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.

Lee Eisenberg So Gregory Peck's final appearance was in a movie based on the same story as one of his best movies. However, this version of "Moby Dick" is a little hard to take seriously. You see, Ahab is played by Capt. Picard, and Ishmael is played by ET's friend. A previous reviewer noted that they took so much out of the story that no character seems to have any motivation.But still, it's a pretty fun romp seeing the men sailing around the world on the Pequod, looking for the whale who bit off Ahab's leg. Maybe there might be a better version of it one day. On second thought, just stick with the 1956 version.

StarCastle99 Usually I don't expect much out of movies made for TV. They're seven acts, instead of the traditional three, which makes plotting difficult. They work on miniscule budgets, and usually use actors on their way up or their way down. Not to be compared with theatrical motion pictures - apples and oranges. However, the exception proves the rule.This is an epic telling of the Melville story. Okay, most of you probably had a bad experience reading the novel. You end up asking why Ahab was prepared to give his life for catching or killing the great albino whale. The answer is that Ahab and the Whale are inexorably bound in life. The whale is Ahab's grab for the eternal brass ring, one that eludes him time and again.First: Best motion picture score I've ever heard for a TV Movie. Second: This picture is filmed like a theatrical, meant to be projected on a large screen. Third: My dear friend, Patrick Stewart who doesn't know how to give a bad performance. Patrick, like the whale is a force of nature, not to be denied. I've directed Patrick on a number of occasions and there's none of the nonsense you hear about the whims of great actors. Patrick comes to work prepared and when he makes a suggestion you take it very seriously.I don't care about the other online reviews putting the knock on Melville or his story. What have any of us done recently that will live for more than a century and a half. That my friends is the mark of greatness. It's an elusive butterfly that anybody who gives their life to the creative arts covets and strives to achieve. I give it a ten and defy any reader of this review to tell me why it deserves a scentila less.

TexasRedge I didn't even know that this film even existed until one day I was at the check-out counter at my local Wal-Mart store and the had a shelf/table full of discounted videos(you know-the ones thay couldn't sell at full price,so they move them to the front of the store and mark the price way down) And being a lover of films, I took the liberty to sift through these to see if there was anything there that might peek my interest. ....and that is when I found Moby Dick. So,I purchased the film for only $3.99I remember reading Moby Dick in my 8th grade Jr.High class and I also remeber that I didn't like it, and I remeber wondering why this story had been so popular for so many years, and I remeber wondering why it had became such a timeless classic. Dispite the fact that I didn't like Moby Dick as a novel, for some reason I though I might Enjoy this film. Seeing how I only had $4 bucks invested in it - it seemed that I couldn't go wrong.I ended up liking everything about this film but the story.The Music is first rate, the costumes are great,The acting is very well done. In fact this is one of the best quality Made for TV films of the 1990's (exclunding epic mini-series which are always done much better than single Made for TV films like this one). My problem with Moby Dick was that the source material for this film(the Moby Dick novel itself)isn't good to start with. Once again just like when I was 14 and in the 8th grade (only now I'm 32) I must admit that my yunger 14 year old self was right. this story is pointless. Captain Ahab chases a Albino(White) whale all over the world because he is own a revenge quest to kill the great white whale nick-named Moby Dick. only to get him self and his entire crew killed in the process. leaving only the stories main charactor as the sole survivor.Once again at age 32(just like when I was 14)I found myself wondering why this story has managed to stand up to the test and time and still remain one of the worlds great literary classics. The story has always been pointless to me. However this movie did absoletly the best they could with the source material that had. I guess the best way to make a movie thats not very good is to base it on a classic novel that not very good to start with.I gave this film 6 out of 10 stars- only because the production,Music, cast and crew did a very fine job. it the story Moby Dick that stinks