Captain Blood (DVD)

One of the cinema's greatest pairings was of Errol Flynn with Olivia de Havilland. Captain Blood was the first of eight movies the charismatic pair made together. Considering this film was made in 1935 it has stood the test of time.Note: the scene with Captain Bloods ship fighting the French ships was very realistic. It was early swashbuckling and cinematography at its best.NO other actor could have played physician turned swashbuckling pirate Peter Blood, but Errol Flynn. He was made for the role.Flynn was 26 and Miss De Havilland was a luminously beautiful nineteen years old.The chemistry between the two is tangible and it makes the emotional scenes between them all the better.The character actors who were in quite a few a Errol Flynn's movies were outstanding.That old saying "they don't make them like that anymore" is sadly so true.After viewing this as a child and now watching it all these years later was a real treat.I advice all the lovers of the golden age of film to watch Captain Blood. It's a rare treat.

This film should be required viewing in every elementary or middle school. In the midst of the action and a significant amount of humor, there is an excellent portrayal of the great issues facing mankind in every era. Slavery, betrayal, desperation leading to lawlessness, unrighteous government and righteous rebellion, personal integrity and sacrifice are all portrayed. But most importantly for this time the oppression of the British king putting thousands of his subjects into inescapable slavery and shipping them to the Indies to work in the sugar plantations. Every US citizen needs to be reminded that slavery knows no race. I would also recommend the movie, the unconquered by Cecil b DeMille starring Gary Cooper. That film also deals with destitute white British citizens being forced into slavery and shipped to the colonies.

This is the second of my four favorite Flynn films. The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, Dodge City and Santa Fe Trail. I like all of his early work but these four stand out. It does'nt hurt that the lovely Olivia is in each. These are just magnificent examples of Hollywood at its best. Don't think about the scandals, the rumors and all the media garbage later in his life. Its a great film just for itself. Flynn was spectacular.

As a victim of the English monarchy of King James, Captain Blood -- alias of Dr. Blood -- gets shipped off -- in chains as slaves -- to a Caribbean island governed by England. Errol Flynn takes advantage of life opportunities as he meets them: from treating the island governor to capturing an attacking Spanish ship and then sinking all the other Spanish ships. The older movies always include a beautiful woman , Olivia de Haviland, for the hero to save as well as comic relief episodes. The ending of this black-and-white action packed film has the traditional love story but ends on a very humorous note.

I do not have the answer. I do not care to buy the SD version to compare. I'm writing this review out of disappointment with the many analog/film visual artifacts (scratches, blemishes, etc) that today's digital tools can eradicate with multiple, different methods. I expected WB to have done this on a classic film they've been milking for 80 years. I started to wonder if copyright laws had been allowed to expire as intended that a fan such as myself, many of us maybe, might have cleaned these imperfections out. Hell, we could also replace those pitiful studio landscape/seascape backdrops.Captain Blood is comfort food to me.I'm not looking to colorize it, though I'm not opposed to it. But if WB is to continue to profit decades after the original copyright was intended to expire. I expect them to earn it by at least cleaning out the slightly distracting film blemishes. I'm now disinclined to buy any more classic HD content. Instead, I'll look to upscaled DVDs at a fraction the cost. Perhaps Amazon might flex its muscle to tag classics as digitally cleaned vs. digitally captured (raw).

And that's just what we do, too--follow Errol Flynn as he embarks upon the signature role of his swashbuckling career. This was Errol Flynn's first major film, and it set the standard for pirate epics for over 20 years. Even Flynn himself did not surpass this performance in like films over the years that followed. We see the passion that the young Flynn brings to the screen as an idealistic doctor, a rebellious slave, and finally, as an able, cunning, and caring pirate.The only criticism of the DVD that I have is that such a film should have been colorized during the re-mastering process. I know that the impact of black-and-white can also be visually stunning as well as representative of a ground-breaking era of film, but the costumes and action scenes cry for color to be fully appreciated. Flynn's voice seemed to be slightly muted in the early scenes, too.Other than that, the film is a rollicking good time--filled with action and witty dialogue delivered by consummate professionals. Lionel Atwill and Basil Rathbone are villains par excellence--one knows that Rathbone and Flynn will eventually cross swords, but just where and when is a surprise. The onscreen chemistry between Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland cannot be denied; it is as magnetic as the onscreen relationship between John Wayne and Maureen O' Hara. Supporting actors such as Henry Stephenson and Flora Robson round out this magnificent film soufflé and help to make it the true classic that it is. Buy this together with The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), and you will truly have Errol Flynn at his best.

I don’t know whether to give this 4 stars or five. I’ll start with the negatives. The Warner ‘Night at the Movies’ isn’t Warner, the news real was made by M.G.M. I haven’t seen the cartoon but didn’t find the short staring Candice Bergen’s dad and a ventriloquist dummy very funny. As to the film itself, it hasn’t been digitally restored, and my copy had some vertical lines in the parts where the used stock footage of sailing ships. That said, both the picture and sound quality are pretty good. As to the film itself, it is a rip roaring romp. Curtiz handles the action sequences really well and the battle sequence at the end of the film is exciting to watch. Errol Flynn lights up the screen and Olivia De Havilland is just gorgeous. I can’t make up my mind whether to tell you not to think too hard about the story and just be swept along by the adventure or not. If you don’t want to read about the holes in the story, stop reading now.Still with me? Right, here we go. How come Blood, who is a doctor knows how to captain a ship? There is nothing in the story to suggest he had any naval experience. Secondly, why ship condemned prisoners to the Caribbean? Surely it would have been much cheaper to just hang them. After all, at that time they were shipping thousands of slaves from Africa to work the plantations. Speaking of slaves, when they are being transported, none of them are manacled, they are free to wander around in spacious comfort, unlike the Africans who were packed like sardines and spent the entire journey lying chained to the floor. You can tell however that Flynn’s lot are being mistreated because they asked for water but were nt allowed any. Apart from the poor sods on the crows nests who sway back and forth, there is no sign of ocean swell on the ship and at one point, De Havilland wakes up in a huge cabin in what looks like a king size bed.Don’t let the above put you off. The film is great fun to watch, moves along at a cracking pace and is a film I will return to at a later date. The feature on the birth of the swashbuckler is interesting and informative and I also found it great fun to think about all of the holes in the film’s logic.

This film was on the TV many times when I was a child in the 1960s and I have fond memories of watching it. I'm not sure if this was Flynn's first big role but when I watch it now he doesn't quite ooze the effortless charm for which he became so famous, nor is his mild Australian accent entirely disguised as it later was. These observations notwithstanding, this is solid gold entertainment from the age of the great swashbuckler movies and if you enjoy films of that genre then you will enjoy Captain Blood - and if you're like me you're going to enjoy it again and again.

I just can't speak highly enough of Errol Flynn - the film quality is not great; no doubt the original stock was poor and not a lot can be done to make it stand out (unlike Robin Hood, which of course is technicolour). A great adventure yarn, fantastic for a rainy Sunday afternoon, simple bold tale of injustice and eventual triumph over adversity.

Thank you for the dvd

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