Customer Reviews

Moby Dick

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

Once again Patrick Stewart shows us there is more to him than Jean-Luc Picard of Star Trek: The Next Generation. An excellent performance equal in caliber to the 1956 movie with Greg Peck (which is also on DVD now as I write this). By the way important note to Amazon staff and all other previous reviewers and anyone looking to buy this disc. When this disc originally got released soon after the telecast in 1998 on USA Network, it was packaged and labed at 145 minutes (that's 2 hours and 25 minutes) which gave the hint that the disc was edited. I just played mine in my player last night. When I hit the display button on my remote, I get a screen which counts the time on the disc up from 0 and next to it counts it down from the total time. The combined time of these countdowns is 3 HOURS. Which is what should be since it ran 4 hours on USA Network. That means the manufacturer made a mistake in announcing it at 145 minutes, so for those who are concerned that it was cut, relax it hasn't been.

Eversince my dad bought this movie four years ago, I have been hooked. Hookline and sinker. It is a wonderful, emotional movie that leaves you dreading the moment that it will come to an end.

Captain Ahab(Patrick Stewart)is a man that is waging a constant war with his inner demons eversince the day that his leg was bit off by his arch Nemesis Moby Dick. Believing Moby Dick to be satan in disguise, and he, Ahab, Gods own avenger against such a creature. Ahab charters a ship, whose crew must unknowinly follow Ahab on his journey through the hellish darkness of his madness.

There is one man who dares to defy the utter madness of Ahab, and that is Starbuck(Ted Levine) who pleads with Ahab to forgo his passion for revenge. The Quaker in him being struck senseless by such a blasphemous outrage against God and nature.
It is a mariners tale of men against nature, and forces that he cannot, and should not try and control. It is a story of how deep one man's madness can influence others. It is a tale of one's man desire to become a god, to hold the life and death of a scant few people in the palm of his hand.

But his madness does not lead him to glory, or even the menial triumph of his victory. Instead, it leads him and his crew to a watery grave, Ahabs lust for revenge nothing more than a death sentance for those that needed not die. A wonderful, but sad movie nevertheless. The music also gives it depths that could probally be not achieved otherwise. Definitaly a must see.

Note: This review is by a high school English Teacher.

When the time came for my students to see a film version of "Moby Dick," I bought both the 1950's film and this one on DVD. After watching both of them carefully, I decided that this newer offering would have much more appeal to my students than the older film.

I seem to have been right, and I think it is safe to say that the 1950's film can now be retired, except for film buffs and the curious.

I especially liked the fact that the American Indian and South Sea Island characters in this film were actually played by people who appear to be part of those societies. In the 1950's film, they are played by what looks to be white factory workers from upstate New York wearing lots of makeup. This would have been very annoying and distracting to my diverse group of students.

As for other reviewers' comments about Patrick Stewart's performance, my feeling is that he nailed it. As Starbuck says, "to seek revenge against a dumb brute that only bit thee out of blindest instinct is blasphemy..." Ahab is someone who sees the idea of resigning oneself to a negative twist of fate as repellant. He is someone who would rather burn to a crisp than ask a higher power for rain. The thing that drives him isn't just obsession; it is rebellion against the infinite.

In psychological terms, Ahab gave all of his power to the whale, and enslaved his life and destiny to it when it was not rationally necessary for him to do so. He is like a small child who has had his lollipop taken away, and who has thrown himself on the floor, absolutely determined to be inconsolable by anything or anyone. Stewart captures that aspect of Ahab perfectly, and it led to some very constructive paper writing and classroom discussion.

I only withhold the fifth star because I wish this film was a longer "Director's Cut" version, covering more of the book than it currently does.

Gee, it started out so well; this version of Herman Mehlville's classic novel of obsession and revenge begins with an earnestness that suggests it might actually do justice to it's literary inspiration. But unfortunately, that is not to be the case. The inherent problem with bringing Moby Dick to the screen is that the book is such a massive work that combines sea-going adventure and complex characters with an almost textbook discussion of whales and their habits. Whether you've read the book or not, you are probably aware of the story. A young wanderer signs on to a whaling expedition under the command of a legendary captain seeking to avenge his maiming by a a white whale. John Huston made a semi-classic version in 1956 that succeeded far better than this despite one of the few so so performances by Gregory Peck.

The problem with this particular production is that it suffers from a bad case of "mini-series syndrome" -- a headline actor, plenty of time to tell the story and a limited budget to work with. Patrick Stewart certainly does his part. As Captain Ahab he displays a range of psychotic emotion that somehow eluded Gregory Peck in the '56 version (one of Peck's few disappointing performances). Ahab is a difficult character to portray without going over the top, but Stewart succeeds, quickly banishing the viewer's expectations to hear him refer to the First Mate Starbuck as "Number One" or issuing an order to "make it so" ala his alter ego Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Stewart's Ahab is as scared psychologicaly as he is physically. But in Stewart's hands you can somewhat understand the sailing and leadership ability of Ahab while bemoaning the course of destruction that he is pursuing.

Another actor that stands out is Piripi Waretini in the role of Queequeg. His portrayal is far more enigmatic than the almost cartoonish "savage" portrayed in the earlier movie. But from there the quality of performance by the remaining cast drops precipitously. Henry Thomas is okay as Ishmael, however Ted Levine as the ill-fated Starbuck seems to be acting with his jaw wired shut. Mr. Peck is wasted in the almost cameo role of Father Mapple.

Ironically, the seagoing visuals of the older film are far superior to those of this more digitized version. While the whale is more believable, the shipboard storm scenes look like they were filmed at a movie studio theme park, and sadly, they get worse as the film progresses. Was there a problem with the budget?

Watch it if you will, there are far worse things to put in your DVD player. And if it stirs your interest sufficently enough to read the book... that is a very good thing!

Just like any movie produced from a book, if you compare it to the book, it will most certainly fall short. If you take the movie in the context that its a dramatic movie made to enthrall you for a couple of hours, than you'll find this movie exceptional. I watch it about twice a year and find it one of the better movies in my personal collection.

The obsessed Captain Ahab travels the sea in relentless search of Moby Dick, the white whale that took his leg. Through the duration of his personal hunt, Ahab acknowledges nary a thought of responsibility or regard to his ship and crew. Directed by Franc Roddam (who also adapted the script from Melville's novel), this newest screen treatment of Moby Dick rearranges many of the sequences of events from the book, and even mixes up the dialougue between characters in some spots. Nevertheless, despite these odd changes, Roddam's effort is an entertaining piece of work. Patrick Stewart is simply remarkable in his portrayal of Ahab. Ted Levine, Henry Thomas, and Hugh Keays-Byrne also turn in fine performances. Originally aired on USA Network as a three-hour miniseries. The DVD version of this movie comes in at 145 minutes. The first VHS edition had a running length of 120 minutes and was later re-released at 145 minutes. Gregory Peck, who played Captain Ahab in John Huston's 1956 film version of the novel, won a Golden Globe Award here for his cameo role as Father Mapple

It seems that there are several different versions of this TV movie available. Rumor has it that the movie that was originally broadcast on USA came in at 3 hours, there is a laser disc version of the movie that is 145 minutes long, and the VHS version is 120 minutes long. Unfortunately, the edits made to the VHS version are so extreme, abrupt, and awkward that it makes the movie virtually unwatchable. You can't help but feel that you're missing something.

Basically, I wanted to say that of all the dvds I have purchased, this film has the richest sound. I thought that to be very odd because this was a made-for-tv movie. I was wondering if anyone else experienced this?

I was really disappointed with the movie. I read the book which had its boring parts, but it also had its exciting parts. I felt that the movie just dragged along very slowly. Most of the visuals of the whales are nothing more than a tail or fin. There are some computer generated whales that are shown, but they are far and few between. In one of the final seens where Moby Dick attacks the rest of the crew, you see one of the most ridiculous part of the movie. Moby Dick's tail slams down on each of the boats a few times and you are left to assume that all the crews are dead. It was very repetitive for that scene. I also thought that the movie made Starbuck appear as though he was going mad too, where as, he seemed a little more cool, calm, and collected in the book. Flask was way over acted as well. I think the portrayal of Stubb and Ishmael was very good though. I don't know, you probably can't make this book into a good movie without changing the script a little bit and "Hollywoodizing" it. But honestly the book on tape version would probably be more entertaining than this movie.

I rented this remake with high expectations.

I was disappointed.

In four hours, they failed to tell half the story Huston and Bradbury got so perfectly right in the 1956 classic.

Huston's classic is a little dated, particularly in terms of special effects that look like the miniatures they in fact are. While the CGI whale in this remake is a refreshingly-convincing manifestation of a 60-foot sperm whale, it's not Moby Dick.

This movie is bright and colorful, and the whale's just a whale. The cast doesn't come across as seasoned whalers, it feels like actors playing weekend yachtsmen, thanks in no small part to a script that can't seem to respect the intelligence of its audience.

Moby Dick is a dark, slow story of building, brooding menace, which makes the moments of action all the more thrilling and terrifying.

This remake captures none of the atmosphere or colorful character or menace of Melville's classic. At its best moments, it's simply re-hashing moments that were were perfected 42 years before.

If you want to see Moby Dick, see John Huston's 1956 masterpiece.