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Engaging drama/documentary of the life-long struggle of John Harrison (played by Michael Gambon) to win the £20,000 prize of the 1714 Longitude Act. The competition was open to anyone who could provide a practicable solution to determining longitude at sea, which was desperately needed for safe navigation. Interwoven into this plot is another story, set over 200 years later, of an equally obsessive clockmaker named Rupert Gould (played by Jeremy Irons). Gould is a retired Navy Commander who painstakingly restores the Harrison clocks, found abandoned in a Greenwich store room, as therapy after coming home from the Second World War. Harrison, a carpenter and self-taught clock-maker, reasoned the simplest answer to the longitude problem was an accurate sea clock that could keep time of the reference place while at sea. From this the distance east-west could be calculated. Regular clocks of the time were sensitive to humidity and temperature, and pendulums don’t work on a rolling ship. Harrison introduced several innovations in his quest to convince Board of Longitude he had solved the problem. In all, he produced 4 sea clocks (called H1 to H4), each smaller and more refined than the last. Unfortunately, the Board was comprised mainly of astronomers, who seemed less interested in Harrison’s clocks and more in preserving the existing use of astronomical methods for navigation. Gambon’s excellent performance of the country carpenter pitched against the scientific establishment lifts the emotions with every triumph, only to dashed on technicalities by the Board. The scenes on board ship are particularly brutal, and compelling viewing for anyone with more than a passing interest in the Royal Navy in the Georgian era. Irons too, puts in a compelling performance of the emotionally fragile Commander Gould, who’s meticulous work and gradual recovery has its own emotional highs and lows. Highly recommended.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I read the book and found it very interesting. The two disc DVD set weaves the development of Harrison's clocks with the effort to restore them by Gould. It takes a little getting used to the jumping from one time period to the other, but it's nice to see the clocks that were developed. Not clear if they are the original clocks or reproductions but interesting none the less.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is a miniseries about a guy who designed a clock. It is NOT edge of your seat excitement. There are no car chases or romances, or comic relief. If you are not entertained by factual accounts of scientific research and development as well as political corruption, then this film is not for you. It is, however a fantastic history lesson concerning one of the lesser known, but ultimately most important inventions in modern history. Very fascinating for people who just want to know how things are done and how history is made.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Good movie however, there are two story lines. One of the story lines is not credible, completely pointless. Gambon's part is great. Jeremy Irons has a part which does not make full use of his considerable talent.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this DVD because I read Dava Sobel's wonderful book first and thought this might be an interesting companion to it. Most movies made from books, I watch first to see if the book is worth reading. This time I did I it the other way around. Michael Gambon and Jeremy Irons just do a wonderful job of bringing the book to life AND we get to see the development of the succeeding models of the chronometers on the screen that I had only to conjure images of before, reading a printed page. I'm a navigation & history nut and I enjoyed it immensely.....I think anyone anyone even mildly interested in this kind of thing would, too!
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