Beowulf: Directors Cut (2 Discs) (2007)

The above reviews focus very much on the director's bold move to have this film entirely animated - this film has been cited to demonstrate the "uncanny valley" theory, which posits that as simulations of humanity reach near-perfection they will suddenly become very hard to sympathise with, because while being very accurate, they are noticeable more for their slight flaws than their all round veracity. In any case, the animation can be a turn-off for some, but it also gives the film an otherworldly sense very appropriate to its subject matter. Grendel speaking Old English is a very nice touch.

The full-bodied and earnest representation of Dark Ages Denmark, warts and all is very engaging, and the liberties taken with the poem all contribute to making this a better film, I think.
The largest deviation from the poem is the insertion of a very Modernist sense of doubt - Beowulf and Hrothgar are both given flaws not present in the poem, implicit in their relations with Grendel's mother. The film is constructed in such a way that it could be seen as the "true" account of Beowulf's life, which a contemporary Bard would have constructed into the heroic poem which survives today - we see that Beowulf's account of his "battle" with Grendel's mother is in fact false, and the Dragon being Beowulf's son is a very interesting twist on the tale, which, in my opinion, enriches the final encounter,which seems somewhat arbitrary in the poem.

A word of warning, however. This film is probably the most sexually explicit and gory 12A around, which the producers probably got away with only because the film is animated - be wary of showing this to under-12s.

In conclusion, this film raises some interesting questions about the original poem, and presents the ancient tale in a more complex, more modern light.

Personally, I think the biggest problem with this film is the director Robert Zemeckis, and his increasing fascination with trying to show off the latest technology in his films. It makes emotional engagement with the characters very difficult.

The CGI in this can be breathtakingly stunning, but he should never have tried to CGI the faces of the actors into the backdrops, I think it would have worked a lot better if he had used real actors (like Sin City or 300) and put them into his lavish backdrops. The faces are distorted, so they don't look like the 'real' actors anyway, and when there are crowd scenes, some of the background people have all the detail and realistic appearance of the Shrek crowds, which seems to defeat the point of his efforts with the main characters.

That said, taken itself it is very enjoyable, the first attack by Grendel, the flashback to Beowulf's journey to the Kingdom and the dragon sequence are visually brilliant. The cast do their best, but I thought Ray Winstone's accent a bit out of place, though Angelina Jolie is her sultry and seductive best!

Visually outstanding but emotionally empty best sums it for me.

i wrote about the theatrical versio i had seen in the cinema when released, i was npt totally impressed overall, as so many obviously
disagreed i bought the 'director's cut '
i haven't entirly changed my mind with regards to the points i previously raised :- the computer imagery.
with the high-tec advances that have been made in this field in recent years, i do believe the imagery could have been better,
i point to films like 'pirates of the caribbean' in which the computer imagery was also used :- i.e ' davy jones' he and others had expression movement, whereas in 'beowulf' the character's were
expression-less in the main.
however this version is a 'step-up' from the theatrical offering.
the closing battle with the 'dragon' was brilliant.
i reccomend you choose the 'director's' cut.

Where the graphics and story are good, the overall product lacks any depth. It all looks rather comic with Grendel, some half man half demon and Beowulf, the naked fighter!!! Overall it was impressive but never lived up to the fuss!!

I avoided this for some time and only decided to pick this up recently, after watching for 5 minuets I was getting very dubious and started to think that this wasn't the movie I was hoping it to be, then Grendel pops up and its blood and gore everywhere and From there on it doesn't stop, there is some fabulously gory scenes that just cant be described, other talking points would have to be seeing the naked and pert Grendels mother who oddly looks and sounds like Angelina Jolie, For me that was probably worth the price of the DVD alone. The Story of Beowulf is not one I am familiar with but it was told well and I did enjoy watching it. My only gripe with Beowulf would be that even though the graphics are truly amazing the characters eyes lack any soul and this can be felt when the views move in closer to there face. When I mean soul I mean look at any Pixar animation and you can feel warmth coming from the characters eyes, Beowulf seems to lack this. This don't make Beowulf a bad movie and its worth adding to your DVD collection.

I had high hopes for this movie. Got to the cinema on release day, came away very disappointed. If you want to see this movie, don't buy it, rent it first.

Never in my time as a movie or a critic have I seen a movie that looks so organic in regards to the CG and how the characters act on screen.

Ray Winstone's voice was just perfect for the title role as he has the rough and gritty quality in his voice that compliments the character.

There are those that have given this bad feedback as they feel that it's not being faithful to the original story. I've never personally read the fable of the character. But, I enjoyed this adaptation of the story.

And hopefully you will too.

3D cinema version was amazing. However the technology does not exist in main stream to bring out 3D to blu-ray / DVD. (It would take two separate High Def sources to simultaneously provide the 3D matrix required). Maybe in a few more years!

This is a good film with good action sequence, and the CG looks superb. However not for Kids, took my son to see this at the movies, and was suprised at the amount of violence. it is wasn't a CG movie it would definety be a 15, possibly an 18 rating, so be careful if buying for 12's and under.

The movie is c.g. but do'nt let that get you down. Its not a finding nemo or Alvin and the chipmonks movie. you have sex, violence and gore. You have some excellant acters in it and you could swear there real when you see them.