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Beowulf - Limited Edition 2 Disc Steelbook Director's Cut (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk)

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Director: Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD

List Price: ~~Ł23.99~~
Buy New: Ł15.98
You Save: Ł8.01 (33%)

New (2) from Ł15.98

Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars

22 reviews
Sales Rank: 1255

Format: Colour, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Pal, Subtitled
Languages: English (Original Language), Catalan (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 109
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

EAN: 7321909214415
ASIN: B0013LI7V4

Release Date: March 17, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.co.uk 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 beautifully 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: Read 17 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

ENTERTAINING... May 11, 2008
Look it's no masterpiece BUT it's enjoyable! The CG animation while still yet to achieve photo realism is excellent & it is action packed!
The Grendel monster is REALLY well done & the climactic battle with the Dragon is probably the best of its type since 1981's Dragonslayer!
Probably the best animated character belongs to Anthony Hopkin's King Hrothgar. Actually looks like Hopkins!
Visually it is stunning & as a whole it's certainly better than many of it's peers. It's surprisingly gory in parts with some risque, adult humour as well - Definiteley NOT a kid's film!
I'd recommend buying this along with Beowulf and Grendel starring Gerard Butler as you will get 2 very different but worthy versions of the same story.
If you liked Lord Of The Rings, Pathfinder or 300, I honestly can't see you not liking this.

2 out of 5 stars

Distracting animation May 6, 2008
The computer aided animation was distracting from the storyline making it very difficult to watch. the story was very difficult to follow anyway. Didn't watch to the end.

3 out of 5 stars

More of an experiment than a real movie... April 24, 2008
I still can't understand why they used real actors and then animated them... The story is not bad but it only gets worse when they animate them. I would say, for a movie of this quality, don't get a special edition, get a 1DVD edition and do not pay more than a fiver!

4 out of 5 stars

I rather enjoyed it - but I did think it was a bit gory for a 12 rating April 20, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Being a Noggin the Nog fan at 6, I naturally warmed to the Beowulf saga as a teen. Plus I enjoyed John Gardner's 'Grendel' novel as a student, where the Beowulf story is retold from Grendel's perspective: "His mother is totally incommunicative. In fact, his only real friends are the Danes he kills. Still, he knows he is dependent on Hrothgar's survival. If I murdered the last of the Scyldings, he muses, what would I live for?".

When I found out the writer of the book 'Stardust' was helping to produce two movies, 'Stardust' and 'Beowulf', I knew I had to see them at the cinema. I took my son (11) to see both ('Stardust' was great). However, although my son enjoyed the film (well the two main action bits anyway), I did feel Beowulf was rather violent for just a 12 rating - this is one of the few films where I was actually shocked at one point. Beowulf fights Grendel without any clothes to prevent his armour hindering him, and there are articles placed about the mead hall that conveniently hide any obviously male bits from the viewer - and this overt coyness irritatingly distracts you from the horror that's unfolding - i.e. Grendel's attack (after that Beowulf faces Grendel's mother in a loin cloth). When Grendel breaks in to the banqueting hall, looking frankly a bit too decayingly revolting, he proceeds to bite off the heads of the hapless Dane warriors and spray them up the wall (but that apparently isn't as disturbing as a PC generated male figure in the buff - although even the Crazy Frog was anatomically correct on kids TV, and Bart Simpson for that matter). Granted my son didn't seem perturbed by the graphic violence, but a 12 rating can bring in kids of any age with their dads. It doesn't look quite so disturbing on the small screen via DVD, but be warned if your young preteen sons want to watch this movie (I found this aspect worse than similarly 12 rated King Kong, also a great movie otherwise). However for a 9+ audience all should be fine.

Otherwise I loved the movie (other than wishing Grendel had inherited his mothers, fathers and step-brothers good looks). The change to the story and Grendel's family tree/mothers fate was fine (it made Beowulf more vulnerable and so an even greater hero in overcoming his shame to defeat the avenging fire dragon). The mix of accents didn't worry me (who wants a Danish `allo allo', and Beowulf and Hrothgar are from very different settlements anyway, being born in Sweden and Denmark respectively). The PC animation was pretty good if a little stilted occasionally, and I could certainly see the attraction of Grendel's mother (killing her looked a heck of lot harder). Perhaps I would have preferred a live action `Conan the Barbarian' style version, as much of the fighting and monsters would have been the same CGI anyway, but I was impressed with Beowulf the great Nordic warrior, he cut a believable tough heroic figure and the film evoked well the tragedy of his plight as he goes from hero to zero, and back again. Besides, any Beowulf is better than nothing and this was a good stab at the story. The original poem is a long slog anyway, but worth scanning through - you can find it on the web for free. Also try Gardner's Grendel, and Seamus Heaneys poetical interpretation `Beowulf' (it's more than a translation and has the original alongside to compare). The original Beowulf isn't impossible to read, and rather like Mallory's Morte d'Arthur it puts you closer to those of the era if you read it as written down.

I didn't actually notice much had changed in the director's cut other than the fight scenes are noticeably more gory than the movie release, but this doesn't actually detract from the film at all and does add a bit more gritty realism - after all Grendel and his mum are the stuff of nightmares. However those watching with their sons might opt for the standard release. As usual I haven't watched the extras yet, other than the `making off' which was interesting, showing how the live actors helped the CGI movements - and it made you wish the actors were in the film when you see every nuance of their real facial expressions. But otherwise a pretty good movie.

4 out of 5 stars

The Imperfections Of Ray Winstone April 18, 2008
Beowulf was at one time a film i really didn't want to watch. The TV adverts were to blame for my not initially wanting to watch this film. Time after time i heard the same clip, over and over! By chance i overheard that Beowulf was an animated film, using the same technology as was used in The Polar Express. Suddenly i became interested. I guessed it was going to be something different. And it was and it is.

Beowulf stars the voices, and likenesses of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, and Angelina Jolie. The film's director is Robert Zemeckis, who also directed CastAway, The Back To The Future Trilogy, Forest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
What we have is an extrodinary film, and a violent film, with stunning camera work, superb action and fight scenes, and a sometimes confusing story based on an age-old poem of the Nordic warrior Beowulf. The performance capture technology used to recreate the stars who voice the characters, and place their likenesses in the movie certainly works well enough, although they still have that puppet/wooden movement about them. Still, this is a technical acheivement in movie making, and one that deserves to be seen, if only for the experience. Ray Winstone was rightly slimmed down and given a perfect, and somewhat stereotypical hero's appearence. Angelina Jolie has, dare i say it, improved and looks stunning as the mother of the monsters, and of the grotesque and deformed Grendel.
Somehow, though, i can't help thinking that if this was not performance capture technology, we really wouldn't be interested for very long. It's technical wonder, quite amazing to watch, and possibly a sign of things to come regarding Hollywood. Still, there is something rather satisfying in watching these virtual stars, but non more satisfying than watching the imperfections of Ray Winstone, and others, that make us what we are.