Captain Horatio Hornblower marks the second time I’ve seen Gregory Peck captain a ship in a 50’s movie after Moby Dick and, despite an unnecessary romance sub-plot and a story that won’t leave you with the greatest impact, it’s an absolute marvel of ocean-set action epic filmmaking. Immediately it immerses through the stunning technicolor and Raoul Walsh’s amazing directional style, this was shot and edited so effectively every step of the way and the model usage to create these jaw-dropping action sequences added another layer onto Walsh’s already brilliant vision. Knowing the story of Horatio Nelson I thought I knew what to expect and even though I think it could’ve been better off telling that amazing true story I’m actually happy my expectations were off in the end, I quickly realized Hornblower was only a fictional character in a fictional story inspired by Nelson and that only added even more intrigue and excitement to my watch early on. The script this story gives is also impressive, it doesn’t do anything groundbreaking but it’s effective all the way through and allowed for Virginia Mayo and especially Gregory Peck to shine. Peck just continues to impress me again and again with every role I see him take on and this was no different, it honestly might be right behind The Big Country and Roman Holiday for the best acting I’ve seen of his which is no easy feat and for Mayo she was quite good I just could’ve used more of her character. To top it all off Robert Farnon adds an absolutely gorgeous score which perfectly empowers that swashbuckling 50’s action/adventure feeling and while I can see why this wouldn’t work for everyone Captain Horatio Hornblower was tailor made for my taste and I had a blast.

Captain Horatio Hornblower marks the second time I’ve seen Gregory Peck captain a ship in a 50’s movie after Moby Dick and, despite an unnecessary romance sub-plot and a story that won’t leave you with the greatest impact, it’s an absolute marvel of ocean-set action epic filmmaking. Immediately it immerses through the stunning technicolor and Raoul Walsh’s amazing directional style, this was shot and edited so effectively every step of the way and the model usage to create these jaw-dropping action sequences added another layer onto Walsh’s already brilliant vision. Knowing the story of Horatio Nelson I thought I knew what to expect and even though I think it could’ve been better off telling that amazing true story I’m actually happy my expectations were off in the end, I quickly realized Hornblower was only a fictional character in a fictional story inspired by Nelson and that only added even more intrigue and excitement to my watch early on. The script this story gives is also impressive, it doesn’t do anything groundbreaking but it’s effective all the way through and allowed for Virginia Mayo and especially Gregory Peck to shine. Peck just continues to impress me again and again with every role I see him take on and this was no different, it honestly might be right behind The Big Country and Roman Holiday for the best acting I’ve seen of his which is no easy feat and for Mayo she was quite good I just could’ve used more of her character. To top it all off Robert Farnon adds an absolutely gorgeous score which perfectly empowers that swashbuckling 50’s action/adventure feeling and while I can see why this wouldn’t work for everyone Captain Horatio Hornblower was tailor made for my taste and I had a blast.

Technicolor films have so much more charm than others especially with mister Greg in them, what more could you ask for?

Technicolor films have so much more charm than others especially with mister Greg in them, what more could you ask for?

proof that Rotten Tomatoes scores are unhinged

proof that Rotten Tomatoes scores are unhinged