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List Price: $39.99 | | Label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 8589
Released: February 26, 2008 |
| Our Price: $2.85 |
| Used Price: $2.29 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: HD DVD |
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Editorial Review:
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.
Description of Beowulf (Director's Cut) [HD DVD]:
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
Beowulf (Director's Cut) [HD DVD] Reviews:
Horrible! 
2009-11-09 - If you must watch it then rent it. This is one of the worst movies I have ever attempted to watch.
Review for the regular edition of the DVD 
2009-11-01 - Beowulf sucks. He can't fight worth a damn, and I don't know why he's the hero. The monster Grendel and the dragon are pretty cool. I thought Neil Gaiman's writing was bad, but maybe he wrote some of the visual stuff, too (the ideas). I think maybe the reason why they went with 3D and CG was because they wanted to get around the nudity problem and still have it PG-13. Pretty clever, but I think nudity should be in PG-13 movies too. You have to be 13 to write a review here ,which means you're not a kid. I disliked a lot of the attempts at "humor" in this movie. BUt the scene at the end -- chapter 13 -- all that with the dragon, that was great, and the religious information in it, was interesting too. I think they should have made the fights more physically believable. They're not even trying. The fights in Lethal Weapon 4, while fantastic, are almost always physically believable. I think. From what I saw.
I didn't like the music in it (Beowulf) at all. What's with all the fairy Enya stuff? They should have used music by Windir.
Incredible! 
2009-10-16 - When I saw this film was computer generated I thought it would be cartoonish but it was amazing! Great story compared to the other Beowulf movies I have seen. This one was the best by far. Very moving, incredible computer effects. Grendel was horrifying and actually gave me nightmares. The ending was sad though.
Beowulf
2009-10-06 - This is a one of a kind flick, the animations is off the charts and the sound is very detailed. If you like warrior movies i would recommend this flick.
'Techie" Version of Old English Epic
2009-09-19 - Beowulf, an epic poem, was written in the early 8th century. Now we have Beowulf, the semi-animated, techie film, which was made in 1999.
It has an excellent cast: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovitch, Robin Wright Penn, Brenda Gleeson and for a treat Angelina Jolee plays the merciless mother.
The plot of the poem is that the mighty warrior Beowulf slays the demon Grendel. This causes devastating revenge by the monster's ruthlessly vindictive, but beautiful mother. Beowulf becomes King and then dies while fighting a dragon.
Beowulf is a challenge to interpret into something commercial that all will enjoy. Artistic license was taken and some parts of the original poem were changed. The movie honors the poem in many ways, and reveals respect for the time of heroes. Some parts do not match the poem at all, but you give the writer's creative credit for trying.
