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- Trustthedust, on 11/19/2007, -4/+33This was an event, not a movie... If you are looking for a great movie, it's just not there. But if you are looking for a fun time at the theaters, strap on those 3-D glasses and get ready for some sweet viking animation. On-Camera movie review with clips and trailer- http://www.scene-stealers.com
- Goodbyeworld, on 11/19/2007, -3/+25To me, $28 million is a crapload of money, but compared to other movies? thats a teribble weekend at the box office.
- iamspongebob, on 11/19/2007, -4/+20Really well made. I ducked every time spears came around... Great effects ! Best watched it in 3D.
- CannedCorn, on 11/19/2007, -7/+20Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!!!!!!
- Hickeroar, on 11/19/2007, -0/+11The writers took an incredible amount of license compared to the original story. Don't expect to see the Beowulf you read in english class.
- jwiegmann, on 11/19/2007, -1/+12You know everyone is going just to see Angelina Jolie's CG rendered titties.
- johnsonjoeb, on 11/19/2007, -2/+11I think a lot of you people are missing the point. This film was intended to be an entertaining event, much like the epic films of yesteryear that drove people to drive-ins and cineplexes. Old school movie theater is suffering in profitability because new media outlets (DVD's, Internet, and On-Demand) are killing a need to go out and buy 15 dollar popcorn. A film like Beowulf (which was a well done adult oriented animation) was intended to be that draw. If you see this film at home you will receive only a fraction of what this film had to offer. It's actually pretty ingenious if you look at it. The theaters are providing you with an experience you actually have to leave you house to enjoy. The great thing is that this isn't like Spy Kids 3-D where you have a cup or some random piece of ***** floating in your face to impress you with the technology. The 3-D was actually integral to your experience as a movie viewer. When I saw Grendel for the first time in the cage I actually drew back because (combined with the EXCELLENT sound design) it really felt like that creature was there in the theater. I haven't seen a horror movie-scratch that-ANY movie that's evoked a physical response from me in a LONG time and as a full time graduate film student that says a LOT.
For those who criticize the film's adaptation I think you're failing to understand the true nature of ADAPTATION. One of the first things I was taught in screenwriting is that when you adapt anything from one medium to another the process inherently changes the source material. You can't help it. You can NEVER stay true to the original source material and this issue is further magnified by the nature of filmmaking. So you have two options, be boring or be creative. This film is definitely on the creative end. Peter Jackson was luck with Lord Of The Rings due to the fact that he had SO much source material he couldn't ***** it up. Zemeckis had a VERY abstract text to draw from with more emotion than literal description. To Zemeckis' (hope I spelled that right) credit, I think he chose animation because in order to truly capture some semblance of the imagined world of the source poetic text, he needed the ability to generate an otherworldy reality. Some of the action sequences within the film would've required some serious partial CGI and 'wire-fu' that that would've been technically arduous or fiscally unreasonable without going complete animation. Even the best CGI/Live action films take me out of my suspension of disbelief when I see these sequences, with Beowulf I was able to put all of that aside and enjoy the movie. The movie actually possessed the best of both worlds once you factor in the digitized performances from excellent actors. The film didn't talk down to me the way it easily could've done, there are a lot of mature themes presented here and I thank the director for not patronizing me while doing so. All in all, if you're looking for a mindless fun animation better check out "Bee Movie" with the kids. If you're looking for the future of adult oriented cinema then please check out Beowulf now, in 3-D, the way it was meant to be seen. - KyleGoetz, on 11/19/2007, -1/+10Keep in mind: the writers twisted the original story by treating the narrator as unreliable. What you're seeing is not a faithful recreation of the poem, but an application of the idea that the author of the poem may have lied about a couple things, and thus the film exposes the motivations of the narrator(s), while maintaining what I believe to be historical accuracy and literary evenhandedness (Austin Powers dickshots aside).
- drachemorder, on 11/19/2007, -2/+10You're making me want to see it now. I had thought it was just going to be another brainless action movie, completely faithless to the original epic, and an excuse to show a computer-generated Angelina Jolie with as few clothes as possible.
- lukas88, on 11/19/2007, -3/+11I agree completely. We all left the theater thinking "meh, not that great." But some parts were pretty cool in 3D. The grendel character was absolutely amazing.
Also, they should have done hrothgar's queen better, she was just hard to look at. At some point they must have said, "Let's give her a beautiful body and the facial bone structure of a man, just to make everyone a little queasy." - NYC83, on 11/19/2007, -2/+10exactly...i wouldn't call a $28 Million dollar open for a movie with a $150 Million dollar budget 'slaying the competition'
- Pilot85, on 11/19/2007, -1/+7Yes, the original epic is in there, but they took license with the sub-plots and added a couple things, from what I can remember of the original story. But it still FELT like Beowulf, and it was a damn good time. Especially in 3D. Some of the Dialog is corny, but I think they were attempting to make it feel more like the original story, which doesn't translate to the screen perfectly. Anyway, it was fun at the theater, and I'd recommend it.
- Cenobite, on 11/19/2007, -1/+7I think you're confusing performance against competition with financial success. The movie may be a long ways away from breaking even, but compared to how miserably the competition performed this weekend, yeah I'd say there was slaying involved.
- Spideristic, on 11/19/2007, -0/+5http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beowulf/
- NinjaBoy, on 11/19/2007, -0/+5Cause thats HOW THE STORY GOES!
- TKn00b, on 11/19/2007, -0/+5http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/
- inactive, on 11/19/2007, -6/+11Some guy behind me yelled out "She a ho" when Angelina first showed up. That pretty much sums up the movie for me.
- lukas88, on 11/19/2007, -6/+11I am not sure everyone would take JamesSpaza's opinion that it is a "thinking person's movie." They don't even try to capture the poetry of the original work. The only part which provokes thought is the dilemma faced by beowulf's best man at the end.
If you want to see a movie about who slept with which demon and homoerotic naked monster battles, this is the movie for you. Yes, compared to daytime television, it is a step up. But then again, that is not really setting the bar too high is it?
Hey, I know, let's fight naked for no real reason! - SpykerSpeed, on 11/19/2007, -3/+7Personally I thought it was a great film, especially in 3D. And usually I'm pretty picky about movies.
- budsstud26, on 11/19/2007, -0/+4English one of the best language's ever developed.
- norman619, on 11/19/2007, -2/+6A "thinking man's movie?" You are joking right? It's Hollywood's version of the story of Beowulf. Not a whole lot of thinking needed for this movie. Not a whole lot of subtext here. It's just a really fun movie to go see. EVERYTHING is spelled out for you. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
- KangoTraveler, on 11/19/2007, -2/+6I Saw this movie on the weekend it was great, the animated "real life" made the movie really come to life is a way that was fantastical. really took the edge of the violence as well.
- dupswapdrop, on 11/19/2007, -2/+5Beowulf one of the best story's ever told.
- Hickeroar, on 11/19/2007, -10/+13Thinking persons movie? The movie was all around lame, albeit good looking. Don't try and intellectualize an over-gored, under-delivering movie. I was ultimately disappointed by it's utter lack of depth. Every opportunity they could use to show someone butt or gore-up a scene, they used it. It was a man-romp, pure and simple. No thought required at all.
- andrewgreene, on 11/19/2007, -1/+4The information is good, however the article is somewhat difficult to understand at times. Abbreviating cumulative to "cume" and Paramount to "Par". I'm usually not the language Nazi as I realize that I make mistakes too, but come on. Is this really what passes for professional journalism now?
- inactive, on 11/19/2007, -1/+4Exactly Hickeroar!
The people digging you down should say to why they think its intellectual!
I think people who enjoyed the movie tend to portray it to more then what it actually is. AKA Giving justification to why their brilliant minds enjoyed it... - Matrix_Prime, on 11/19/2007, -1/+4My thoughts exactly.
- manicallday, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3Go see this if you want special effects. Go see No Country For Old Men if you want to see a masterpiece.
- heartcoldfusion, on 11/19/2007, -2/+5American movies are so stale right now. So many movies are just adaptations, sequels or remakes. There's not enough creativity in Hollywood right now.
- svartgotik, on 11/19/2007, -1/+4Why was he mentally challenged? His lines were in Old English. But you're smart, so you knew that.
- mrjit, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3Spoilers, moron.
- juniorb, on 11/19/2007, -2/+5In every single way.
- RobotBuddha, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3Best description of it that I've heard. I had a great time, but the kind I'd have from watching a long tech demo, not a movie. It wasn't bad, or good, as a movie. It was just kind of background noise for the animation and 3D effects.
- Danleykubrick, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3$28 million for a movie of this size is a disappointment, not an achievement. It's telling that so much of the revenue came from the 3D theaters, since many theater-goers there undoubtedly went for the novelty.
- norman619, on 11/19/2007, -4/+7Exactly. Sounds like you actually saw the movie.
- KyleGoetz, on 11/19/2007, -2/+5Apparently you've never read the original poem. Beowulf fights Grendel completely naked in the poem as well.
- neodorian, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3Yet another movie that looks like I'm watching a video game.
- elijahalcantara, on 11/19/2007, -1/+4The movie feels like 'Shrek' in some parts.
- BT4P3, on 11/19/2007, -0/+3This movie was amazing. 3D was great, but the film is good on its own without the gimmick. The ending was frustratingly open ended, but otherwise well made.
- Xanadude, on 11/19/2007, -1/+3What anti-Christian rhetoric are you talking about?
- BT4P3, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2I admit I only managed to read a stripped down excerpt a while back in high school, so there wasn't exactly any ending in that either. I suppose it's better for them to stay true to the story than to make up a cheesy ending with no literary basis.
- MikeonTV, on 11/19/2007, -5/+7Tell us how you really feel
- danc4498, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2For having a $150 million budget, I wish this film well...
- juniorb, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2Actually, the Anglicized pronunciation of Bay-oh-wolf is incorrect. Beowulf is traditionally two syllables. BEO-wulf. "eo" is a dipthong, sounding something like the one-syllable "byo" sound in the name Bjork. And wulf is not "wolf" but "whulf." Ray Winstone, although saying it with a cockney accent, is pronouncing it correctly.
- KyleGoetz, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2I really like how they portrayed Beowulf as a blowhard who was completely full of himself. That's one difference; you get to see Beowulf bragging all over the place about how great he is, and the movie points out that he may have been fibbing about quite a deal of it.
- br0ck, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2In my opinion, the trailers don't really do it justice. I actually had the same thought going in, but when I saw it I realized that there a million different small and large things that would have been impossible to do with the typical green screen setup. Animating the entire thing gave them much more creative liberty.
- Sixcolors, on 11/19/2007, -0/+2What I can't stand from the previews is how dead all of the characters seem. Their eyes have little to no life in them and I can tell that they must've used a large amount of motion capture (or I guess they call it "performance capture" nowadays). I'll probably wait to rent this one, since tickets are $15 around here. :P
- br0ck, on 11/19/2007, -0/+245 million worldwide actually almost puts it in the top ten for this year: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=o ...
- juniorb, on 11/19/2007, -1/+3It wasn't anti-Christian. At that time in Scandinavia, Christianity was a new religion, subject to a lot of skepticism and ridicule by the cultures that still adhered to the Norse pagan deities. Plus, the original story was of pagan origin, and was solidified into a written text by a Christian poet many centuries later.
Beowulf is nude during the Grendel battle in the original poem. Comedy is a natural part of life. People laugh and enjoy themselves from time to time, you know.
- bejayel, on 11/19/2007, -1/+3There has been lots of articles that hit front page at 30 diggs. Whats the big deal?
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