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List Price: $39.99 | | Label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Salesrank: 4651
Released: February 26, 2008 |
| Our Price: $1.75 |
| Used Price: $2.98 |
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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:
Beowulf 
2009-12-18 - This movie is a classic. The script was clever in the way it wove layers upon the original telling, It was a good movie with action, violence, romance, and I think a little humor.
Not for lovers of the poem 
2009-12-13 - Okay, I am not a huge fan of the original poem, but the movie was far worse than the story I remember. They really should have called it something else, because this was not the story of Beowulf. Also, the change of Grendels' mother from a monster to a sex goddess with built-in stilettos really killed the movie for me; I really don't think that was meant to be funny, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Maybe if I hadn't read the original story, I would have seen the story in a new light, but that's not the case here. Rent the movie and decide for yourself, but be careful if you ever sit through this movie with a group of English majors...although it does make for an interesting get together. lol.
disc won't read
2009-12-09 - I worked on this movie so I was excited to own it. But guess what, the disc won't read in my computer's blu-ray drive. The firmware is current, and plenty of other blu-ray discs read fine. This format is crap, really isn't ready for release yet. Thanks, Paramount!
Definitely worth watching
2009-11-26 - I don't usually write reviews, but I thought this movie was being unfairly lambasted, so I decided to throw my 2 cents in.
I was not familiar with the original poem before seeing this movie in IMAX 3D. It was an amazing experience. I liked it so much that I had to have a copy for myself and so I bought the blu ray version.
Even without 3D the movie is still spectacular. Most of the bad reviews are angry at the movie's straying from the original "classic" version of the story. This should not be held against the writers. They managed to produce a thrilling spectacle that offers CGI at its most impressive. Angelina was breath-taking, the monsters were awesome, and the characters were quite individual and interesting. Definitely worth watching.
multi-clutural-pluralism-overkill
2009-11-23 - In creating Beowulf, evil marketing was in trouble for previously declining sales and let the world's smartest computer make it, by key-entering: Aunt Jamima pancake lady composite of 23 races; Asians like fantasy movies; 80% of US economy composite divorced female purchases; Immerging gay audience; Madlibs; And, oh yeah, guys like violence too ... tap .... tap ... tap ... punch [enter]. They were like OMG, will someone actually watch this? Or, is this GIGO (garbage in, garbage out).
This movie is guaranteed to make you wish you had washed your car instead, dream of what you could have done with that $6, and never ever talk about watching it at work with the guys, or girls for that matter. This was produced in a series of shows like Borat, the new Battle Star Galactia 'less guns' mega-sopa-opera-style character development, X-Men flop, with people like Jesus hating Brad Pit, Tom Cruz Scientology, Wack-o Jack-o, etc. that appeal to the 'new' marketplace, with an old story, just well, er...only with evil marketing to spice it up. Affluent people will be thinking, "My subordinates waste their weekends on World of WarCraft and movies like Beowulf." Blue colar works will believe, "I work hard to get my boss a bonus, so he can take his family to see freaky stuff like this?"
10,000 years from now when archeologist dig down into the strata containing dividing layers of new and old Coca-Cola, they will begin to see the fall of Hollywood, and should not be quick to blame it on pressures of India, China, or other cheaply made imported films.
