Product Description

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.System Requirements:Running Time: 114 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: SCI-FI/FANTASY/FANTASY Rating: UNRATED UPC: 097361323145 Manufacturer No: 132314

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1557 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT PICTURES
• Released on: 2008-02-26
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 114 minutes

Amazon.com
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

On the DVD
The process of creating Beowulf was more interesting than the movie itself--though many of the movie's fans will be disappointed that the "making-of" featurette does not include Angelina Jolie in her skin tight motion-capture suit. We do, however, get to see Ray Winstone (who admits he has a less than heroic physique), live horses bedecked with plastic dots, a "Robo-Grendel," wire props painted fluorescent pink and orange, and a poor production assistant whose job is scooping up horse poop. Other featurettes discuss the monster design (including giving a sea monster a single eye because, apparently, cyclopean creatures have mythological street cred); how excited the filmmakers were to combine Winstone's gruff voice with a preposterously burly bod; and a brief bit discussing the original epic poem, how much director Robert Zemeckis hated it, and the various liberties the screenwriters took with it. But for anyone interested in computer animation, the most interesting extra feature may be the deleted scenes. Because they were cut long before the animation was finished, they show the process at a variety of different stages--at some points the faces don't even move, making Beowulf look like a Thunderbirds-style puppet movie. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Let's Watch a Video Game!!!
Watching this movie is akin to the experience of watching someone play a video game though maybe not as stimulating.

It's Entertainment, folks!
Wow, such strong feelings on this movie! First off, the animation: I think it's well-done, and whether or not it was a good directorial choice is something on which I have no opinion. It is what it is, and as far as I'm concerned, it worked well.
There are many complaints about such elements as nudity, rude jokes, Beowulf's boastfulness and "silly" chest-pounding dialogue. Some people are clearly lacking imagination as they seem unable to see beyond their 21st-century Christianized perspective. Nudity was no big deal to our heathen ancestors. Bawdiness was a large part of their humor, just as it is much of ours today. There are many bawdy jokes and riddles surviving in Old English. Human nature doesn't change that much. These elements of the movie are all perfectly accurate. This was a time and place where a king might retain a professional "fartist" in his mead-hall, who entertained the men with his skillful control of flatulence!!! Be glad the movie kept things as low-key and tame as it did!!!
Boasting was also a cultural practice that was taken very seriously, and public boasts about future accomplishments could be considered binding before the gods; failure to achieve them was shameful and required some kind of debt-payment (known as "scyld"). Beowulf's boastfulness should be seen within cultural context; it is actually highly ritualized, not simply the product of his own ego.
Someone complained of Angelina Jolie's accent that it wasn't "pre-Anglo-Saxon Old English". First, there is no such thing as "pre-Anglo-Saxon Old English"; Old English developed from the combined tongues of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians when they invaded the British Isles. Second, as far as I know, none of us living today was around to hear what an "Old English accent" actually sounded like, if there even was such a unified thing (unlikely, given the variety of accents spoken throughout England today). Third, the poem is set in Denmark, not England. And fourth, the character is not a member of any human society, she is a sea-troll. Who knows what a sea-troll's accent sounds like?
As for the storyline - the story of Beowulf was told orally long before it was written down and concretized in one form, so the license with the story seems quite appropriate to me, and a good way of updating the themes to resonate more with the complexities of our time.
And, humor and drama CAN coexist, people. It doesn't have to be one or the other. Above all, the tale is meant to entertain.

Beowulf CGI supreme
This is the best Computer Animation I have seen to date, not only is it a great story it is well done and the CGI is without a doubt the best yet put on screen.