In the Heart of the Sea

In the early 19th Century, the oil industry was thriving on Nantucket Island. No one was drilling into the earth to capture crude, rather fortune hunters were traversing the world's oceans in order to pursue and slaughter the whales that would light their homes and power their industry.

What happened within those harbors shows us a microcosm of the paradoxes of capitalism -- dreams were forged, destinies were created, fortunes were won and lost, labor was exploited, the oceans were polluted and natural resources were ill-used and depleted.

"In the Heart of the Sea," based on the non-fiction book by Nathaniel Philbrick, recounts the legendary story of the whaling ship Essex, the singular incident in the history of the industry where the hunted became the hunter. An enormous sperm whale fought back and took down the ship that attempted to kill it. This incident would become the foundation of the classic American novel "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville.

This very painterly and CGI-heavy film frames its action with the famous author Melville (Ben Whishaw) pursuing testimonial from the last surviving member of the Essex, Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson).

Reluctantly, Tom recounts his experiences as a young seaman and the rivalry between the powerful, self-assured first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) and the vessel's inexperienced captain, George Pollard (Benjamin Walker).

But the climatic incident of "Moby Dick" is merely the midway point in this story, focusing the second half of the film on the aftermath of the wreck at sea and the crew's desperate attempt to survive storms, starvation and despair.

What makes this Blu-ray Combo Pack remarkable is the extensive special features. Producer and Director Ron Howard comments on each of the steps of the production process as he observed it on Twitter and Instagram, in his "Captain's Log," and other featurettes look at the untold story of Melville, the challenges of being a whaler, and the notorious rivalry between the Essex's captain and its first mate.

There are many extended and deleted scenes too, but the most interesting feature is a short documentary "Lightning Strikes Twice," in which the story of the wreck of the Essex is contrasted against the observations of some marine anthropologists who discover the wreckage of another Nantucket whaling ship all the way over by the Hawaiian Islands.

"In the Heart of the Sea"
3D Blu-ray ($44.95), Blu-ray Combo Pack ($35.99)
and DVD ($28.98)
www.warnervideo.com