JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Ramses_Emerson Loyalty is the 8th installment in the Horatio Hornblower series and so far it's one of the best. If you enjoyed the previous Hornblower films you will surely enjoy this one. As we have come to expect from the Horatio Hornblower series the acting is great, Ioan Gruffudd as Hornblower is fantastic as usual and Robert Lindsay and Paul McGann also turn in excellent performances. The rest of the crew is back ( and fans will surely enjoy seeing Sean Gilder and Paul Copley as Styles and Mathews). The script is great and the battles on land and sea are epic and intense. The visual effects are pretty good especially in one scene that has Horatio running as everything is exploding behind him. The music is basically the same material we have heard in the other Hornblower films, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. All in all an excellent production and a great continuation of the Hornblower saga.

TheNorthernMonkee SPOILERS Ever since the middle ages, Ireland has been an enormous problem for the English. In 2003's brilliant "Loyalty", the Irish play a key part in the adventures of the newly promoted Captain Horatio Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd). The story, well written and with a superb cast, is a return to form for a series which had dipped slightly in recent episodes.The English and the French are at peace. Living on half pay, Hornblower is far from happy with the world. Staying at the lodgings of Mrs Mason (Barbara Flynn) and her daughter Maria (Julia Sawalha), Hornblower is relieved when he is sent on an important mission to France. Now, with a suspicious Frenchman on board (Greg Wise), Hornblower is under pressure from ineptitude and deception as plans start to go wrong.Ioan Gruffudd has made a lifelong name for himself as the enigmatic Hornblower. Acting magnificently he has made the part his own and thrives on it.Gruffudd is helped however by a fine supporting cast led by Robert Lindsay, Paul Copley and Sean Gilder. All three supporting actors have been in the series from the first episode, and continue to play characters that the audience has a genuine affection for.The true beauty of this episode however is it's scripting. Well converted from the books into the programme by writer Niall Leonard, the story is absorbing and entertaining from the start.On a television budget, this episode does demonstrate a distinctly lower key form of special effects. Whilst the sets and the boat are constantly well made, scenes involving multiple ships and and scenery have an intensely artificial look. One scene involving a view of a French boat from the deck in particular smacks of being filmed on a Green backdrop. Still, for all it's technical flaws, the gritty realism is enough to appease it.This seventh and second to last episode in the Hornblower series is a worthy addition to the collection and a vast improvement on the previous episode. Well written and acted, it is entertaining and imaginative and once more they have us hooked. Well worth a watch.

Mike "Pops" Murphy The opening credits note "based on the stories by C. S. Forester". In the interest of fairness, it should say "very loosely based...". I happened across this on tonight and am appalled for Forester's sake. How A&E takes a well-written intelligent drama and turns it into such stupid melodrama that has only a faintly passing relationship to the actual story is beyond my comprehension. Spielberg once said to his crew in regard to a tv-movie he was making, "This is TV folks - Tender Vittles. We have to make it simple for them." Obviously the A&E folks studied at his school of pablum. Certainly this series is entertaining on some level, but don't for a minute think you know the Hornblower story based on seeing it. Call it something else and not Hornblower if they're going to change it so radically. For me, I'm angry, as I hoped to see Forester's great stories given a good treatment.

aless02 (possible minor spoilers)'Loyalty' is an excellent movie. The Hornblower saga has become renown among fans and non-fans alike, and 'Loyalty' only continues this tradition. The acting ensemble assembled for this cast includes some of the finest Britain has to offer--along with some no-names as well. Ioan Gruffudd's performance could be topped by no one in a round of some of the greatest acting that could be found on television. He truly comes into his own in this role, portraying Hornblower's move from boy to man with perfection. Perfectly complimented by Paul McGann as the gruff Lt. Bush, the two make a unique duo of friends--so marked by their professional relationship as well. The dynamic between these two, as well as Hornblower with all his officers and men aboard the Hotspur, is incredibly acted and remarkably convincing.'Loyalty''s land action is exceptional as well. Julia Sawalha is perfectly cast as Maria--poor, dumpy, and completely pathetic. Hornblower is left completely unaware of his effect on her, and she plays it off beautifully. More well-played characters come from Greg Wise as the illustrious French Major Cotard and a virtually unknown Jonathan Forbes as the intelligent Midshipman Wellard. Christian Coulson does a fabulous job creating the weak Jack Hammond, and his performance and cowardice (yet, being redeemed in the end) hit home with the viewer. Robert Lindsay is nothing short of great in his role as Admiral Pellew, as always.The special effects and action sequences of 'Loyalty' are top-notch as well. The entire cast plays it off as very convincing, and the battles are dramatic and completely realistic.'Loyalty' does seem to sacrifice a small fraction of believability to further the story. The plot is little weak at certain points, and large revelation at the end may leave the viewer going "...Huh?". However, I think that these are only minor points in what is, over all, a very well-produced new Hornblower movie. It will please long-time fans, as well as rope in new ones. Loyalty is nice in its ability to stand alone as a Hornblower movie, but yet entices new viewers to backtrack and watch the beginning of the series as well.The ending of Loyalty will leaving you giggling again with Gruffudd's brilliant acting; more importantly, it leaves you wanting more...luckily, the series continues with 'Duty', the second part of Hornblower's story as captain of the Hotspur.