Moby Dick (2011 miniseries)

Did You Know?

• The miniseries was shot primarily in Lunenburg and Shelburne, Nova Scotia, as well as Malta during late 2009.
• It is Tele München's most expensive production to date, costing US$25 million.
• Producer Robert Halmi Sr. worked on a similar miniseries for the USA Network in 1998, starring Patrick Stewart.

Release

The miniseries aired on the U.S. pay-television network Encore on August 1 and 2, 2011, as the first program under the Encore Originals brand and the network's first miniseries. It had previously been broadcast in Australia and some other countries. Critical reception was fairly positive, with a Metacritic average score of 68 out of 100. Linda Stasi of the New York Post gave it three stars out of four, while Nancy DeWolf Smith of The Wall Street Journal offered a positive review but cautioned that purists of the novel might object to changes from the original story.

Hank Stuever of The Washington Post called it a lavish, exciting, well-acted and admirably thorough movie adaptation. David Hinckley of the New York Daily News awarded three stars out of five, noting that the action holds attention but the miniseries is more a drama of character and flaws, occasionally lapsing into melodrama. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times wrote that it is not entirely silly or even half bad, describing it as an ambitious, beautifully made adventure tale that seeks to be respectful of the book while making characters accessible.

She highlighted the creation of scenes involving Captain Ahab's wife as the most startling change, as the wife was only fleetingly mentioned in the novel. Stanley also commented on modernized lines and noted that some improvisations fall back on clichés. The miniseries was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in October 2011.