tikabuki This was a very bad remake of an amazing film. The acting was good but the script was hugely long with none of the wonderful suspense and effects of the original film. Essentially the entire book/movie was re-written as an entirely different story. It lacked everything that was amazing about the original film including the small nuances such as the seagulls, the prophesy and the way it came to pass or the way the coffin was carved. It held my interest for the first installment but I was disappointed with myself for watching the whole thing.

bkoganbing Gregory Peck returned to Moby Dick, this time in the one scene role as Father Mapple to give a farewell performance in the same work he did 42 years earlier as Captain Ahab. It was a great part to cap his career with and he received much acclaim.Taking over the Ahab part is Patrick Stewart as the demon obsessed whaling ship captain who sees a giant albino sperm whale as the root of all evil. And why not since on a previous voyage trying to capture him it cost Stewart a leg. But the point of the whole story is how the charismatic Ahab infects the crew of his ship the Pequod with his own madness.First mate Starbuck is played by Ted Levine best known as Captain Stottlemyre on Monk. And the novel's teller of this tale is played by Henry Thomas all grown up now and best remembered as the young lad from E.T. Ishmael calls and the story has not slackened a bit.Some wonderful cinematography of the Tasmanian Sea where this story was filmed. Most of the cast in the supporting roles are Australian.In the recent biography of Gregory Peck author Lynn Hamey describes the screen legend's failing health. A chronic back ailment which made him a 4F during World War II and he was suffering emphysema and his memory was failing. Still he summoned up enough reserves to be unforgettable as Father Mapple delivering that sermon for the outbound sailors about Jonah and the whale. In Peck's own Moby Dick the part had been similarly unforgettably done by Orson Welles.A lot of the subtleties in Herman Melville's great novel had to be glossed over for the big screen. But in this fine TV mini-series they're all there. The cast is well up to the challenge in this epic done for the Hallmark Channel.

JurviZ I watched this immediately after finishing the book, and all I can say is that I am a bit baffled.There were quite a lot of changes made in this version, compared to the book. Now, while this is a pretty normal thing, most adaptations require changes, I must say that all the changes made here were for the worse.All the ways this movie/mini-series differs from the original book are bad. I cannot understand why the makers of this film made the changes they made. It seems to me they cut out the very depth of the story.Most of the characters, for example, were more shallow, more over-the-top, like caricatures of the originals. This ruins the mood and the atmosphere of the story. Granted, the at times ridiculous language in the book does a bit of the same in the original, but not nearly as badly as the style of this adaptation.I feel that the whole core of the book Moby Dick is the character of Ahab, and his dual nature. He is hell bent on killing the whale, but also, deep down, a good man. Now, for some reason, the latter aspect of the character was much down-played in this version. The beauty of the original story is Ahab's own struggle with his obsession, and all the rest of the events in the story are just reflections of this internal struggle. This version does itself a disservice by not following the original on this.The book has it's problems, it's long and tedious, but the story within is a far better one than the one told by this adaptation.

Tord S Eriksson Rarely a made for TV film is worth seeing and this was definitely not an exception. The faults are too numerous to mention, but the total lack of wind and realistic weather, or that the ship never leans due to the effects of wind, or waves, or ... Sigh!The Hornblower series is in comparison a masterpiece, even if that is based on a less formidable book. But you really feel that you are at sea and not anchored in a shallow pond in Hollywood!In this day and age, that has created such really thrilling and expertly made naval stories like the Perfect Storm, this is really a stinker.Sadly not through a secondary cast, but awful directing, acting, filming and feel.Stewart should stay on his starships, and leave the seas be!