Movie Response Journal

Moby Dick Movie Response Journal
Gabriel Wirz
Mr. Peterson
I think that John Huston and Ray Bradbury did a really good job of adapting Moby Dick into a movie. It was entertaining, it stuck to the storyline, and it did a decent job of capturing the feeling of the book. This is saying a lot because Moby Dick is all over the place, and it contains lots of elements that would be hard to recreate in a movie. In John Huston’s adaptation of Moby Dick he took out a lot of the philosophical chapters and he took out the chapters regarding the science of whaling such as Cetology. I was very impressed with the special effects of the movie due to the fact that it was made in 1956. The whaling scenes were very intense, and they seemed to be pretty accurate. Huston could have done a better job on the special effects in the scene in which the masts are struck by lightning because they literally made the masts neon green. I found it to be pretty pathetic but I’ll cut Huston some slack because it was 1956.
It was nice to see the movie because it cleared up some misconceptions I had about some specific things. Before watching the movie I thought that the Pequod was a lot bigger than it actually was. I also didn’t realize that Manxmen were from Scotland, or that harpooners broke out in song whenever they were at pubs or inns.
I thought that the casting director did a pretty good job, however, I had a few issues with the portrayal of some of the characters. I really liked Ahab because Gregory Peck did a good job of appearing rational and captivating yet crazy at the same time. However, he looked a little bit too much like Abe Lincoln for my liking. I thought they did a good job with the adaptation of Flask because he had a scrunched up, angry face and he always had a cigar in his mouth. I also liked Starbuck because he seemed like a good, moral, yet serious guy. I also thought that they did a good job adapting Tashtego nd Daggoo onto the screen, however Daggoo didn’t have huge hair like I expected. Queequeg was good but for some reason I imagined him being darker. I didn’t like Elijah because he looked too normal, and I didn’t like Stubb because he looked exactly like Popeye the sailor. I imagined him being older in the novel. I also really didn’t like Ishmael because he seemed too happy. In the novel he came across as being a bit depressed, and he didn’t seem to care too much about anything yet in the movie he was full of life, soaking up every minute of it. Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie, and I think Huston and Bradbury did a good job.