A Movie Review of Moby Dick

These days, producers and writers work together to try and reproduce classic novels as motion pictures. How precise can a motion picture company re-create a classic? Sometimes they arent as accurate and realistic as they may think. Although the motion picture somewhat differs from Melvilles work, the realistic portrayal and overall cinematography of the movie are worthy of praise.

In this motion picture re-creation, the writers seem to have added a small amount of their own opinions and left out a great deal of Melvilles work.

In the beginning of the movie, the first event that contrasted Melvilles novel was the entire first day. Ishmael, according to the novel, was alone the entire first day. Queequeg did not appear at church with him as they show in the movie. Ishmael also went to check out ships himself, not with Queequeg. As read in the novel, Ishmael visited two other ships before he visited the Pequod.

The movie production failed to show this.

On board the ship, the movie shows the harpooners drinking grog out of the end of their harpoons after Ahab has dripped his own blood into the liquid. The harpooners did drink out of their harpoons in the book, but Ahab never put his blood in the grog. Throughout the movie, Queequeg said many more words than what Melville originally had him speak. The other sailors aboard the ship never made fun of Queequeg as they did in the movie. When the Pequod met up with the British ship, the captains arm was supposed to have been made out of whalebone.

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In the movie, it looked as if it was only wood. Perth never died from falling out of the watch stand on top of the ship. This seemed to be a meaningful event in the movie, yet it never happened in the novel.

The movie showed Pip as being clumsy and falling out of one of the whaleboats. This was not the case in the novel. Pip had failed to do something right and consequently was thrown from the boat into the water. The movie then went on to have Queequeg offer to find Pip. Queequeg never said anything of the sort in the novel.

There were many realistic scenes in this movie. The church scene was very well done. The church and pulpit authentically resembled that of a real church. The blood on the deck of the Pequod while the crew was gutting the sperm whale was genuinely portrayed also. The movie reproduced the character of Queequeg well. It incorporated all of the descriptions when creating his appearance. Ahabs character was also very well done. His scar and other characteristics were exactly as the book had described them. As in the book, his speech to his crew when aboard the ship was very convincing. In the movie, Ahabs character shouted at random times in different tones of voice, which helped to show his complete insanity.

The overall cinematography rating for this motion picture was fair. Some of the scenes were shown accurately while others were not. The opening scene of the movie with the ocean and sunset in the background and high rocks all around was very corny. The movie presented a very accurate image of Queequeg. The body paint, skeleton figures, and pipe were great props for his character.

Another good example was when he signed his name as a fish. These props and this event definitely showed how savage his lifestyle really was. Ahabs character in the movie was wonderfully shown. His scar was precisely where it was said to be in the novel. His voice, actions, and appearance were exactly what a reader would have imagined while reading. The scenery that surrounded the Pequod when they caught the first glimpse of Moby Dick was so phony. The whale itself looked very unrealistic. When the crew first punctured the whales skin, it looked as if a beach ball had been popped. Whale skin is supposed to be very thick, and for it to just pop like that was very unrealistic. When the Pequod reached freezing waters, the snow aboard the ship looked like fake snow glued to the wood of the ship.

The glaciers in the water were all the same size and shape, which also gave away the fact that they were not real. When the terrible storm hit the Pequod it looked like a real storm. The waves crashing into the side of the ship and onto the deck looked convincingly real. When Ahab is under the water looking at Moby Dick at the end of the movie the whale looks even more unrealistic. It is very noticeable that the water around Ahab and Moby Dick is that of a tank and not the ocean.

The writers and producers of this movie didnt portray Melvilles work perfectly, but they came as close as they could. The re-creation of a novel is not usually very precise, although the realistic portrayals of the work and the cinematography assist in making the movie acceptable to the public.