
Paramount - Paramount
Release date: 2008-02-26
DVD
Actors: Christopher Cummins, Neil Dickson, Shay Duffin, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover
Action, Action / Adventure, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Animated, Cartoons & Animation, Color, Crowned Heads, English, Fantasy, Fantasy Adventure, Feature, Feature Film-action/Adventure, Forceful, Gruesome, Heroic Mission, Lavish, Movie, Nudity, Obsessive Quests




I'll stick to the tech aspects as the content has been thoroughly reviewed elsewhere. Hi Def (either version) is a great platform for today's animation. The movie looks great on my system (Toshiba A35 HDDVD, Samgsung 58A550 Plasma). The Dolby Digital Plus sounds great on my Pioneer Elite receiver.
When I heard Angelina Jolie was playing Grendel's mother, I gave up on this "Beowulf." Then yesterday, I noticed the Red Box machine (this is a rental DVD vending machine usually found at supermarkets in the U.S.) had it for rent; at $1, I figured what the heck, and brought a copy home. We watched it. Okay, I was wrong. The movie is one of the better film versions of "Beowulf." So good in fact, I put it on my wishlist this morning.
I didn't see "Polar Express" so I had no preconceived notions about the look of the picture. My impression on the whole was good, I only noticed the CGI once or twice and wasn't particularly bothered (after decades of seeing massive anachronism in Hollywood products, I may be a little hardened).
I'd also suggest "Grendel" by John Gardner and J.R.R. Tolkien's essay on "Beowulf." Gardner looks at the story from the monster's point of view and Tolkien shows he had a life away from elves and hobbits.