Why was this movie remade?
Did the filmmakers want to show a more human,l leveled view of Bligh, or did they feel the story just wasn't complete without a lot of topless women?
shareNo. They wanted to show the reality of what Bligh was like and the reason he was called "That Bounty Bastard". Bligh was not leveled. He was a tyrant. He was mutinied on twice. The first by Fletcher Christian and next when he was assigned as "governor" of Botany Bay in Australia. We finally got a truer version of the actual events. As for the topless women, it's Tahiti before the White Man came bringing his syphilis, venereal disease and Bible. They didn't have the hangups the White Man did.
shareFrom what I've read by people who are into this area of history, this is the most realistic version of Bligh on film but it also turns out that he's given a bad reputation in general. It turns out that Bligh was a good captain to his crew compared to many others. While he was a bit of what we'd consider a micromanager today, many infractions that would have been handled more severely by other captains were handled lightly by Bligh. Maybe it's Bligh's weak hand that makes him the victim of mutineers.
shareBligh was an excellent seaman. The navigation he did from the putting off point after the mutiny to the final landing at Timor is without a doubt one of the most amazing moments in maritime history. Same with what Shackelton did from Antarctica after the loss of The Endurance to Elephant Island where he left his men, then to South Georgia Island and back to Elephant. So his abilities are not and never have been in question. His heroism on Hawaii when he and a couple of men went back to collect Cook's remains was also an amazing fete. His problem with what happened on board The Bounty and what happened in Australia is that he was short-tempered. He also exacted strenuous work from his crew. It was well known he was a tyrant as I stated before. Other captains wouldn't have lost control the way he did on Tahiti. Captain Cook never did and neither did many other captains. While the Admiralty acquitted Bligh of the mutiny, that still didn't address the reasons why the mutiny happened. When others were recaptured or found on Tahiti, the ones who weren't mutineers but were left out due to limited space in the launch, most of them testified against Bligh. Those included some who were in the launch like Fryer (Daniel Day-Lewis in the film) and Purcell who both suffered Bligh's rebuke and abuse in the launch. Others like Peter Heywood who were left behind on Tahiti testified that Bligh was a tyrant. I think the Admiralty was covering their own asses, personally. After Botany Bay Bligh's reputation took a huge hit. Ironically Heywood went on to be a captain of his own ship. In his diaries he stated his desire was not to follow the behaviour of "That Bounty Bastard". And no Bligh did not handle things lightly. He was a beast. Hence two mutinies.
shareI still regard his open boat voyage as the greatest in history
for which he should have been knighted .
No knighting for a double mutiny. He failed at both his endeavors as both Captain and governor. As I mentioned about Peter Heywood, he was a far more accomplished mariner than Bligh. As I said the open launch voyage was incredible, however, it's what led to the mutiny that marks his accomplishment as a blight on his record.
It should be noted: Bligh wanted to complete the breadfruit journey, so off he went back to Tahiti to obtain more and made the grocery delivery to Jamaica. The breadfruit was to be used as a cheap food source for the island's slaves. Problem was, they hated it and refused to eat it. So another failed "accomplishment".