Captain Blood 4K 1935 Ultra HD 2160p

Arrested during the Monmouth Rebellion and falsely convicted of treason, Dr. Peter Blood is banished to the West Indies and sold into slavery. In Port Royal, Jamaica the Governor's daughter Arabella Bishop buys him for £10 to spite her uncle, Col. Bishop who owns a major plantation. Life is hard for the men--and for Blood. By chance he treats the Governor's gout and is soon part of the medical service. He dreams of freedom, and when the opportunity strikes, he and his friends rebel taking over a Spanish ship that has attacked the city. Soon they are the most feared pirates on the seas, men without a country attacking all ships. When Arabella is prisoner, Blood decides to return her to Port Royal, but they discover that it is under the control of England's new enemy: France. All of them must decide if they will fight for their new King.

User Review

Unfortunately, I haven't read Rafael Sabatini's book about the adventures of the glorious Captain Blood, but I have seen two films (the American one from 1935 and the Soviet one from 1991) and noticed significant differences between them. In addition, I have a computer game called “Corsairs - GPK,” which includes a quest line about the beginning of Peter Blood's adventures—its plot also differs in detail from the plots of both films. Which of these three plots should I believe, which one is closer to the original? I guess I'll have to read Sabatini after all...

But that's not the point right now. If we compare the two films in terms of screenplay, acting, staging, and the quality of the special effects, it becomes clear that they are completely different movies. The American film is characterized by the pathos, theatricality, and loud speeches typical of films of that time (an example of this is the episode in which Captain Blood reads the rules for staying on the ship to his crew). At the same time, much less attention is paid to sea battles, boarding, and fights than to the romantic component, and there are also comedic elements in the plot. The musical accompaniment is also typical of the 1930s—live sound and orchestral music.

The 1991 Soviet film turned out to be simply magnificent, considering the state of the domestic film industry at the time (incidentally, it was in the late 1980s and early 1990s that many stunning historical and adventure films were released, such as Gardemarins). The special effects and stunts are of a high standard for those years. The battles and fights are given due attention (although there are sometimes too many of them in the second part of the film). The well-written script and professional acting make the viewer empathize with and respect the main character. The music is catchy and memorable, but it can become tiresome when played too often (this is typical of a good half of domestic films to this day!!!). I consider it inappropriate to compare this film with Pirates of the Caribbean, as they are films of different genres, eras, and generations.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (94.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 1.0
#English: Dolby Digital 1.0 (Commentary by Alan K. Rode, author of Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film)

Info Subtitles

English SDH, Cantonese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, Spanish (Latin American), Spanish (Castilian), Swedish, Thai, Turkish.