This is really strange: I was in the middle of typing a post here about my favorite overlooked historical film, "The Bounty," when I paused to look up the film's date (1984) on IMDb. Lo and behold, it's on IMDb's homepage as the "Movie of the Day." Considering how obscure the film is, this is a bizarre coincidence. I don't know how much longer this review will be available, so here it is in its entirely, which says it better than I could:

"These days, you would kill to get a cast for a sea-swept action-drama that included Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Liam Neeson. Back in 1984, however, it was a little easier for director Roger Donaldson, seeing as Gibson was still an Aussie import, Hopkins was bouncing around various television projects, and no one had ever heard of those other two strapping Irish lads. Donaldson's The Bounty was a strikingly solid adaptation of the tale of rebellious Fletcher Christian, stalwart Captain Bligh and the breadfruit and Tahitian beauty that inspired mutiny on the HMS Bounty. Unlike the rollicking 1935 classic that starred a dashing Clark Gable as the swashbuckling Christian and an imperious Charles Laughton as the evil Bligh, this is a revisionist tale that casts the Bounty captain in a more compassionate light. Hopkins' Bligh is a usually fair and just leader who's unprepared for the tropical lust that takes over his crew, and soon finds himself up against Gibson's Christian, a man torn between his duty to his captain and the newfound love he has for the South Seas (and gorgeous Tahitian native Tevaite Vernette). Donaldson's strength lies in keeping the audience sympathetic to both Hopkins and Gibson, making out neither to be a monster but rather men driven by their differing moral compasses. Donaldson further distinguished The Bounty from its predecessors with its attention to historical detail and sumptuous location photography, which seduced audiences as well as the crewmen of the ill-fated ship." - Mark Englehart

Come to think of it ... I'm going to bump One Man's Hero for 'the 13th Warrior.' ... a highly under-rated period piece.