MovieChat Forums > Moby Dick (1998) Discussion > Scene missing from home video? Pip imper...

Scene missing from home video? Pip impersonates Captain Ahab

posted 16 years ago by mlraymond
6 replies | jump to latest

I'm not absolutely sure about this, but I remember a scene from the original 1998 broadcast of this film that showed Pip the cabin boy, having lost his mind, rummaging through a trunk in Ahab's cabin and finding an extra peg leg, and clothing. He causes a small sensation when he suddenly appears on deck, wearing a coat of Ahab's that's about four or five sizes too big for him, one of Ahab's hats, and the spare leg strapped on, imitating Ahab. The sailors stare at him in amazement, and I believe it's at that point that Ahab sort of adopts Pip, moved by compassion for the poor boy. Several scenes afterwards show Pip living in Ahab's cabin and sticking closely by him, which is pretty faithful to the novel.

This was a really memorable scene, but I swear I haven't seen it on the home video. Can anyone verify if it's included or omitted? Why would it have been omitted, if in fact it was?

Any help appreciated!

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him

[–] kritterbug777 16 years ago

That Scene was cut from the video and the whole first whale whale hunt scene and the little scene that shows the men messing with ishmel and ishmael saying and mr. stubb having a little conversation with flask and starbuck about the foregin boys and Ishmael asking them why they are merry because they almost drowned and Queg Queg saying that is how whaling is and that it happens all the time all the time

[–] mlraymond 16 years ago

Thanks for the clarification, but I'm still puzzzled as to why those scenes would not have been included. Could it have been to make it easier to produce a home video by eliminating a few bits? There's no reason I can come up with that would make sense. Thanks again for the input.

And when he crossed the bridge, the phantoms came to meet him

[–] kritterbug777 16 years ago

the reason why these scenes were cut was because that the film was far too long and there was no way they could fit a 4 hour long film on to Video and DVD

[–] mancinird 15 years ago

(More than a year since the previous post) I just purchased a DVD of this movie that was manufactured in Korea (it has Korean and English subtitles, and the synopsis on the back cover is in Korean--everything else is in English), and it contains the previously missing scenes mentioned above. It is a dual-layer DVD, meaning the picture freezes for about a second while the DVD player changes layers. Run time is 180 minutes (no commercials).

By the way, the subtitles are quite humorous. They obviously were written by someone (who doesn't know English very well) trying to listen to the dialogue, not from the script directly. An early scene's "Aye," is subtitled, "Hi," and when the Pequod's owners are looking for whalers "of goodly experience," it is subtitled, "of good lay experience." [make your own joke]

When Ishmael, a new sailor, walks in front of a swinging hook on deck and Queequeg tackles him, pushing him out of the way, Mr. Stubb, laughing, picks him up and says, "One...one eye's for the ship, Mr. Ishmael, and one eye's for yourself." The subtitle for the scene reads, "What...what odds for the ship, Mr. Ishmael? What odds for yourself."

Other subtitles from the same scene:

"I don't think it proper..." becomes, "Hardly pick a proper..."

(regarding laughter)"The only comfort a man has, and the wisest," becomes, "The only comfort a man has and the worst."

"Swab the deck," becomes, "Swap the deck." You get the idea.

The subtitles aren't completely useless, but the mistakes are glaring enough that they become distracting much of the time because you have to figure out the correct words. Easy enough to do, but it takes you away from the film.

And no, I'm not making fun of whoever did the subtitles; I surely wouldn't even attempt to write Korean subtitles for a Korean film--but I would find someone who could, and hire that person!

The movie is still a good one, and Patrick Stewart portrays a suitably obsessive Ahab. Gotta love it. And this version contains all the scenes of the original.

[–] doberdog 15 years ago

My video, exclusively manufactured here in the Philippines by Magnavision (http://www.imdb.com/company/co0169235/), includes said missing scene.

Wait a minute! Why are you mad at me? He's the one who ate your father!"

[–] 15 years ago

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