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Beowulf - 1 Disc Edition [2007]
from Warner Home Video
starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson
directed by Robert Zemeckis

Features:

• Dolby
• PAL

Editorial Review:

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 physicalised 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

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0

• Terrible
  The 'motion capture' is utterly pointless. Why not just use the actors as usual; you've filmed them anyway! It just proves a distraction in what is a very dull film. The miscasting and modern dialect ensure that the film comes over as a complete mess.

• For a rainy day
  This is the first film I've watched in a long time that I don't really have a strong opinion on. For those ignorant of the film's contents, it is a computer-generated tale of a brave warrior who fights a savage troll, and who is then seduced by the troll's mother.
  After seeing the big names on the cover, I was pretty surprised it was an animated film, although to be fair the quality of the graphics and animation is superb. I think Winstone is miscast as Beowulf, and there's too much showing off and... more info

• Good entertainment
  I have to admit, I was really not sure what to expect from this. This film seems to me that they are trying to prove what animation can do. The charachters are so much like the actors (apart from Ray Winston, whos wife I understand liked his new body!), that I am suprised it wasn't live action with lots of CGI. However much as I love Ray (good east-end lad that he is) I could not quite get what was happening with his accent, was he de-cockneyfying his accent?
  It sounds like I didnt like this movie,... more info

• A gorgeous and entertaining adaptation
  Loosely based on the ancient tale of the 6th century hero, Beowulf is a brilliantly made film that is beautifully animated using Motion Capture techniques and is a greatly entertaining film. The film follows the traditional story relatively closely for the first part of the film but it does veer off on its own path after the death of Grendel. Although the changes that have been made do make this film something of a different animal to the original story but it remains exciting and I also doubt that a more... more info

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