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66 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shine on, August 8, 2003
Captain Blood is a great film, let alone a tremendous pirate film. There's something about the plot that has a certain resonance today as much as that of Robin Hood, namely that age-old sense of justice triumphing over rigid law and order, of robbing the rich to feed the poor. Yet Captain Blood is a little rougher edged, a little crueler in its machinations. Peter Blood (Flynn) is a well-meaning doctor who happens to aid the wrong side in one of Britain's innumerable civil wars, and is sentenced into slavery in the outer colonies along with a pack of other unfortunates. Right from the moment you see him level his icy gaze at the consumptive, soon-to-be dead Royal judge who passed the sentence, you know this party is just getting started. Hollywood has used the 'good-man-wronged' scenario countless times since this movie, but rarely to such effect. Battered, beaten, but never broken, Dr. Peter Blood transforms into Captain Blood, the terror of the high seas that crushes his enemies without ever letting anyone affect his high-minded moral core. It was not his choice to become an outlaw, but if he has to become one, he will be the best one there ever was. Redemption, honor, and love all make their appearances in the fine script enacted by a worthy cast, but at every point Blood is a man in control of, and therefore responsible for, his own destiny. It's a great film and one you definitely should check out.
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36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Film that Made Errol Flynn a Star, September 13, 2005
This was Errol Flynn's first big film, and he is dazzling in it. Michael Curtiz and MGM were not able to get the actors they wanted for the part of Captain Blood (at the top of the list was Robert Donat), and took an enormous risk in hiring this unknown, inexperienced young man, as the star of the film. The results are fantastic, and "Captain Blood" was a huge success, and is perhaps the best swashbuckler ever made. Olivia de Havilland had only played minor roles before her part as Arabella, the niece of the evil Col. Bishop (Lionel Atwill), and this film also established her career. She is sweet and lovely, and the scene where Blood and Arabella finally confess their love for one another is unforgettable. They make a gorgeous pair, and were to make 7 more films together. The plot centers around a doctor (Blood), who is unfairly sentenced by a corrupt judge for being "a rebel against the king". His life is spared, and he is sent to Port Royal, Jamaica, to be sold as a slave, and after escaping, piracy becomes his only means of existence. "And thus Captain Blood began his piracy...with a ship, a handful of men, and a brain." Basil Rathbone is marvelous as the bad guy Captain Levasseur, and the swordplay on a rocky shore between Blood and Levasseur (Laguna Beach substituting for Jamaica) is superb. Others in the supporting cast include J. Carrol Naish and Guy Kibbee. With fast paced direction by Curtiz, a stupendous debut film score by classical composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and cinematography by Hal Mohr, with clever use of miniatures in the seafaring scenes, this film will stand the test of time for generations to come. Nominated by the Academy for Best Picture and Sound, total running time is 120 minutes. DVD extras include an interesting featurette, with commentary by film historian Robert Osborne, among others.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Saturday Afternoon Fare, January 27, 2000
Captain Blood is the kind of movie that I like to pop in the VCR on a Saturday afternoon when I need a couple of hours of down time. Errol Flynn stars as Peter Blood, a doctor wrongly imprisoned who turns to piracy in the seventeenth century. Flynn was the perfect actor for a role like this, because he had the athleticism and charisma to make this character come alive, and he manages to deliver some "goofy" dialogue without making it sound "goofy". Olivia deHavilland plays his love interest (as she often did), and she's well cast as the proper, yet spunky young lady. It's hard to imagine a couple of actors more suited for each other. Physically, they look incredible together, and the chemistry between them is obvious. Their youth and energy keep the film moving, as do the well-directed action sequences, the rousing musical score, and the playful humour. There are a lot of familiar character actors in the cast, including the always great Basil Rathbone. Captain Blood is the kind of movie you don't get tired of watching, because it entertains every time.
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