★★★★★
A&E really lived up to their name when they created this little series of stories. I have no idea just how much it cost them to build or acquire ships for the scenes which required an actual ship, not a fake ship in a studio or creative computer graphics. In 1998 we didn’t have the sophisticated computer graphics for movies. Most of us software developers only had VGA monitors.
Ioan Gruffudd plays midshipman Horatio Hornblower. A naive young lad he joined Her Majesty’s navy out of a sense of honor and duty to country. He is not wise to the ways of the world and honestly thinks every man aboard the ship is just like him at heart.
The level of acting comes in second only to the writing which comes in second only to the sets. Through the short Horatio Hornblower series of films we watch this incredible actor go from young lad to a man learning many a hard lesson along the way.
Plot of The Duel
Our first installment has him joining the crew, making friends and one enemy in particular along the way. During this journey we find just how far a non-violent and somewhat timid youth can be pushed before accepting a duel
Buy this entire miniseries/collection of movies. It is too well done to watch only once.
Note for Parents
One tiny note to parents. This was “made for TV” but it was made for cable TV. There is the occasional damn and other soft curse word, usually quick enough it isn’t noticed. No F-bombs or nudity though it does have swashbuckling violence and provides a good discussion starter for the topics of bullying and how to properly treat others with respect.
For more movie rental ideas please see list one and list two.
