Beowulf
by Robert Zemeckis
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DVD details
Actor: Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Crispin Glover, John Malkovich, Ray WinstoneDirector: Robert Zemeckis
Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Producer: Buzz Hays
Producer: Jack Rapke
Producer: Jacqueline M. Lopez
Producer: Josh McLaglen
Writer: Anonymous
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Writer: Roger Avary
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-02-26
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Beowulf
DVD Review: amazing
Summary: 5 Stars
what great movies are made of. it floored me after seeing it. very engrossing - great use of technology- great storyDVD Review: Beowulf
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is great. Way better than the live action movie done a couple of years ago.DVD Review: The Cure for "Boring" Beowulf
Summary: 3 Stars
By now, everyone knows about Beowulf, if only because they were forced to read it in high school. Judging from the audio track of the DVD, some folks clearly resented having to read the "boring" heroic saga of a man who rips a troll's arm off with his bare hands, slays its monstrous mother, becomes king, and later dies fighting a dragon.
There's some odd defensiveness about Beowulf from the directors. This movie isn't JUST going to be about Beowulf, it will have a tightly wrapped story from beginning to end! It won't JUST be about a hero slaying monsters, it will be about father and son guilt, mother and son pride, and the lies they tell each other! There won't JUST be actors, there will be beautifully rendered superbly animated avatars! It won't JUST be a movie, it will be a movie in 3-D!
For the most part, it works. Beowulf and the king who hires him to slay Grendel are at times drunken louts and macho warriors. Grendel isn't just a disgusting monster, he's a piteous troll-child that throws a deadly tantrum. And Grendel's mother? Mmm, Grendel's mother is a delicious golden-skinned incubus who actually sprouts high heels (because, hey, human isn't her real form anyway so why not?) and a slinky tail. Gone is the random moment when Beowulf finds the sword that will slay Grendel's mother just laying around in her treasure horde, a situation I always found a little lazy on the part of the mysterious author. Replacing the somewhat jumbled juxtaposition of heroic mythology and Christian values is a tale of men tempted by lust and greed who go on to father the demons that ultimately destroy them.
The three-dimensional effects are lost on my television, a problem that's going to only become more prevalent as movie theaters give up trying to compete with DVDs and switch to gimmicks like 3-D. This makes some scenes more amusing than exciting, like when a flagpole juts towards the screen at the viewer.
The computer graphics, while breathtaking, seem to be almost beside the point. Yes, it's great that we have Jolie in all her near-naked glory. But why bother recreating her in CGI at all? When you watch the making-of docs, the actors acted with props, right down to Crispin Glover tossing dolls around as Grendel. Was that really necessary? Do we really care how realistically a warrior swings a lamp (a weighted prop, in case you're wondering) or Grendel tears a man in two?
Perhaps the most grating attribute of the DVD is the insistence that Beowulf was "boring." That somehow, the producers have made Beowulf better, because reading is dumb and so is high school. Maybe it's the English major in me, but I found the tone condescending.
If you can look past that, Beowulf's an entertaining if somewhat gory tale. But with its gratuitous nudity, buckets of gore, and significant changes to the plot, it's not going to be shown in high school English classes any time soon.
DVD Review: can be fun
Summary: 3 Stars
I admit I did not expect much from this film and bought it at bargain price much after it came out in dvd just to see the state of the art in animation of adventure stories, not to mention that as an amateur linguist specialised in Germanic languages I was also ready to have to shut ears, eyes and brain not to be too appalled.
Well, I got more than I bargained for.
In a strange, elusive way this film manages to portray rather faithfully what my imagination has depicted as the Germanic world of the X century or whereabouts (I know, I know, Beowulf is older than that but who cares): primitive and rough but not entirely devoid of cultural refinement (the queen's songs); cruel and violent but not illogical. Authors must have done some research and they have done it well.
The plotline is very simple but not silly and the many well executed action scenes are aptily counterpointed by more intimate ones where the basic needs and flaws of human beings are highlighted, first and foremost the choice of Beowulf to give in to the demon's allurement. This is too very faithful to what I consider to be the spirit of that distant age as are the final scenes when we see Beowulf reach out for the beautiful (and dying) demon son he has just slaughtered or when we see Angelina -the demoness- Jolie kiss for the second and last time the man she may have really loved.
With the only exception of an Angelina Jolie in her prime who could have possibly outshone any animated replica of herself the other actors profit from the animation device. First and foremost Ray Winstone who, in the film, is simply gorgeous: it's far too easy to forget we are not facing a real body there. Beowulf, even in his old age, is nearly as alluring as the demoness, this effect being the sum of a competent actor (Winstone) given the body and charm of a world class model, which is quite an interesting possibility.
All in all a good film: possibly too difficult and gloomy to please kids and simpler audiences but well scripted, well acted and entertaining.
DVD Review: Animated Mayhem
Summary: 4 Stars
Like 'The Thirteenth Warrior' before it, Beowulf puts a new spin on the ancient Gaelic saga, and the results are mixed but mostly positive.
The main alteration here is the depiction of Beowulf as a flawed hero who's vanity and thirst for fame as a young man prove to be his undoing later in life. The battle with Grendel is preserved, as is Beowulf's final duel with the dragon, but Grendel's mother plays a very different role than the sea hag of legend. Portrayed by Angelina Jolie, who is rendered even more "voluptuous" than she is in real-life, Grendel's mother is more a siren than a monster, seducing one hero after another with her beauty and golden promises.
All of this serves to create the necessary character "arc" for Beowulf to follow, something which is missing from the original legend's depiction of Beowulf as paragon of masculine virtue. While the update adds a layer of depth to the lead character it also creates a few weak links elsewhere. Chief among these is Beowulf's sudden inheritance of Hrothar's entire kingdom, including his wife, the queen. These shortcomings are overshadowed by the fantastic special effects and glorious action sequences, and overall the new material renders the story more mature and makes the ending more satisfying for modern audiences.
The film is entirely computer animated which gives the film the freedom to dwell in the realm of fantasy. The characters are rendered in extraordinary detail, although you will notice a few unnatural movements here and there. Occasionally the liberties taken with the special effects seem absurd, Grendel's mother for instance, has feet with a natural set of stiletto heels growing from the soles. Many of the scenes are also tailored to exploit the 3D IMAX format, but neither this nor the few flaws mentioned above detract from the home viewing experience.
Description of Beowulf
In the age of heroes comes the mightiest warrior of them all, Beowulf. After destroying the overpowering demon Grendel, he incurs the undying wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother who will use any means possible to ensure revenge. The ensuing epic battle throughout the ages, immortalizing the name Beowulf. Academy Award? winner director Robert Zemeckis tells the oldest epic tale in the English language with the most modern technology, advancing the cinematic forum through the magic of digitally enhanced live action. A stellar cast is led by Ray Winstone ("The Departed," "Sexy Beast") in the title role. Joining him are Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins as the cursed King Hrothgar, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Oscar Winner Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother.Spectacular animated action scenes turn the ancient epic poem Beowulf into a modern fantasy movie, while motion-capture technology transforms plump actor Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) into a burly Nordic warrior. When a Danish kingdom is threatened by the monster Grendel (voiced and physicalized by Crispin Glover, River's Edge), Beowulf--lured by the promise of heroic glory--comes to rescue them. He succeeds, but falls prey to the seductive power of Grendel's mother, played by Angelina Jolie... and as Jolie's pneumatically animated form rises from an underground lagoon with demon-claw high heels, it becomes clear that we're leaving the original epic far, far behind. Regrettably, the motion-capture process has made only modest improvements since The Polar Express; while the characters' eyes no longer look so flat and zombie-like, their faces remain inexpressive and movements are still wooden. As a result, the most effective sequences feature wildly animated battles and the most vivid character is Grendel, whose grotesqueness ends up making him far more sympathetic than any of the mannequin-like human beings. The meant-to-be-titillating images of a naked Jolie resemble an inflatable doll more than a living, breathing woman (or succubus, as the case may be). But the fights--particularly Grendel's initial assault on the celebration hut--pop with lushly animated gore and violence. Also featuring the CGI-muffled talents of Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), Robin Wright Penn (The Princess Bride), and John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons). --Bret Fetzer
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