Customer Reviews
That is a good Frog - By: F. Quinn, 27 Jun 2005 
This is possibly my favourite one in the series, although it is based more on land then at sea. The humourous frequent mentioning of the word 'frog' referring to the French is quite halarious & light hearted.
This time Hornblower, newly promoted to Lieutenant & co are joined by a band of royalist French. Monkytonk (Not his real name, but that's what it sounds like) is a French foppish idiot that makes you sympathise with the french rebels & the other, a more courageous honour worthy man makes you of course sympathise with the royalist cause.
Unfortunately, their whole mission is hopeless & thankfully England does not win the war that day otherwise Hornblower would be out of a TV series.
The cast is joined by Samuel West, who expertly plays Major Eddrington (Who is infact the Earl of Eddrington) as well, who is the commanding officer of the 'Lobsters' or in other words, the British Army.
Slightly less action in this episode, due to being on land - but with a bit of romance for our poor Hornblower. This episode shows the difference between the man & the duty bound sailor & portrays the feelings of both the royalist cause whom they are fighting for, but also of the Republicans. It is a different kind of Hornblower you see - with quite a bit of humour added in.
I missed the sea battles, but in this episode you see a bit of Hornblower away from his natural hope - the ship - & a bit more of his personal character coming through while he is away from home, doing what he's used to.
A good try - By: Ms. J. H. Munro, 24 May 2003 
I found this slightly disapointing, compared with the rest of the series. There is an excellent performance from Samuel West (recently seen in Cambridge Spies), & the usual good performances from the rest of the cast. The thing is , this episode confused me. In the book, theis comes after 'The Even Chance'. For no apparent reason, the film-makers put it last out of the four episodes. Then there is the presence of Mariette. She is not in the book, & her part is rather pointless & unsatisfactory. She is acted well, but the best of actors could not have done much with that part. Otherwise, this is a good episode. I would recommend, though, that you buy it on video or in a box set.
Young Lt. Horation Hornblower caught up in the Wrong War - By: , 14 Feb 2003 "The Frogs & the Lobsters," the fourth & final episode of the Emmy award winning mini-series "Horatio Hornblower," finds our stalwart young lieutenant on land & pretty much a spectator for much of this adventure. We begin in London, where the newly promoted Lieutenant Hornblower (Ioan Gruffudd) is investing in a new uniform, while Captain Pellew (Robert Lindsay), is given orders for the "Indefatigable" to transport a smalll force of French Royalists to invade Brittany. The idea is that the long-shot mission will provoke an uprising against the French revolutionary government. However, sent assure with his men to provide artillery support, Hornblower quickly discovers the mission is going to be a horrible failure as the local Marquis returns to his house & breaks out his own private guillotine. "The Frogs & the Lobsters" involves a bit of gratuitous romance on Horatio's part, although he plays the honorable gentleman throughout, & he has some nice explosions to contend with at the end. There are a few nice scenes between Pellew & Hornblower, always some of the nicest moments in this series, & a superb curtain calll high atop the masts of the "Indy," but this is probably the least compelling episode of this superb series. It is nice to know that sometimes the Emmy awards get it right.
Another Brilliant addition - By: , 12 Jan 2001 This is an adaption of achapter from the book Mr. Midshipman Hornblower. This is very well done & is well worth seeing if you read, & liked, any of the Hornblower books. This is certainly worthy of the five stars i have given it
