Moby Dick (miniseries)

Moby Dick
Directed by	Mike Barker
Screenplay by	Nigel Williams
Based on	Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
Starring	William Hurt Ethan Hawke Donald Sutherland Gillian Anderson Charlie Cox Raoul Trujillo Billy Boyd James Gilbert Eddie Marsan
Production company	RHI Entertainment Tele München Gate Filmproduktion
Budget	US$25 million
Country	United States Germany
Language	English
Original channel	Encore
Original run	United States: August 1, 2011 (2011-08-01) – August 2, 2011 (2011-08-02)
Running time	180 minutes
No. of episodes	2

movie property in Hamburg

Moby Dick is a television miniseries based on Herman Melville's 1851 novel of the same name,^[1] produced by RHI Entertainment,^[2] Tele München Gruppe,^[1][3] and Gate Filmproduktion.^[3] It stars William Hurt as Captain Ahab; Charlie Cox as Ishmael; Donald Sutherland as Father Mapple; Ethan Hawke as Starbuck; and Gillian Anderson as Ahab's wife, Elizabeth.^[2]

Production

A "reimagined" version of Melville's book,^[4] Moby Dick was shot primarily in Nova Scotia during late 2009.^[5][4] Costing US$25 million, it is Tele München's most expensive production to date.^[5] This adaptation gives Ahab a wife named Elizabeth, although Melville's story lacks female characters.^[4] In 1998, producer Robert Halmi Sr. worked on a similar miniseries for the USA Network, starring Patrick Stewart.^[6][7]

Release and reception

The miniseries aired on the U.S. pay-television network Encore on August 1 and 2, 2011. It is the first program to air under the Encore Originals brand,^[2] as well as the network's first miniseries.^[8] Prior to this airing, it was broadcast in Australia and some other countries.^[9]

As of August 3, 2011, review aggregator Metacritic has calculated a Metascore of 68 based on seven reviews.^[10] Linda Stasi of the New York Post gave the miniseries three stars out of four;^[11] Nancy DeWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal also gave it a positive review, but warned that "Purists [of the novel] may go wild" over changes from the original story.^[12] Likewise, Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it "a lavish, exciting, well-acted and admirably thorough movie adaptation".^[13] The New York Daily News' David Hinckley awarded it three stars out of five, remarking: "The action will hold your attention, though [the miniseries] is really more a drama of character and flaws and faith. At times, in fact, it lapses into melodrama."^[8] Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote that while "[it] is not entirely silly or even half bad", "it’s an ambitious, beautifully made adventure tale that seeks to be respectful of the book while still making the characters and story accessible to modern viewers." She called the creation of scenes involving Captain Ahab's wife the "most startling" change to Melville's story, noting that the wife was "only fleetingly mentioned" in the original book. Stanley further commented on a few modernized lines in the script, and added, "Some shortcuts and substitutions are useful. Too often, however, the improvisations fall back on clichés that don’t visually distill Melville’s words as much as they forcibly remind viewers of other books and movies."^[4]

See also

• Adaptations of Moby Dick

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Program information for Moby Dick". Starz Entertainment. http://www.starz.com/originals/mobydick. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Kenneally, Tim (July 13, 2011). "Encore Goes Original With 'Moby Dick' Adaptation, Jerry Lewis Doc". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/13/idUS294083358420110713. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Staff (July 13, 2011). "Encore Dives Into Original Programming With Miniseries 'Moby Dick' And 'The Take'". Deadline Hollywood. PMC. http://www.deadline.com/2011/07/encore-dives-into-original-programming-with-miniseries-moby-dick-and-the-take/. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} Stanley, Stanley (July 31, 2011). "Ahab Has a Wife and a Heart. Oh, and a Whale.". The New York Times: p. C1. http://tv.nytimes.com/2011/08/01/arts/television/william-hurt-in-moby-dick-on-encore-review.html. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Fischer, Russ (September 28, 2009). "Donald Sutherland and Gillian Anderson Join William Hurt for TV Moby Dick". /Film. http://www.slashfilm.com/donald-sutherland-and-gillian-anderson-join-william-hurt-for-tv-moby-dick/. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
6. ^ Lloyd, Robert (August 1, 2011). "Television review: 'Moby Dick' / William Hurt stars as Captain Ahab in the new version on Encore, but Herman Melville seems to be missing.". Chicago Tribune. Los Angeles Times. http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-0801-moby-dick-review-20110728,0,5573989.story. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
7. ^ Russo, Tom (March 13, 1998). "Captain My Captain: Patrick Stewart takes the helm of a new ship in 'Moby Dick'". Entertainment Weekly (TimeWarner) (422). http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,282234,00.html. Retrieved August 4, 2011. 
8. ^ ^{a b} Hinckley, David (August 1, 2011). "'Moby Dick' review: Ethan Hawke, William Hurt and Gillian Anderson tackle Encore's obsessive series". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2011/08/01/2011-08-01_moby_dick_review_ethan_hawke_william_hurt_and_gillian_anderson_tackle_encores_ob.html?r=entertainment. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
9. ^ Pennington, Gail (July 30, 2011). "Encore sneaks 'Moby Dick' onto schedule". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/television/gail-pennington/article_018c7e08-bad6-11e0-9500-0019bb30f31a.html. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
10. ^ "Reviews for Moby Dick (2011)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. http://www.metacritic.com/tv/moby-dick/season-1. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 
11. ^ Stasi, Linda (July 30, 2011). "Whale war: Hurt, Hawke lead assualt on '[Moby] Dick'". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/whale_war_d6o67Yt2tgvT5g0gkZMjHI. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
12. ^ Smith, Nancy DeWolf (July 29, 2011). "Adventures on the Seas of Life". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904888304576473723587017718.html. Retrieved July 31, 2011. 
13. ^ Stuever, Hank (July 31, 2011). "Encore’s lavish new ‘Moby Dick’: There whale be blood". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/encores-lavish-new-moby-dick-there-whale-be-blood/2011/07/29/gIQAUQ9AmI_story.html. Retrieved August 3, 2011. 

External links

• Official website
• Moby Dick at the Internet Movie Database