AllMovie

In 1820, an 85-foot whale attacks a ship that was harvesting young female whales in the Pacific Ocean. It rams the boat until it sinks it, and the terrified crew takes to three small life boats. The men wind up on an island that is without fresh water, so a party of the men heads for land despite the desperate odds. After 90 days at sea, the sailors are rescued and send a party back for the rest of the men -- who are, remarkably, alive. Later, the literature written by the survivors becomes the basis for Herman Melville's classic novel, Moby Dick. But this new story is based on a notebook by the ship's cabin boy that was lost for 100 years in an attic.