Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979) starring Anthony Hopkins, Jenny Agutter, Tim Barrett, Michael Beck, W.B. Brydon directed by George Schaefer Movie Review

Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Anthony Hopkins in Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure (1979)

Voyage to America

"Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure" takes us back to 1620 as we watch a group of pilgrim "separatists" tire of the law and religious restrictions in England. Under the leadership of Rev. William Brewster (Richard Crenna - Breakheart Pass) they board the Mayflower which is owned by Capt. Christopher Jones (Anthony Hopkins - Victory at Entebbe) and start their journey to the New World.

I've mentioned this before but history lessons in England during the 1980s were woeful, they might as well have just handed us the text book at the start of the year and told us to go off and read it. It wasn't just the uninspiring way the subject was taught but also the content as more interesting aspects of history were ignored in favour of the older more boring aspects. Now in a way I can understand why the story of the Pilgrims' journey to America was not taught but it was never even mentioned and as such I admittedly have no knowledge of what happened and the names of those who were involved.

I mention all the above to give you an insight into where I am coming from in this review of "Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure" a 1979 TV movie about the Pilgrims' journey. Due to my lack of historical knowledge I would not be able to tell you how accurate a dramatization it is and to be honest that is not my major concern because as a movie fan my initial concern is to whether this movie engaged me and in some ways it did, it even managed educate me although not to the extent that I feel a burning desire to learn more.

Now the thing about "Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure" is that it benefits from some well known actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Richard Crenna and Jenny Agutter all of whom bring depth and tone to their characters. If it wasn't for these well known faces who bring acting ability this TV movie would suffer as visually it is full off little issues from the soft focus camera work to the editing.

What this all boils down to is that "Mayflower: The Pilgrims' Adventure" is a movie for those who know their history and enjoy watching dramatizations of those events. But as a movie fan it is engaging and informative benefiting from some well known actors who bring a touch of quality to the movie.


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