Moby Dick (1998 miniseries)
Moby Dick is a 1998 American television miniseries based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name. It was filmed in Australia in 1997 and first released in the United States in 1998. The miniseries consisted of two episodes, each running two hours with commercials on March 15 and 16 of 1998 on the USA Network.
Ishmael is a young sailor who joins the crew of the whaling ship Pequod. Captain Ahab is in charge of Pequod and he is obsessed in finding and killing Moby Dick. The whale cost him one of his legs. Queequeg meets Ishmael at an inn and joins him in this whaling journey.
Ahab rejects the repeated pleas of Starbuck to stop chasing Moby Dick because the ship is operating at a loss and the quest for the sperm whale could end in everyone's death. Queequeg engages in passive resistance by completely refusing to do any work on the ship and throws down his harpoon.
Starbuck is conflicted with his duty to follow captain orders even when he thinks Ahab is mad. The captain refuses to assist another ship who has lost that captain's son at sea. The crew pulls the Pequod over ice and survives a massive storm. Despite the raving and orders of the mad captain, the crew will not mutiny and die whaling sailors if necessary.
The white whale Moby Dick is found and the hunt is on. The whale is harpooned but it sinks the chase boat. Ahab harpoons the whale but he drowns as Moby Dick dives and takes him under. The white giant smashes into the whaling ship and it sinks. The only survivor is Ishmael.
In addition to the those listed for the novel, the following tropes apply to this miniseries:
- Casting Gag/Remake Cameo: Gregory Peck -- Ahab in the 1956 film -- played Father Mapple.
- Compressed Adaptation: The even-numbered chapters (the "whaling encyclopedia") are omitted.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Ishmael is played by Elliot!
- One-Scene Wonder: Father Mapple, as played by Gregory Peck (1998).
- Race Lift: In the 1998 version, Fedallah (a Persian) is portrayed by an Indonesian actor.
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