Cheap Moby Dick (DVD) (Gregory Peck, Richard Basehart) (John Huston) Price

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Customer Reviews of Moby Dick

The Way to Simplify
I remember reading Moby Dick as a child and not understanding much of it. I am no longer a child, but I will not pretend to understand half of the things involved with Melville's Moby Dick; even the comic-book type of adaptations are complicated. This being said, however, the skeletal plot of Melville's classic is still quite intriguing, an unusual story of revenge and madness as well as nature. It is with this in mind that I comment on John Huston's masterpiece; this film version is fantastic! To label Gregory Peck as miscast is to discredit the task of acting (at least somewhat). True, Peck's version of Captain Ahab lacks the blatant fire of the written character, but his silent and brooding interpretation carries just as much obsession and passion as does the literary Ahab; indeed, I thoroughly enjoyed Ahab's portrayal in this film version. This is perhaps Mr. Peck's finest moment in his acting career. An earlier reviewer remarked on how unconvincing Frederick Ledebur is in the role of Queequeg-- I would have to disagree with that. Although Ledebur does not specifically look like a Pacific Islander in this movie, he is still quite large and swarthy, and his portrayal of Queequeg does an excellent job of conveying him as a foreigner and a mystery (who is, of course, genuinely noble at heart). In terms of appearances, Tashtego the Native American is not particularly native-looking either, but does this mean that the actor did a horrible job? Of course not; a great actor can portray other ethnic groups effectively, even if s/he does not specifically look the part. Getting back to the film itself, it is simply a beauty to look at. The oceanic imagery is very aesthetically pleasing, and the whaling scenes are fascinating; I myself always wondered how it was done, especially before modern technology. I do not specifically condone whaling other than as a means of survival, but it is nonetheless a spectacle to watch. Finally, there is the white whale itself, which is INCREDIBLY realistic-looking, and far superior in quality to any trick done by computers! Having seen whales at aquariums, the rubber whale used in Huston's film is complete with the life-like imperfections and markings found on real specimens. It is really hard to believe that Moby Dick himself, or herself, is not a living creature; even its movements and actions are incredibly life-like! Placing these great special effects together with an interesting plot and great acting make this film an excellent edition to any collection. I highly recommend it.

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The Great American Movie
If Herman Melville's book is called the great American novel, than this picture should be called the great American movie. It's too bad some folks tried to remake this classic film because there is no way anyone can improve on the genius of Houston, Bradbury, and Peck. To say Gregory Peck was miscast was foolish because of the actor's ample talent in playing either heroes or villians like Josef Mengele opposite Lawrence Olivier in THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL.

Sadly the movie (like most Hollywood fare) does not stict to the book - leaving out much of Melviille's Shakespearean poetry and prose. Starbuck's soliloquy lamenting his cowardice and Ahab's evil would have added much to the drama of the film. Also, Fadallah (the Asian harpooneer) is never seen in this movie, and it is he, not Ahab who gets entangled in harpoon ropes around Moby Dick. While I liked the surreal cinematography and wonderful sea shanties, I was hoping to see more of Starbuck, Stubbs, and Flask - at least as detailed as Melville wrote in his book. The author added depth and dimension to his characters which is not seen in this version of Moby Dick or it's cheap remake. All in all though I loved it. It comes across a little like a play about Macbeth at sea.

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Boring!!!!!!!!
This movie is very boring and is not very good. While watching this shameless movie, I fell asleep. It is about Ahab and his obsession with a white whale (Moby Dick). If you are looking for action this is not for you. It gets somewhat suspenseful in the last half-hour. However, I do not recommend it to anyone!!