DVD
REVIEW: BEOWULF
02/24/08
“It is not for the gold, it
is for the glory.” and this movie might reach both. Beowulf
is based in the first English language epic poem ever
written, Beowulf. The story was originated between 700 and
750 AD, finally after 1200 years someone has been able to
make a movie worth to its origin. When I first saw the
preview of the movie I was exited since I thought it was
going to be like a mixture of 300 and The Lord of the Rings.
Well the movie is nothing like either of them, nonetheless,
it did not disappoints. It has everything that a good epic
movie should have: A hero, Monsters, Dragons, action,
adventure, even a little comedy, and although it does not
give you the same sensation as its 3-D theater version, the
DVD version will make the audience relive this epic
adventure, Beowulf will be available on February 26 2008.
It is 750 A.D, and Hrothgar, king of the Danes (Antony
Hopkins) has built the biggest mead hall, Heorot, where him
and his people drink and dance until dawn. Until one day, a
hideous creature, Grendel (Crispin Glober), comes to the
hall at night bother for all the noise the humans were
making and kill everybody but the king. This becomes an
every day event, forcing the king to closed the great hall
for good. He offers half of his gold to whoever kills and
free his kingdom from this monster. A great warrior from the
tribe of the Geats, named Beowulf (Ray Wingston) who is
brave, kind, strong and his obsession is not gold but pride
and power, comes to faced this creature and the creatures
Mother (Angelina Jolie). Little did he knows that he was
also facing himself.
The movie is well directed. I like the new approach they
took about this epic, many people who read the book might be
disappointed since it does not follow it, on the other hand,
this approach seems more real, makes sense and feels in the
gaps that the original version has. the cast makes an
excellent job portraying their character. Antony Hopkins
makes terrific performance as king Hrothgar, John Malkovish
impressed me as Ulfreith, and Jolie makes the perfect
Monster, it is a shame she did not have more screen time.
The voice of Grendal describe the monster and depicts the
time, but sometimes it was hard to understand. The special
effects could be disappointed for many people who thought
they were going to watch real actors like in 300 and Sin
City, but once you realized it is an animated movie, they
are excellent, in some scenes it seems like there are the
real actors, and the monsters are well depicted and defined;
they have no flaw in any scene. The action scenes are
energetic, realistic and exiting, and although it is missing
the 3D effects the audience will still entertain and enjoy
the movie. The only think that might disappoint the audience
is the final scene, since it is kind of predictable.
Producer and director did a great job with the settings.
They were all well chose and displayed from the landscaping
in northern Denmark, the storms in the sea to Grendel
dungeon. They also did their homework in the mythology ,
mentioning the Nordic gods and different creatures, and
introducing the new emerging religion in society at the end.
As a High school student I did not paid any attention to the
book, I found it hard to read, understand, and boring.
Beowulf completely changed my perspective of this legendary
epic. With a talented cast a good director and great special
effects Beowulf is an enjoyable, fascinating, unique and
mystical experience that might innovate animated movies.
Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
16x9 Widescreen
AUDIO:
Dolby
digital 5.1 in English , French, and Spanish.
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES: The
director’s cut version of the movie adds footage not seen in
theaters, but in general, it is not that much. Also special
feature wise it has everything that a regular DVD has, like
the making of, conceptual art, and deleted scenes. It is a
shame that nothing specials was added to it.
A Hero’s Journey : The Making Of Beowulf: It
is the typical making of feature, it shows the process of
the movie from the first day of shooting to the last. Also
it shows how the actors were animated.(23:55)
Beast of Burden-
Designing The Creatures of Beowulf: it shows how the
designers came with the idea of all the beasts of the movie,
also they show how they added part of the actors’ physical
qualities in the creatures themselves.(5:13)
The Origins of Beowulf:
it shows the way how the writers shift the original epic
into the script of the movie, and how they fill the blanks
that the original poem has in the movie’s story. It is the
best feature of all.(5:13)
Creating the Ultimate
Beowulf: it is basically the same as the creation of
the creatures , but this time describing the hero. With
commentaries for the producer designer and Ray Winston
(1:59)
The Art of Beowulf:
It shows the process of how Beowulf’s world was created,
from sketches, models, concept art, and lightning. (5:25)
Deleted Scenes:
a total of 6 deleted scenes, which only one of them had
potential to make it into the movie. Also these scenes are
not as fun to watch since they are shown in a very basic
animation.(10:09)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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People Movie Review
Beowulf
|
Chyna Doll |
80 |
|
Beowulf was a good movie.
When I first saw it in theater it
wasawesome being in 3-D. Too bad the
movie wasn't 3-D it probably would have
been awesome too. Angelina part in the
movie was good but you didn't see much
of her. Anyway.......if you haven't seen
this movie you should check it out. |
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