here for myself alone,
but for these men you've condemned.
I speak in their names and Fletcher
Christian's name for all men at sea.
These men don't ask for comfort.
They don't ask for safety.
If they could speak to you, they'd say:
"Let us choose to do our duty willingly.
Not the choice of a slave,
but that of free Englishmen."
They ask only the freedom
that England expects for every man.
If one man among you believed that...
One man.
He could command the fleets of England.
He could sweep the seas for England.
If he called his men to their duty
not by flaying their backs...
...but by lifting their hearts...
...their...
That's all.
Roger Byam, midshipman.
Having heard the evidence against you
and having heard your own defense...
...the sentence of this court is
you shall suffer death by hanging...
...onboard such of His Majesty's ships
of war and at such time...
...as the commissioners for executing
the office of lord high admiral...
...of Great Britain and Ireland
shall direct.
MAN:
Prisoner and escort, into file.
Left, turn. Quick, hut.
I pronounce this court dissolved.
Milord, may I congratulate the court?
Captain Bligh, in my opinion,
your open-boat voyage...
...was the most remarkable conduct
of navigation in the history of the sea.
I must admire your seamanship
and courage, but...
Detachment, fall in.
[LOCK TURNING]
Thanks, mate.
I've seen them, sir,
thanks to you and your friends.
The wife, she's well, sir.
And the boy, blow me,
I hardly knew him, he's growed so.
You wouldn't believe it,
the dead spit of me.
I'm glad, Tom.
Look, sir. Like the one she gave me
the day we sailed for Tahiti.
Do you know, sir,
that sailing seems like a dream.
As far away as the islands are.
I remember how Mr. Christian
talked to me that day.
Cheered me up, he did.
Where do you think he is now, sir?
I'd give anything to know.
One thing's certain,
he's taken that ship beyond maps.
I wonder if he found his island.
MAN: Well, sir, what did you find?
- Your new home, lads.
There she is, Pitcairn's Island.
THOMPSON:
There's no place to land.
That's why I chose it. I plan to run
the Bounty in head-on, then burn her.
- Burn her?
- We'd be fools to burn her.
We'll be fools if we don't.
If there's one spar left in sight,
we'll never be safe.
MAN: Sir, we can't burn the ship.
- We can never get back.
There's no way back, lad.
Once ashore, we're there to stay.
But this ship's our last tie with home.
Yon's a Ionely rock to die on.
It's enough to live on.
There's sun and earth and water.
It can be a hell or a home
as we choose to make it.
We'll remember this as long
as we live and regret it.
And remember why we took this ship.
They can't press-gang you there, they
can't starve you, and can't flog you.
We're not afraid of a new life.
As long as we can live it with decency
and self-respect, we can and we must.
For ourselves and our children.
Well, hands for burning?
- I say burn her, hull and sticks.
TOGETHER: Aye, aye.
Very well. We'll get the women
and children ashore...
...and then stand by to take her in.
TOGETHER: Aye, sir.
She makes a grand light, sir.
Good English oak.
Discipline has been maintained.
The mutineers who confessed
have been punished.
But we're here to plead
for the life of Roger Byam...
...because we believe him innocent.
And there is more at stake here,
Your Majesty, than his life.
We do not exaggerate
when we say a new understanding...
...between officers and men
has come to the fleet.
By returning Byam to duty, Your Majesty
will confirm that understanding.
And not for today only,
but for all time to come.
[SINGING]
Everyone aboard?
- The last shore boat's coming alongside.
- Make ready for sea.
Very good, sir.
- Ship ready for sea, sir.
- Very good.
Midshipman Byam,
reporting for duty.
- You take the mizzenmast, Byam.
- Very good.
- Very glad to have you with us, lad.
- Thank you, sir.
- May I,