Bounty's Heritage: The Legacy of Fletcher Christian

Fans of James Nordhoff-Hall's adventure trilogy or the several filmed versions of the H.M.S. Bounty story (most notably in 1935, 1962, and 1984, with Clark Gable, Marlon Brando, and Mel Gibson in the role of the mutineer Fletcher Christian) might find something of interest in this six-hour labor of love from enthusiast Jerry Miller. Divided into 12 half-hour chapters, this "video adventure book" combines stills of artwork representing the Bounty mutiny and the subsequent flight of the mutineers to Pitcairn Island, contemporary photographs of the island and its people, voice-over narration, and sound effects and comments from the local Pitcairn population. Unfortunately, the visually static presentation is further hampered by lackluster voice-over narration (occasionally, the narrator even speaks directly to people pictured in his photographs--a trait sometimes seen in children's videos, but not professional productions aimed at general audiences). No one likes to pooh-pooh an effort that was reportedly 12 years in the making, but this is truly for die-hard fans, not average folks looking for a good documentary. An optional purchase. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)