The Bounty (1984 film) third film, released in 1962, starred Marlon Brando, Trevor Howard and Richard Harris. The most recent film, starring Mel Gibson, is generally regarded as more revisionist as well as a more historically accurate depiction of the mutiny than the two earlier film versions. According to director Donaldson, "The major difference between our film and the other versions is that none of the others pointed out that Bligh and Christian were friends. They'd made voyages together before they sailed on the "Bounty". And while they were on the "Bounty", Bligh demoted another officer and promoted Christian, who was at that stage
Mutiny on the Bounty however Bligh's reputation as the archetypal bad commander remains: the "Baltimore Sun"'s reviewer of Alexander's book wrote "poetry routed science and it has held the field ever since". In addition to many books and articles about the mutiny, in the 20th century five feature films were produced. The first was a 1916 silent Australian film, subsequently lost. The second, also from Australia, entitled "In the Wake of the Bounty" (1933), and was the screen debut of Errol Flynn in the role of Christian. The impact of this film was overshadowed by that of the MGM version, "Mutiny on the Bounty"