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In the Heart of the Sea!

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In the Heart of the Sea!


This film is based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-selling novel about the dramatic true journey of the whaling ship Essex out on Nantucket. This is the story that Herman Melville's classic Moby Dick was based on. Directed by Ron Howard and opens March 15'th, 2015. I posted a blog about the story a few years ago, but sadly it was lost with a forum upgrade. I just looked and I did save a copy, so for those of you who didn't read the blog, it is hidden in the spoiler below. Be warned though, it does give away what the movie is about.

I am sure most of you are familiar with the tale of Moby Dick, if you haven't read the classic Herman Melville book, or even seen the just as classic 1956 movie staring Gregory Peck, you surely have an idea of at least what the story is about. For those of you that might not know, it is the story of an old whaling captain, Ahab, who is obsessed with finding the and killing the great white whale that took his leg many years before. He is so obsessed, that he is willing to sacrifice his crew, his ship, and even himself to avenge himself upon the whale! It is a literary classic in every sense of the word!

This blog however is not about the book, or even the movie, it's about the actual real life events that Melville reportedly based his book upon! Yup, that's right, Moby Dick was partially at least, based on a true story. Although the events in Melville's book differ a great deal from what actually took place. This real life tale is based on a manuscript and testimony from Owen Chase, First Mate aboard the American whaling ship Essex, out of Nantucket, Massachusetts.

In November 1820, over a year into her current whaling voyage, the Essex was hunting in the southern Pacific ocean when she encountered a much larger than average sperm whale. The whaling crew of the Essex were engaged in harpooning a group of whales when the giant sperm whale rammed the Essex twice and sank her! The sperm whale had punched a gaping hole in the side of the Essex, and she sank fast, not leaving much time at all for the surviving crew members to salvage much of anything in the way of supplies. In total, 21 crew members in 3 whaling boats survived the encounter with the giant sperm whale. They were able to salvage a few supplies, two casks of bread, 195 gallons of water, a musket and powder, some tools and a little tobacco, and "a few turtle." Adrift 2000 miles off the coast of south America, very little food or water or other provisions, things looked pretty bleak for the survivors.

These sailors were mostly experienced seamen, with a couple of exceptions, and there chances of survival were perhaps better than most. Whaleboats differ from what most boats carried for life boats or launches as they were equipped with both sails and oars, hatchets and steering gear, and were built to take a bit more of a pounding for hunting whales. Still, they faced 2000 miles of open ocean in boats not designed for such a voyage. As the weeks passed with no sign of land or another ship, and as there meager supplies began to dwindle, there situation turned more and more desperate. As the first of the crew started to succumb to hunger and dehydration among many other things, they were sewn up in there clothes and given a burial at sea, as was customary for those days.

Eventually, the survivors were able to make landfall on Henderson Island, a small uninhabited and inhospitable island near the Pitcairn Islands chain. Yes, part of the very same Island chain that The Bounty mutineers had earlier settled on. Henderson Island though was not very suitable for supporting life, within a few days the survivors quickly ate all the small island had to offer for food in the form of small birds and plants, and quickly depleted a small stream that was the islands only supply of fresh drinking water. Most of the survivors decided to put back to sea in the whaleboats, while 3 decided to stay behind and take there chances on the small island.

At sea again, the three whale boats eventually became separated and lost site of each other, they were each now on their own. With their supplies gone, things quickly turned bad in the small whaleboats as more of the crew began to die. This time however, things had gotten so desperate that the survivors turned to cannibalism in a desperate attempt to stay alive. I won't go into details about the gruesome events on the whaleboats during that time. When faced with a desperate life or death situation like that, it is tough to say how any one of us would have done things differently.

Eventually, two of the three whaleboats were spotted by passing ships, and those survivors were rescued, the fate of the third remains unknown. Chase's boat was picked up by the British merchant brig Indian 93 days after the Essex sank, the other was rescued by the whaling ship Dauphin, 95 days after the sinking. The three survivors on Henderson Island were rescued as well after Chase and the other survivors told the authorities about them. They were all very near death when they were eventually rescued. Of the original 21 crew that survived, only 8 were rescued.
 

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I agree wholeheartedly! Even more so when they are directed by a director the calibre of Ron Howard! I am really looking forward to seeing this one, although the story it's self is far more chilling than Moby Dick.
 
Looking forward to this one as well :) Thanks Thagarr
 
I haven't been able to find out much about it yet, but I am hoping for IMAX 3D! That certainly worked well for Godzilla! :onya
 
I have been looking forward to this movie since I first heard about it a couple of years ago. Now it appears I will have to wait 8 months longer. The movie was originally scheduled to some out in March, now it has moved to December 2015. They announced this a couple of weeks ago, but I missed it.

The movie is finished and complete, so why are they moving it to December? Money. Ron Howard figures that he can get more people to see his movie if it released during the holiday season. I would expect this kind of thing from certain other directors, but the fact this is coming from Ron Howard is really quite surprising and disappointing.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Ron-Howard-Delayed-Heart-Sea-Reason-69221.html
 
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