Cheap Horatio Hornblower - The Complete Adventures (DVD) (Ioan Gruffudd) Price

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Customer Reviews of Horatio Hornblower - The Complete Adventures

Outstanding films of adventure!
Nothing like great naval adventures at sea featuring the English Navy of old! The Horatio Hornblower series are so well filmed! The acting is great, the stories are excellent and the photography is always perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed these movies featuring mutiny, battles, facinating characters and the rough life of being at sea for the English Navy. The series follows Ioan Gruffudd on his naval military career as Horatio Hornblower and each movie is an adventure all by itself! This set completes the series and is put together very well. I can't wait for more movies to come out!

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Excellent Stories of the Royal Navy
These, of course, are adaptations of C.S. Forrester's wonderful book series on the adventures of Horatio Hornblower. (The first four movies are based on the book "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" and the last two on "Lieutenant Hornblower"). And while they obviously cannot be faithful to the books in every repsect, they still prove to be excellent films. The stories are wonderful, tracing the heroic exploits of a young midshipman in the Royal Navy as he matures into a very competent officer.

These movies are not only in great in terms of story, but also production. We are told during one the DVD extras that the films were made using a combination of full-size vessels as well as scale models. Only once (out of countless shots) could I tell a shot employed a model.

The casting is also outstanding. From Hornblower to Captain Pellew and to Hornblower's men, everyone gives a great performance, making you believe that they are indeed the characters they are portraying. Ioan Gruffudd is particularly good in that he has expertly captured the complexity of the Hornblower character. (And incidently, some other reviewer mentioned something about him as the next James Bond - check out some of his publicity pics on online, and I think they might be right...!).

Of course, despite the persistent arguing of others, we know that these are NOT based on the life events of any one person. While, he interacts with a few historic figures (e.g. Captain Pellew), the Horatio Hornblower character is fictional. (Yes, I am aware of the Hornblower biography written by C. N. Parkinson, but it is supposed to be all in fun!).

If you like Napoleonic battles, or are into Naval films, or perhaps would like to see some films about the growth and maturing of an honorable man, these films are for you!

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Hornblower is number one!
I first saw these movies from the library and loved them so much I had to beg my parents to get them for me (no easy task). I have all eight movies and I watch them at least three times a week. I am a HUGE fan of anything relating to the 17th century british navy, and enjoy watching Hornblower rise from a nervous midshipman to a high ranking officer. You don't need to see them in order, though it would help if you are watching them for the first time. A thousand times better than masters and commanders. Lots of action! Good humor. An absolute must see! You'll love them as much as I do!