copley, Sean Gilder, and Julia Sawalha

Features:

• Running audio commentary with director Grive, producer Andrew Benson, and costume designer John Mallo
  
• Cast and crew bios
  
• Photo gallery
  

Released by: A&E
Region: 1
Rating: NR, suitable for 13+
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Own it.

By popular demand, A&E returned to its popular Horatio Hornblower franchise in 2003, crafting a pair of new adventures for the young naval officer. While in some ways more serious in tone than earlier installments, this only serves to heighten the sense of watching Hornblower's career advance and seeing characters develop, shaped by the experiences of the previous films.

As the first film, Loyalty, opens, we find Horatio (Gruffudd) a little down on his luck, living on half-wages due to the shaky peace between England and France. Relying on his impressive skills at whist to make ends meet, he's pawned most everything he owns to keep up with the rent. Fortunately for him, his landlady's daughter Maria (Sawalha) has taken a bit of a shine to him, and has covered for him when he fell short. When his old friend Lieutenant Bush (McGann) drops by for a visit, it strains the charity and patience of landlady Mrs. Mason (Barbara Flynn) even further.

Fortunately for Horatio, his time as a half-wage pauper is at an end. Given command of the HMS Hotspur, he is tasked with carrying a royalist Frenchman across the channel to meet with his contacts, as Napoleon seems to be amassing a force near the coast, and it's making the Brits a touch nervy. While not thrilled about having to babysit a French noble on his English vessel, Hornblower is even less thrilled about staying on land at half-pay any longer. His suspicion grows as things begin to go wrong on the journey, but he finds he has as much to fear from the enemies he can't see as he does from those he can.

In Duty, Horatio takes the plunge and marries the young Ms. Mason, but it seems unclear if this were for love or in an effort to be able to help her without destroying her reputation. The matter is left unresolved, as Hornblower must ship out the day after his wedding to continue his investigation of the growing force on the French coast. When he recovers a pair of castaways, he gets more than he bargained for. The "Swiss" husband and American wife aren't who they claim to be, and the true identity of his new passenger has the French howling for his head while the British diplomatic corps clamors back home for Horatio. As a heavy fog and winter storm grips the French coast, Horatio has to run a dangerous gambit in hopes of escaping with his ship, his crew, and his head.

Both of these films are excellent additions to the growing A&E Hornblower series, though purists will no doubt complain about the departures from Forester's novels. Of course, the novels span several decades, and I suspect A&E isn't interested in filming an installment every ten years. So the numerous novels get compressed, mixed together, and generally thrown in a blender in order to create a series of adventures that happen very quickly, adding to the sense that Horatio is rocketing up the ranks due to his amazing success.

The acting here is as always fantastic. Gruffud, McGann, and Lindsay, in particular, stand out, though the new entry Sawalha is perfectly cast as the doting but perhaps neglected new wife. In an unusual twist for the series, the whole relationship with Maria makes one a little uneasy about Horatio's handling of the matter, and it seems obvious that the relationship is headed for unhappiness, largely Horatio's fault. It takes guts to make your swashbuckling naval hero into a bit of a heartless cad, and still hope for the audience to be sufficiently sympathetic, but here it seems to work just fine. If anything, it makes Horatio a bit more easy to relate to, as it is the first evidence we've seen of a real character flaw.

The DVDs include a commentary from the director, producer, and costume designer. While I'm not sure why you'd put the wardrobe guy on the commentary instead of, say, an expert on Napoleonic naval warfare or C.S. Forester novels, the track is still quite informative. This set lacks the production featurettes and mini-documentaries of the earlier boxed set, which is a shame, but the DVDs are worth picking up nonetheless.