A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

With its high end production values, 'Horatio Hornblower: The Duel' never belies its made for TV origins. The ships are real, the sets are real, and never once do they try to pass off cut rate CGI for the real thing. It may lack slick, Hollywood style action, but every frame of it feels absolutely authentic.If I had one complain it would be about its brevity. Hornblower's journey from seasick landlubber to competent midshipman feels way too rushed, robbing the final act of some of its dramatic punch. But once the buckles begin swashing you won't care about all that other stuff anyway.

Just finished watching the first episode of the Hornblower series and I must say that it is excellent. The late 1990s and twenty first century is an exciting period for fans of historical epics as the production aspects of the films are perhaps the best ever. It is as though someone placed a camera in the 1790s and filmed everything live. The shots of the battles between the English clipper ship and the French corvettes are by far the best I have ever seen. The British accents, codes of conduct, and smart uniforms are very authentic. And the scenes filmed in the small seaport on the English coast establish a real sense of place.The story centers around a young midshipman attempting to prove his worth in the Kings Navy while at the same time confronting a malicious fellow officer. Even though the series is set in the late 1790s, it deals with the timeless issues of honor, courage, loyalty, and duty to which almost anyone can relate.For fans of British history and sea faring adventure, it does not get any better than this. 10/10

I remember watching one of these HORNBLOWER productions when it was first broadcast in the late 1990s but wasn`t too taken by it , so when ITV decided to repeat the series the only reason I watched The Even Chance was because there was nothing else on . When the end credits rolled I found myself asking how on earth I dismissed it so slightly when it was first broadcast ?The Even Chance is a superlatively made piece of television , it`s production values are outstanding . Unlike Sean Bean in SHARPE Ioan Gruffudd makes a vulnarable and realistic hero and finds himself at the mercy of the sadistic violent bully Jack Simpson played by Dorian Healy . This well written , well acted television and I look forward to seeing the rest of the HORNBLOWER series

First of all, a note about the American titles for this mini-series: what's wrong with you people? Can't you leave a title alone? Or do you think your crowd is so dumb, they wouldn't understand the title that the makers gave it? Why did you have to change "The Even Chance" into "The Duel", for instance (and the other titles as well)? Translating a foreign title is one thing. Altering (and totally ruining) an existing title is something else.And now to the comment: "Hornblower" is one of the best-made series I have ever seen. It's clever, it's interesting, it's really wonderful in all aspects possible. And Ioan Gruffudd is not only good looking, he's a good actor- a skill that most Hollywood stars unfortunately lack. Right now I have only seen the first two episodes, but I'm definitely not going to miss the other two.