The Bounty (1984 film) nothing but a midshipman, and made him second in command. What interested me was to explore how their relationship deteriorated from that point to where Christian leads a mutiny against Bligh." Unlike earlier versions, this film did not portray Bligh as a villainous character. According to Gibson, "It was a kind of fresh look at Captain Bligh, and I think of all the renditions of who Bligh was, his was probably the closest. His Bligh was stubborn and didn't suffer fools, but he was brilliant and just had a lot of bad luck." "The Bounty" also paints a far less
Mutiny on the Bounty Betham, a Heywood family friend who was Bligh's father-in-law. The two botanists, or "gardeners", were chosen by Banks. The chief botanist, David Nelson, was a veteran of Cook's third expedition who had been to Tahiti and had learned some of the natives' language. Nelson's assistant William Brown was a former midshipman who had seen naval action against the French. Banks also helped to secure the official midshipmen's berths for two of his protégés, Thomas Hayward and John Hallett. Overall, "Bounty"'s crew was relatively youthful, the majority being under 30; at the time of departure, Bligh was 33 years old. Among