Customer Reviews

Beowulf and Grendel (Widescreen)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival 2005. For a movie that realied completely on nature and make-up, it is amazingly scenic. No weird CGI creatures or backdrops, it's all real. The script is quite funny and the storyline and interpretation is very well thought out. This is the best Beowulf interpretation I've yet encountered. And the DVD promises to be PACKED with goodies!

I just saw this film in San Francisco. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much from this troll myth but some gory violence and primitive script spoken with unintelligible accent.

So I was more than pleasantly surprised when the impacting music and the spectacular pristine scenery quickly took me into the world where a giant's young son experiences a major trauma of getting his dad killed in front him and grows up alone and isolated with retribution in mind. So this Grendel is actually portrayed much more as a human with an unfortunate fate than a murderous monster without any personal identity, and I liked that. Beowulf who steps up initially to exterminate the troll starts sensing and detecting that there's more to this huge person than what was told of him, particularly after one of the troll's visit to the king's beer house (in which all Grendel did was pee on the front door to tease the warriors inside -- this scene was really funny). A great sense of humor with a modern twist is felt all throughout this film and really lightened up this stark ice-clad Scandinavian setting, and save the film from being unnecessarily dark and serious.

All the actors were great. Skarsgard (Hrothgar) and Butler (Beowulf) in particular, fit right into their roles. Although Sarah Polley's accent did't really mesh with the rest and her portrayal of the character was a bit too modern at times, she played the part of the mysterious firey witch really well.

Gunnarson's interpretation of the tale, making Beowulf's compassion towards the troll and those around the troll an integral part of the epic, really sets this film way apart from the rest of the average monster movies, and makes this a classy entertainment film of its own. No, it's not your typical trashy monster movie. It's WAY better than that and IS worth your viewing time if you have good enough a taste for a quality film with substance and many subtleties.

This is a great movie that is well worth a look. The production values are excellent, the scenery spectacular, and the characters well cast. Apart from the expected swordplay, there's also humanity in the characters and a surprising thread of humour running through the film (who says the old Norse didn't enjoy a good joke over a few beers).

This movie is not a CGI-generated swords and fantasy production from Hollywood, it's a well-made interpretation of the old Anglo-Saxon epic poem. I didn't find the plot overly complex despite what some claim, but it is a movie that requires the viewers to pay attention in order to follow along and that's not a hard thing to do at all.

Just a heads up for parents: there is profanity and two short sex scenes.

This movie is excellent, the scenery is divine, the cast has been chosen to perfection(well apart from when Ms Polley's speaks, the accent doesn't mix with the rest of the cast's)

The movie has pretty much everything, drama, action, comedy,even a teeny sex scene with the Gorgeous Viking Beowulf- he really is a beo wulf= Live Wolf;(Can I keep him please!) Gerard Butler is charismatic(as always) as the Geat hero.

Grendel is fantastic I really felt for the troll, the movie isn't a hollywood action flic, because this movie has credibility, BUY IT! Do yourself a favour watch a great movie and if you like intelligent gorgeous hero's with a heart you'll fall madly for Beowulf!

This film was shown three times at the Sarasota Film Festival although it was originally scheduled twice. It sold out so fast a special third screening was added due to popular demand. On Sunday April 9, 2006 I was fortunate enough to attend. Prior to the show, the Producer and Director were introduced who answered questions after the film. The most interesting questions and answers related to how the ideas and vision of this epic story were creatively conceived and made into reality within the setting of Iceland. It was a six year project from idea to finished product ... It was a huge hit at the Toronto Film Festival and was an equal smash at the Sarasota Film Festival. This film deserves wider distribution at theaters throughout the USA and internationally. It has all the qualities of a multimillion dollar multiple-award Oscar-winning film.

Gerard Butler is superbly cast as Beowulf, a hero and fighter from Greatland who comes to help the Danes fight a troll who has been wreaking havoc among them ... The King of the Danes provides a background of the troll's murderous activity but fails to tell the whole truth to Beowulf and his mighty warriors. The scenery in Iceland is breath-takingly beautiful - views of stark rocky mountains, steep icey cliffs, green hillsides and crashing waves against the shoreline. Although, the Danes were fierce fighters a certain fear had taken hold - they no longer trusted their own gods to support and protect them. They were fighting a troll who managed to elude their fiercest efforts ... The Danes succumbed to baptism and the beliefs of the after life as taught by wandering Christian monks. Amazingly, even the Danish King was baptized after falling deeply into depression and alcoholism while watching some of his best men die. Perhaps the soul of the King was tortured by some dark untold secret? Along with the obvious good versus evil aspects of the story, there are unexpected gems of hilarious moments with respect to the literary license used in the dialogue and deeper hidden meaning of the plot and story line.

After Beowulf met Selma the witch and had personally encountered the troll, he uncovered some bewildering aspects of the troll's character and behavior ... rather than seeing him as a wild animal, as described by the Danes, Beowulf noticed the troll carefully selected victims each of whom had harmed or threatened the troll. Beowulf and his warriors continue aiding the Danes but the battle lines are not drawn as straightly or clearly as before. The amazing curves and twists to the story line are very satisfying. The cinematography is outstanding. The battle and fight scenes are just as gruesome as required for the subject matter ... The most appealing aspect of this film is how the big bad monster is shown in a different light toward the end when the deeper hidden meaning of its behavior is better understood. While the film does deviate from the original adventurous epic poem, it has a universal appeal due to the engaging mannerisms of the characters and the gradual blossoming of the character of Grendel. The use of comedy helps balance the more gory gruesome scenes and their aftermath. Due to some adult content should not be viewed by anyone under age 18 without parental consent. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]

The story is now nearly two thousand years old. We are used to the written version that was solidified centuries later. This story in the original tradition places a different slant on the tale while holding close to the original. If told verbatim this would be a twenty minute movie so some of the information was filled in from inference. The ending has been changed to pose a new question and allow for a possible sequel.

The Dane King Hrothgar (Stellan Skarsgård) crosses paths with a troll (instead of some Harry Potter or Shreck type creature this is more of a Neanderthal) who had the audacity to steal a fish. That is a killing offence. Unfortunately after the troll is dispatched Hrothgar realizes he left a trollet behind. Through an act of kindness or for some other reason he lets the little Grendel (Hringur Ingvarsson) survive. Now grown up Grendel (Ingvar E. Sigurdsson. Actually two actors) as required by tradition takes revenge on Danes.

With out knowing the facts the Geet hero Beowulf (Gerard Butler,) (twelve years later, even though they are a day's sail away) hears about King Hrothgar plight and takes his men to the rescue. There he meets a distraught King, a mad monk, a witchy woman and an illusive and cunning Grendel.

One thing that gives the film worth is that Grendel may be strong but mortal and Beowulf is not as strong as 30 men; this makes the tale more like something that could have really happened and turned into a myth.

You will enjoy the real scenery and the refreshing absence of all that mind warping CGI.

If you are expecting a literal retelling of the epic, heroic poem, you won't get it from this movie. That's not a criticism on my part. I love the poem as it is, but Gunnarsson has consciously and cleverly stripped away the epic and the heroic from the film, and left us with the bare human elements. We can feel sympathy for Grendel in the film the way we cannot in the poem. Similarily, in the poem, Beowulf fights the good fight wihtout doubt about his rightness to do so. In the movie, Beowulf overtly denies his title "the hero". In a way, Gunnarsson mirrors the original author of the poem. He also took his material, a heroic epic of a pagan hero monster-killer, by then describing events already two centuries old, and converted it into an elegiaic epic acceptable to his now Christian audience. Gunnarsson has taken an 8th century dark ages tale and perhaps made it more accessible to a 21st century audience.

I thought this was an OK movie. It only deals with a portion of the Beowolf novel. It is certainly a good effort.

As most legends go, the story is quite intricate. I had never heard of it and found it quite interesting. The movie is somewhat gory, as a lot of other movies these days, but the acting takes you beyond this (mostly). I will definitely watch it again... and again!

Some regard this film as an international movie. The truth is, without the Canadian screenwriter and director, this film would never have happened. And in spite of the rugged beauty of Iceland, the the horrendous weather of the late season filming almost destroyed the production.

The whole concept of this film was based around, "What would it be like if Beowulf were based on an event that actually happened? How might we tell it?"

One of the biggest complaints of the movie is in regards to the amount of swearing. The swearing actually goes way way back in history and one must remember that Christianity was not the big thing back then, as well as the culture itself being non-Christian (pagan). To the critics I say, lighten up and realize that there is more than one kind of belief system in the world.

People argue that it's not true to the original story. But the film makers had to make a creative choice, stay true to the sanitized barbarians who bore no resemblance to the scandinavians of the time, or stay true to the feel of the age while re-envisioning one third of the original story to make it feel like something that could have actually happened. It's simply not possible for a man to totally rip Grendel's arm completely off. Try pulling a wing off an uncooked chicken and it'll give you a good idea.

If you watch the film carefully, you won't see Beowulf's men seeing what Beowulf sees. For example, on their journey to Daneland, nobody sees the sea witch grab Beowulf's arm, as he had his back to them. That's why they look at him wondering why he was suddenly so upset. The men don't see Grendel's arm come off as he killed the one witness (apart from Beowulf) before prying off his arm with a spear head for leverage. Hence, when the men start retelling the story of Beowulf, they do what most of us would do (even historians). They embellish to make for better telling.

As for Selma's accent, although she is a Dane, she is also an outcast. Having her use a modern accent helps to set her apart as an outcast, and to being someone who is somewhat ahead of her time in moral sensibilities.

Grendel was a child who lost his father figure and had emotionally been stunted from it when he grew up. He was essentially a kid in an adult body. And we all know how much trouble kids and teens get into when they don't have adult supervision.

Someone is going to make a note for note production of Beowulf one day that scholars will be happy with. And the day that it happens, movie goers will have to watch this film to get a good sense of the reality that the Beowulf saga had sprung from, because they won't find it in the happy scholar version.

I only hope that financing will come to allow this group of filmmakers to get back together and complete parts 2 when Beowulf becomes king and 3 when Beowulf dies after slaying a dragon. It would be great to see how the dragon would be portayed.

This film will not make the insane amounts of money that your typical Hollywood epic will make. But it has the substance, the campfire story-telling feel, the honesty of a ripping good yarn, to ensure that it never vanishes the way that so many other films have before and since.