Rating: 
Summary: A Movie Better than Its Stars
Review: After all these years,I finally did it--I saw "Moby-Dick" of my own volition. The family would watch it, ages ago, when it would come on TV, but I usually wandered away and came back in time for the dramatic sinking of the Pequod. Then, last week, I read that it was going to be shown THAT VERY NIGHT in a place called Den of Cin for [low cost]. How could I lose? So off I went.I think I may know now why the movie never seemed to hold my interest as a lilGal. It is miscast, as several of the other reviewers have pointed out, in two crucial roles. Well, at least, there OUGHT to be two crucial roles--that's part of problem number one, Richard Basehart's Ishmael. Ishmael is the narrator of the book, and one could argue that he's supposed to fall out and not be noticed as Everything Else takes place. But does that mean that the actor has to be a nonentity? Malibu Ken in the back closet could've done as well. And, you know, in the New Bedford tavern, old tars and barkeeps keep saying, "Young feller", "Son", and things like that to Basehart. Um, this guy is not young. Why is this happening? I could have understood if the part were being played by a big name actor too old to have been cast at that time, like say Monty Clift. But since Basehart was never a big star, and he wasn't any spring chicken, what gives? So that's Miscast Number One. No mystery to Miscast Number Two, Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. After giving a good hard look at a number of Peck's performances, I really have to say that he often fails to bring anything to the table that's at all remarkable or memorable. He's tall and has a deep voice, but no where near the actor that his contemporary Kirk Douglas is. So this Ahab is passionless, though he grimaces often. One reviewer characterized this as Abe Lincoln at sea, but it's more like Silas Barnaby from Laurel and Hardy's "March of the Wooden Soldiers"--that more exactly conveys the acting style at work here. So what makes the movie, then? Camerawork, editing, and color. The scenes where the crew are harpooning whales before Ahab gets wind of Moby Dick's whereabouts are dazzling. Exhilarating! And I had long ago heard that a special effect was used with the color. But I was told it was to resemble oil paintings, so I had expected a dark murky grainy look. Not at all! These are the light shades of early 19th century whaling prints. Nothing quite like it, before or since. Ergo, you might try weighing anchor and checking out "Moby Dick", but the crew's not everything they ought to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Orson Welles at his finest (with Abe Lincoln)
Review: This is the classic film starring Abraham Lincoln as Captain Ahab, and where Orson Welles's bit part steals the show. Just kidding to the first, and not kidding to the second. In fact I purchased the DVD just to see Mr. Welles (Rest In Peace) give that one sermon as Father Mapple. I caught this flick on a movie channel and was overwhelmed by Mr. Welles (R.I.P.) cameo. He made the movie! Why such a talent ended up making cheesy commercials, I'll never know. Back to Peck. Yes, he was miscast as Ahab. He doesn't quite get the sense of insanity or evil that Ricardo Monteban (Wrath of Khan), or Anthony Hopkins (Silence of Lambs, Hannibal) convey. You just know that Lecter really knows what he is doing is wrong, but he doesn't care, and that somehow he thinks being a cannibal is funny. The best Peck can do is weird eye rolling along the lines of Jonathan Lithgow's Emilio Lizardo in "Buckaroo Banzai." The DVD is rather skimpy on the extras-no commentaries, or any of the other extras we have come to love. The copy is not perfect, but not as horrid as I have seen. I think it works, though, if your intent is to enjoy a movie. If your intent is to fault-find, then . . . This film is classic, despite any DVD shortcomings. It has great color, stunning cinematography, and a gripping storyline. It is a great adaptation of the book, and removes all of the unnecessary exposition on cetology and whatnot. PS: Read the book. It's much better!
Rating:
Summary: Great Film, but . . .
Review: I would have rated this DVD 5 stars, but had trouble getting the color to come out the way I remembered in the theatre and on broadcast TV. I did not have this problem with other DVDs. Fine performance by Peck, et al.
Rating: 
Summary: She Blows!
Review: Although Patrick Stewart turns in a riveting and heart-felt performance as the revenge-driven Ahab, there is no denying that this movie stinks as bad as yesterday's blubber. It's too bad that a project this ambitious could not have been turned over to an old sea salt like James Cameron. Although, truth be told, Cameron probably would have quintupled the budget with his salary alone. The world deserves a modern big screen treatment of this classic tale. Too bad this is what we got. There is nothing wrong with the acting. Henry Thomas (yes, E.T.'s Henry Thomas) gives a noble performance as Ishmael. Gregory Peck makes a more than worthwhile cameo as the fire and brimstone-spouting Father Mapple. But once the Pequod sets sail, it's time to look for a lifeboat. For a film that obviously spent a lot of time and money shooting in worldwide locales with first-rate actors on a gorgeous - if not overly decorated - period ship, somebody severely dropped the ball in the post-production department. Dropped the ball, stuck a harpoon in it and then dumped it overboard. Underwater shots are laughable, computerized sperm whales breach like marlins and the only real special effects prop used (a high school-project whale tail) is about as convincing as a cardboard light-sabre. The film is hacked together for television commercial inserts and has all the artistic pacing of a spooked horse. The anticlimactic ending turns Ahab's most powerful speech ("From Hell's heart, I stab at thee...") into an uncomfortable afterthought. And the seventeen dollars that appeared to be left for the special effects make for the most cringe-worthy ship sinking ever put to film. Call me Ishmael. Call me whatever you want. Just call me when it's over.
Rating:
Summary: DISAPPOINTING DVD
Review: MGM Vintageclassic - NOT. Color is flat and detail is soft. Why would MGM even consider releasing such a "Classic" film in other than the widescreen format. The film, characters and actors are all 5 star but the DVD version is no better than a VHS rental. I give MGM 1 star for effort.
Rating: 
Summary: Epic film of American Masterpiece....a wicked great film
Review: The collaboration of Director Houston, script writer Ray Bradbury and Gregory Peck heading a superb cast, make this production of Melville's masterpiece marvelous. It's said that John Houston "drove"...with flattery, fear and abject insult... now justly reputed master of American fantasy/allegory, Ray Bradbury like Ahab himself to create the script that makes MOBY DICK exciting adventure...without diluting its dark, Apocalyptic symbolism and portents. MOBY DICK is regarded by many as THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. No one will disagree its demands and reward are comparable to...for example...Dostoyevsky or Conrad's work. AHAB is one of the great figures of world literature; perhaps,the most powerful ANTI-HERO yet written. Gregory Peck is...in my estimate...uniquely succesful in his cinamatic incarnation of this "godly, ungodly man." The symbolic depths that Moby Dick essays are manifest. Bradbury's pierces "cardboard masks" of the human conditon, ultimately tested, with sure insight and genius comparable to Melville. John Houston's control of his material is equally deft. Pacing is swift. From the moment Royal Dano delivers his "warning"...as Prophet Elijah...the Pequod's foreshadowed doom is pursued with recklessness that hypnotically enthralls the viewer as Ahab intended to beguile his crew. Against Peck's Ahab is Leo Genn's Mr. Starbuck. Genn plays this stalwart Quaker as tragic antagonist but ironic disciple whose fatal conversion to Ahab's defiance/obsession("I'd strke the sun if it insulted me!") seals the fate of his comrades. Richard Basehart plays guileless Ishamel without hint of the cynicism he brings to his most famour role as Ivan in THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. Comparison with the recent HALLMARK Patrick Stewart hinges on what you surmise MOBY DICK to be about, therefore, expect from a film. Patrick Stewart is magnificent as Ahab. But, in my mind's eye, GREGORY PECK IS AHAB. Moby Dick is about...like Apocalypse Now!...courage confronting radical evil tragically becoming that which it beholds. This is Ray Bradbury's craft above all else. His script focuses on the mankind's combat with Evil. Houston has filmed Melville's ultimate metaphor for such an impossibly malign force of Nature: THE GREAT WHITE WHALE. Ray Bradbury has written many parables about such battles (Fahrenheit 451; Tales "Quicker than the Eye"; Something Wicked This Way Comes) and Herman Melville seems soul-mate blood brother. John Houston's MOBY DICK, and Gregory Peck's Ahab epitomize the grandeur of what Melville called his "wicked book." In my estimate, this is the definitive rendering, the epic film of the American masterpiece. It is a wicked, great film......
Rating: 
Summary: More Huston than Melville.
Review: More a lean Hemingway adventure than Melville's mad encyclopaedia - and even more a typical Huston fable about men and failure. Ahab the maimed tries to recover wholeness by destroying his destroyer, a non-starter of an idea. It needed someone with a less cautious imagination to make this, someone who didn't care so much about plot, who could plumb the depths, soar the heights, the rites, the lunatic, magical, incantatory pagan/religious/philosophical mish mash. Only the eerie scene of Queequig's decision to die even comes close. The whaling sequences are the best, full of a real, almost documentary danger that brings the film nearer to Herzog. Herzog doing 'Moby Dick'? Now there's a thought...Kinski as Ahab...mmm.
Rating:
Summary: Good screenplay and directing but weak cast
Review: Released in 1956, and starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, the screenplay was written by Ray Bradbury. He had to change the story in order to condense it but did a masterful job of capturing the essence of Melville's novel, which was too wordy for my tastes anyway. I was also impressed by John Huston's directing; given the limited technical effects available in 1956, he managed to convey the turbulence of the sea, the thrill of the whale kills and he pulled fine acting performances from his cast. The cast, however, was the weak link . Gregory Peck was only 40 years old when he played the role and although he managed to capture Ahab's madness, he needed more than a streak of dyed gray hair and a phony scar on his face to convey the feeling of someone who had spent a lifetime at sea. There were actually fewer wrinkles on his face than there were on the face of Richard Basehart, who played the role of Ishmael and was actually 42 years old at the time. Another example of this gross miscasting was the role of Queequeq, the harpooner who was supposed to be a pacific islander. I can't understand why the role was given to a Frederick Ledebur, a 56-year-old actor who came from Vienna; he had very light skin, a long nose and a German accent. Also, although the crewmen might have been good actors, their bodies just didn't have the musculature that comes from hard physical labor. Of course it was 1956 and working out at gyms wasn't in style, but I wish that the casting director had at least required what looked like physical strength. One role, however, that was right on the mark was that of Orson Welles as Father Mapple. He might have had only one speech, but it was an imposing one. He looked the part and his voice had the quality of orator. That said, I did find some enjoyment in the film. There was tension throughout and, unlike the Melville book, the story didn't ramble. I hesitate in recommending the video though. There are too many other better things around.
Rating:
Summary: One of the 10 best films of all time
Review: Gregory Peck was cast perfectly as Ahab, the screenplay adaptation of the novel was constructed beautifully for grandiose entertainment on the silver screen, and Huston's style presents it to us as one of the best movies of all time. If Spielberg creates a new movie casting Clint Eastwood as Ahab (as an Amazon.com reviewer suggests), he better pull all the stops and use all of his magic to compete with this tasteful work from the fifties (and I know I'd go to see it!).
Rating:
Summary: Why has Spielberg not attempted to remake this?
Review: A classic of this calibre is difficult to approach, simply because of the volumes that have already been written. The image of Orson Wells as Father Maple has stuck with me for years, as has the contents of his sermon (watch closely at the ropes of his ladder up to the pulpit which magically detach from the floor when he pulls the ladder after him!). The whaling scenes have never been beaten, but that is mostly because they have never really been attempted properly since and suffer through age,looking very dated indeed. The same can be said for the sets (the 'Spouter Inn' could be on a high-school stage set). For this, and many other reasons, I think it is high time that this movie be re-made using the best in modern effects, and the finest of modern actors. Who could play the mad Captain Ahab with the kind of fixed purpose and magnetism needed? I can only think of one person, and I know you may laugh, but I think Clint Eastwood at his present age was born to play this character... the steely eyes, the voice, the gravitas, the believability... Think about it for a bit and I think you will agree!
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