Product: Moby Dick [VHS] (1998)
Rating: 5.0
Moby Dick
Obsessed Captain Ahab scoures the sea in 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 Melville's novel for this screen version) rearranges many of the sequences of events from the book, and even mixes up the dialougue between the 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.