First of all with today's movie making technology, this could be a great remake and secondly if they could get DDL as Ahab, he would be outstanding. I wish I was rich enough, I would produce this as an epic film.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
I think DDL, with There Will Be Blood and Gangs of New York. has pretty much covered this type of role. While he would without a doubt give an excellent performance, I'd like to see a studio make a more interesting choice.
I am open for suggestions, but considering the importance of Ahab to the story, I would hope the studio would opt for the best actor to do the role. I am sure there are those that would love to tackle it and be creatively interesting with the role, and those that would love to stretch their skills, but off the top of my head I can't imagine anyone of todays actors, young or old, that would really make me believe that he really was Ahab.
(all of this is of course just innocent discussion) The reason i like DDL is because when he is on screen, more than any other actor that I can think of, he makes me forget about the acting, the lines, the scenery. He makes me believe he really is the person he is portraying. I can't think of anyone, past or present, who has the ability to do that (for me), not even Al Pacino, Robert DiNiro, or Marlon Brando.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
I always thought it would've been a great role fo any of the tyrant kings of british acting from the fifties through the seventies. o'toole, burton, or harris would've been marvellous. like i said, i can see DDL in the role, but it almost feels redundant. he would be expected. he would do a great job, but it would be a performance we've seen from him. there are interesting choices out there, like alan rickman, liam neeson, or even (dare i say captain?) johnny depp. but he would be good. very good.
shareYESSSSSSSS! I think that would be freakin' awesome! I just love DDL, and I think he would be superb as Captain Ahab!
shareI like the idea of Alan Rickman...or what about Ian Mckellen?
Just thoughts
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Hmmm, interesting, have to give him some thought, but he still doesn't hold up to DDL, IMHO.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
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DDl seems fine to me. Although good ol' Picard was great, too.
JOHN NOBLE?! Wasn't screwing up RotK enough?! HE TURNED IT ITN OA F'KIN BURLESQUE, and made the great, almost-Shakespearean character - whose book-version is pretty much like Ahab - into an idiot.
Starry Vere, God bless you!
Oh boy. Knowing how DDL prepares for his roles, he would probably want to hunt whales with Japanese crews for a while, or better yet, hunt them the old fashioned way (with small boats and hand-thrown harpoons). Not a bad choice, though. I envisioned Clancy Brown as either Ahab or Starbuck, and Christian Bale as Ishmael.
Eat this!
It's bad De Niro is too old for Ahab now... he could've been also great. And... hey, how about Tommy Lee Jones? I was mesmerized by this man in Melquiades Estrada.
For Starbuck, I'd say Paul McGann.
Starry Vere, God bless you!
I don't agree that there needs to be a remake of Moby Dick, BUT I agree that if there is one, Daniel Day-Lewis would be just about perfect! Neither Peck nor Stewart, though good actors, were right as Ahab. Basehart was fine as Ishmael, though, and I can't think of a more fitting director than Huston. (Didn't Bradbury write the screenplay? Not too shabby there.) The novel is pretty much unfilmable. The Huston version is flawed, but it may not be possible to do any better. I'd love to see someone prove me wrong!
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well, now we know: john hurt is the "next" ahab ... yawn:
http://www.collider.com/2009/09/11/tmg-sets-it-sights-on-moby-dick-brings-william-hurt-and-ethan-hawke-aboard/
Right on! I am presently reading the book. The other night, after reading Ahab's declaration of purpose to his crew on the quarterdeck of the Pequod, I closed my eyes to imagine who, following Gregory Peck, among contemporary actors, would have the theatrical gifts to achieve the larger-than-life, self-confessed, sublime "madness maddened" required of this role. It took me but an instant to come up with Daniel Day Lewis -- though to the credit of another commentator below, his persona in "There Will be Blood" prefigures this high-pitched madness (to which I would add, also, his creation of Bill "The Butcher" in Scorsese's "Gangs of NY"). No other actor could come close!
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Remake? Why, to throw in Lindsay Lohan and a couple of dragons to "cath today's audience" as mindless, remake-happy producers often claim?
I guess Gregory Peck wasn't good enough for you.
I'm telling you right now, if any of the contemporary, brainless so-called "moviemakers" decide to give the green light to a new Moby Dick, the names on their minds would probably be Ashton Kutcher for Ahab and Zac Efron for Ishmael.
Let the classics be, for God's sake.
Never be complete.
They are shooting a remake now
caydj
Remake? Why, to throw in Lindsay Lohan and a couple of dragons to "cath today's audience" as mindless, remake-happy producers often claim?
That is the greatest idea I've ever read on imdb. What a great idea! Who would you cast as Ishmael Or for that matter who would you cast for the entire cast?
shareWell, it will be hard to live up to your great compliment, and I will need some time to go through the characters, but for starters, I would cast Michael Clarke Duncan as Queequeg. Ishmael will be tough. I would have Peter Jackson direct.
"We're going to need a bigger boat..."
DDL?!? sure...why don't your rename the film "there will be blubber"?!?
What the $%*& is a Chinese Downhill?!?