Beowulf

[[Syl]]

First, let me say that it's been about 14 years since I read the book.

Ok, so I liked the movie. Swords, CGI, and a naked (again, CGI) Angelina Jolie. What's not to like? Grendel was sufficiently creepy. Some of the dialog came off kind of stilted, like they were speaking on a stage, but since the characters were talking to an audience, kind of... eh.

Around the part where Beowulf goes to whack Grendel's mom, though, is where, unless I read a really bad translation, the movie veers off of the source material. Still, it was interesting, and you could really see Gaiman's touch in a lot of the themes.

The last thing I have to say is that despite the PG-13 rating, be careful. I think they gave some of the violence a pass because it's animated, but, in my opinion, that just allowed them to do things to a body they couldn't otherwise. Other than that, it's a little rough around the edges and somewhat ribald, but not much worse than what my son gets exposed to at the Ren Fairs we drag him to a couple times a year.

I don't expect it to win any Academy Awards, but I'd probably see it again if I got the chance to see it in 3D at an IMAX theater.

[Menolly]

Beorn has been looking forward to this for months! I'm glad to hear we should all enjoy it.

Thanks Syl!

[Montresor]

Surely, it must be better than that - what's the word? - atrocious version of Beowulf with Christopher Lambert?

I was a bit concerned when I heard Zemeckis was directing it (I just keep dreaming of a Beowulf done by Werner Herzog), and the departures from the original story sound a bit jarring. Nevertheless, just the idea of Ray Winstone playing Beowulf is enough to get some serious interest from me.

What would you say the film's atmosphere is like? Is it a mature and dark fantasy, like Excalibur, or is it high fantasy like the latest LOTR flicks? If it's the former, I'll check it out. If it's the latter, I'll give it a wide, wide berth.

[[Syl]]

Heh. I enjoyed the Beowulf with Lambert. Sure, it had nothing to do with Beowulf, and it was good in only the way a movie you watch at 2 am on a Thursday night on HBO can be called good, but...

The atmosphere is dark and mostly static (with a couple minor exceptions, there are really only two locations, three if you count the relatively short path between the two). Picture the cut scene right before you fight a boss in a dungeon crawler (I'm trying to figure out if the scene , IIRC, of freeing Tyrael in Diablo II is an apt comparison or not).

[Montresor]

Well, I only clicked my way through the mouse-click apocalypse that was Diablo 1, and I never played 2 (as the price in computer mice had sky-rocketed, and I could barely afford the consequences of another Diablo game on my budget) . . . but I believe I get the reference.

Sounds like an interesting approach. Not sure if I won't finish in a film snob mode and just complain about what's wrong with Hollywood today for twenty minutes after seeing it - but I think I'll check it out, nonetheless. Thanks.

[lucimay]

(I'm trying to figure out if the scene , IIRC, of freeing Tyrael in Diablo II is an apt comparison or not).

[The Dreaming]

Heh. I enjoyed the Beowulf with Lambert. Sure, it had nothing to do with Beowulf, and it was good in only the way a movie you watch at 2 am on a Thursday night on HBO can be called good, but...

The atmosphere is dark and mostly static (with a couple minor exceptions, there are really only two locations, three if you count the relatively short path between the two). Picture the cut scene right before you fight a boss in a dungeon crawler (I'm trying to figure out if the scene , IIRC, of freeing Tyrael in Diablo II is an apt comparison or not).

That's getting me pretty excited, I consider that one of the coolest cgi's in VG history! D2 definately had the coolest-looking angels i've ever seen.

[emotional leper]

Heh. I enjoyed the Beowulf with Lambert. Sure, it had nothing to do with Beowulf, and it was good in only the way a movie you watch at 2 am on a Thursday night on HBO can be called good, but...

The atmosphere is dark and mostly static (with a couple minor exceptions, there are really only two locations, three if you count the relatively short path between the two). Picture the cut scene right before you fight a boss in a dungeon crawler (I'm trying to figure out if the scene , IIRC, of freeing Tyrael in Diablo II is an apt comparison or not).

That's getting me pretty excited, I consider that one of the coolest cgi's in VG history! D2 definately had the coolest-looking angels i've ever seen.

Hell. D2 had one of the best in-game stories via cutscenes I've ever seen. I'd love to see a D2 movie.

[Worm of Despite]

I think it's necessary for an adaptation to make changes to the source material, but it's equally important to preserve the original work's spirit. That said, the Grendel half of the film was excellent: it showcased a boastful, Anglo-Saxon Beowulf, but the second half was bogged down by overblown action and the necessity of a flawed hero. The whole point of Beowulf--brute strength against social ills--was lost.

Spoiler

The standoff between Beowulf and the dragon could have been realistic and tense; they could have keyed on the fact that he was old and going to his death. Instead, we get Beowulf sailing through the air, hanging onto the dragon, trying to attack the beast's weak spot, as if it's a boss in a video game.

They could have captured the tragedy in the way the original Christian translator saw it: a tale of people who could only respond with violence, creating a society that was ultimately engulfed in its own chaos.

[I'm Murrin]

Hi-larious Beowulf review.

[aTOMiC]

Heh. I enjoyed the Beowulf with Lambert. Sure, it had nothing to do with Beowulf, and it was good in only the way a movie you watch at 2 am on a Thursday night on HBO can be called good, but...

Good heavens!
I know you must have been really sleepy when you saw that , Syl but ugh!
I'm very very very very very sorry to have seen Beowulf with Lambert. (Like they say in Futurama "You watched it. You can't UN-watch it." )I'm a Lambert fan so I rented the dvd when I saw it at Blockbuster. When the film was over my wife and I looked at each other in absolute shock. "What the f@#$ was that?" I know Christopher Lambert isn't Lawrence Olivier but holy crap that was awful. To this day my wife still brings up the "secret weapon" that the apprentice weapons master put together for Beowulf. Every time she sees something completely worthless being treated as if its the most wonderful thing in the world she mentions Beowulf. (That and Team America World Police - the way they lampoon how important "ACTING" seems to be in this world. As if its curing cancer or being a blackbelt, ninja street fighting champion for the secret service.)

Having said all that I'm hoping I get to see this new version. It looks epic and groundbreaking. But its sounds as if seeing it in 3d at IMAX is the way to go.

[Menolly]

Having said all that I'm hoping I get to see this new version. It looks epic and groundbreaking. But its sounds as if seeing it in 3d at IMAX is the way to go.

*nodding*

Nearest IMAX is over in Jacksonville, about 90 minutes away. Our Astro averages 17 mpg on the highway. With the price of gas nowadays, I still want to make the drive to see this in IMAX. But knowing Hyperception, that probably won't happen.

[Montresor]

There's also this version coming out:

www.beowulfandgrendel.com/

I'm much more interested in seeing that than the hollywood rendition.

[wayfriend]

"Beowulf" vs. "The Lord of the Rings"

One is a living universe, the other a 3-D voyage to schlockville. A great essay by Tolkien helps us understand why.

Robert Zemeckis' new film "Beowulf" gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "the sublime and the ridiculous." Zemeckis took the oldest and most important text of our ur-language, and turned it into a 3-D Disneyland ride so cheesy he should have called it "Anglo-Saxons of the Caribbean." Of course, there's nothing new or surprising about this. Hollywood has been profaning history and literature since long before Cecil B. DeMille cast Charlton Heston as Moses. If the Bible isn't sacred, why should the oldest poem in our ancestral language be?

But the "Beowulf" travesty is especially glaring, because of the obvious contrast with another work that mined the same ancient field: J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." ... [link]

[The Dreaming]

Um, why does everyone think Beowulf is such a good source? Honestly, I thought it was pretty bland, as I think nearly all translated texts are. (Old English is less like English than say... French is)

And the book I read was pretty silly, ridiculous, over-the-top, and simplistic. Beowulf kills Grendel, Beowulf kills Grendel's mother, and Beowulf kills the Dragon. That's pretty much the story. I didn’t really read anything deeper than that, and to criticize this version for being as shallow as its source is a little silly.

[CovenantJr]

I have to agree; the plot of Beowulf is hardly complex and challenging. I suppose it's logical that a simple story will beget a simple film.

[Montresor]

Well, there's much more to a tale then just the story - it's often in the manner of telling that something achieves greatness. Some of the most classic stories out there have the most threadbare or simple story lines, yet they manage to linger in the imagination for a long time.

Taking an old poem and translating it into a hollywood popcorn churner was never going to lend itself to conveying the same kind of thing as the original.

[Cagliostro]

[dripping with sarcasm]
So...you are saying this was a bad idea from the start? What makes you say that? Geez, then why would they make such a thing?
[/dripping with sarcasm]

[Worm of Despite]

I never thought Beowulf was complex--only that they transmuted its original values to something even dumber. It'd be like if Frodo had sex with a Nazgul just to make him flawed/fallible. Or if at Mount Doom Frodo kept the ring, grabbed a Nazgul when it came to get him, and pulled its heart out.

Beowulf's isn't supposed to kill the dragon alone; Wiglaf helps him when on one else will, which displayed one of the main themes: thanes showing loyalty to their king. I mean, they had plenty of drinking and carousing--why not scenes showing the loyalty that's part of that bargain? Oh well. I guess films have to drastically alter something until you get that "universal appeal". The audience might get offended if they actually have to think about how the past was different.

[The Dreaming]

I never thought Beowulf was complex--only that they transmuted its original values to something even dumber. It'd be like if Frodo had sex with a Nazgul just to make him flawed/fallible. Or if at Mount Doom Frodo kept the ring, grabbed a Nazgul when it came to get him, and pulled its heart out.

Let it be stated that Nazgul don't look much like a naked Tomb Raider.