Viking half-brothers fight over a throne and a beautiful captive.

In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service abroad the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.

Rod Taylor plays a policeman sent to return a sensitive case; An Australian citizen, currently acting as high commissioner for peace talks who is wanted for an old charge — of murder. The talks are too sensitive to be disturbed, so Taylor ends up watching Christopher Plummer as he conducts his talks, and discovers that some want the talks to fail enough to think that killing Plummer is an obvious way to stop them.