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Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, John Malkovich, Robin Wright, Brendan Gleeson ... see more see more... , Crispin Glover , Alison Lohman , Angelina Jolie , Paul Baker , John Bilezikjian , Rod D. Harbour , Brice H. Martin , Sonje Fortag , Sharisse Baker-Bernard , Charlotte Salt , Julene Renee , Greg Ellis , Rik Young , Sebastian Roche , Leslie Zemeckis , Woody Schultz , Tyler Steelman , Nick Jameson , Shay Duffin , Costas Mandylor , Chris Coppola , Dominic Keating , Jacquie Branbrooke , Fredrik Hiller , Daniel McGrew , Alan J. Silva , Kevin Dorman , Rick Burns , Jared Weber , Camille Mala , Rob McCabe , Christopher Cummins , Shawn Driscoll , Emily Johnson , Tom West Jr. , Timothy J. Trobec , Larkin Lofgren , John Littlefield , Amy Esacove , Nadine Stenovitch , Anne Marie Wilson , Fred Tatasciore , Neil Dickson , Matthew A. Ward , Holly Dorff , Peter Lavin , Peter Dennis

"Beowulf" will be digitally converted into IMAX 3D and re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience (R) through IMAX DMR (R) (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Insp... read more read more...ired by the ninth century English epic poem, "Beowulf" combines a digitally enhanced live-action filmmaking technology with an all-star cast. In a legendary time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf battles the demon Grendel and incurs the hellish wrath of the beast's ruthlessly seductive mother. Their epic clash forges the timeless legend of Beowulf.

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52% liked it

308,822 ratings

Critics

71% liked it

194 critics

PG-13, 1 min.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Release Date: November 15, 2007

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DVD Release Date: February 13, 2007

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Stats: 37,319 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (37,319)

  • jmanard52
    March 2, 2008
    jmanard52
    A dazziling effects masterpiece. Just a wonderful visual feast.
  • fb1463751009
    March 9, 2012
    fb1463751009
    It's been a while since I've seen this but if I could recall what happened, I remember that this movie had incredible CGI and a good cast. But that was about it; the movie was incredibly boring. It brought new light to the classic story though.
  • phubbs1
    February 9, 2012
    phubbs1
    Strange one, I have never heard of the Beowulf legend and at first found this weird. If you dont know the legend it will seem dumb really. It starts out kinda confusing and not really interesting, too dark, has a kinda 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' feel to it haha the animation ... read morelooks alittle off and you feel slightly uneasy with the whole look, there's still a very plastic look to the human characters which is strange and the creature which is the main foe during the beginning of the film looks dreadful basically.
    Beowulf gets better with age as do most of the characters, yet they seem alittle 'He-manish', there voices are provided well from a good epic cast but it just doesn't quite fit the animated style. A main problem is your not sure if this is aimed at kids until the battles start, then you realise there's a very strong adult presence to the film, this gets more brutal and bloody as the film progresses and actually makes it alot better.
    The film looks better during the day sequences and seems to improve as the story goes on, the dragon battle near the end is the high point and very good, excellent effects and the best looking sequence, its actually better than other dragon related live action films. The ending is alittle sad but also alittle cliched and rather similar to other films but still works nicely. Its hard to judge, it starts slow and ropey yet does get better, the dragon battle being very good but thats all really. Nice to see legends from a real fable of a different country which hasn't been explored too much.
  • aquateen2
    January 31, 2012
    aquateen2
    Beowulf sure is a good popcorn flick that is easily accesible to anyone with an open mind but the real achievment is the motion capture animation which Robert Zemeckis has improved greatly since The Polar Express.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    October 16, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Beowulf is a great looking movie with stunning special effects, with a great cast of voice actors. Director Robert Zemeckies, on the other hand tries to direct a sweeping epic based on the famous work Beowulf. The film however fails to be overly entertaining, and I was greatly di... read moresappointed with film. The film was frankly too long and too boring. I thought that the film looked great, and it had stunning visuals, unfortunately, that wasn't enough to redeem the film. I thought the story lacked in depth and was frankly quite forgettable. Beowulf wasn't that great and this one of Robert Zemeckis' worst. Considering the films that he's made over the years, Beowulf is one of the worst and despite all the animation, it doesn't redeem how boring the film actually is. I thought that it took too long to get to the point. I felt that the film could have been much better, and that they could have done something much better considering how epic the story is. But I just didn't get into this film. I found it boring, long and tiresome. Beowulf relies more on its animation to tell the story, while to tell a story like this, you need substance and dramatic execution. Things that are absent from the film. Even if it's portrait as epic, why does it feel tired and unimpressive. Beowulf is an epic tale, yet this film evokes that in a way that it's very boring. I didn't find this film to be entertaining, but painfully long and despite the wonderful visuals, just didn't do anything for me.
  • spielberg00
    August 7, 2011
    spielberg00
    BEOWULF was created in a realistic, neat animation that allowed the excessive violence, blood, gore, and nudity in the film to look like it wasn't done poorly and in a cheesy way, but the whole experimental concept of the film often failed it for at least two reasons. One: a lot... read more of the angles shown don't make sense with the animation. For example, in one scene, Beowulf drops a sword to the floor, and we see from below, but it looks as if the sword is floating. If this were live-action rather than animated, we would have seen it much differently. Two: people who have kids are thinking that since this is animated and it's rated PG-13 (a non-restricted rating) that it should be great for their children. Well, let's just say that with all the blood and gore and nudity in here, I'm pretty surprised it's not rated R, and really, if it were live action (which really it should have been; it wouldn't have been much more effort, looking at the type of animation Zemeckis used), it would have been immediately rated R.
  • stormyweather980
    May 1, 2011
    stormyweather980
    I was dying to see this after seeing the previews years ago and remembering reading the short story in high school (the director of this film said he never understood or liked it in high school much - it was one of my favorites). It's really not that much like the famous story, b... read moreut it was still a well made movie and story. It's not even live action, but the animation is extraordinary. Worth a watch for sure.
  • binky013
    March 28, 2011
    binky013
    I have forced myself to sit through the entire viewing of every Beowulf adaptation ever made. The reason? I'm an English major, and Beowulf is one of the true stars of English literature. It's a matter of principle as well; I refuse not to see every one of them t... read moreo the end, no matter how bad they may be.

    I've not yet found any version that is true to the original, although some are more true than others. This one is quite a take-off on the original, but that's not the only reason why I'm still waiting for a superior adaptation. I don't mind huge deviation from originals if the result is truly great.

    One thing that is truly not great about this one is the use of computer generated images of the actors that try to approximate the actors. I'll say the same thing I said about Final Fantasy a long time ago: Why not just do live action with the actual actors? Special effects magic being what it is today, you can have flesh-and-blood actors do anything anyway, so why not?

    I tell you the most disappointing thing about this one, however, has nothing to do with the movie itself. It has to do with the extras on the DVD -- which I almost never watch. What I really wanted to hear from someone I admire, like Robert Zemekis, is how he fell in love with Beowulf when he first read it. Sorry to say, that's not the case. What I get to hear is that he, like EVERYONE else who was forced to read it in school, was bored stiff by the story.

    Everyone? You know what, Bob? When you speak in universals like that, you remind me of the ego-centric flavor of young adults who masquerade as "students" on college campuses these days: They aren't really in school to learn; they're in school to teach everyone around them that they know it all already and are always right about everything. They read a page about something on Wikipedia, and all of a sudden they think they're world-renown experts on the subject. Writing from that type of student sucks, just like the writing of the script for this movie. Bored, Bob? You don't know the meaning of the word until you sit through a showing of your little movie here.

    However, to give this baby its due, it didn't suck as boringly bad as some of the stuff I've been choking down recently, like, say, The Social Network or Winter's Bone. A great cast can do a lot to overcome lousy writing. I won't say they ALWAYS can overcome lousy writing, because I tend to shy away from using universals like that. But here, they do. A little. Like two stars worth.
  • CreedsDelight
    January 24, 2011
    CreedsDelight
    "I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength... and Lust... and Power! I AM BEOWULF!"

    Very entertaining with unbelievable 3D and animation.

    Grade: B+
  • lewiskendell
    September 10, 2010
    lewiskendell
    "The mother, the hag, she's not my curse. Not anymore.""The mother, the hag, she's not my curse. Not anymore."

    I think the decision to go entirely with computer animation for this adapatation of Beowulf was a good one. Sure, a live-action movie with practical effects or a mixtur... read moree of CGI could have been good, but I think the movie stood out more this way, than it would have, otherwise.

    The animated models look remarkably like their voice actors (you can easily tell who they're based upon, if you didn't know beforehand), and some of the backgrounds and settings are still quite impressive, a few years later. But, that's not to say that the the visuals don't still fall prey to the usual problems that arise when you try to do realistic human animation. Some of the facial expressions look odd, the movement of the characters occasionally seems very jerky and artificial, and almost every pair of eyes looks souless and dead. As I said, those issues are certainly not unique to Beowulf, but they are here.

    As for the rest of the movie it's a good action flick that has some humorous moments and enough blood and violence to make it appropriate for teenagers and up. The story really only covers a few events, and there's not much here other than the battles (which are certainly entertaining) and a few talky bits. Don't expect much more than that, and you'll be content. I actually think that Beowolf would have benefitted from being made with post-Avatar 3-D technology, but even in 2-D on your tv screen, it's a fun adult adventure.

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Critic Reviews

Tom Charity
November 24, 2007
Tom Charity, CNN.com

An excellent showcase for the advantages of computer-generated animation. Full Review

Richard Roeper
November 19, 2007
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

I had a hell of a good time at this movie.

J. R. Jones
November 19, 2007
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Their story arc brings some legitimate dramatic interest to Beowulf's climactic battle with the dragon. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
November 16, 2007
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle

It's imaginative, and it has the barreling forward motion and lurching thrills of a Dark Ages theme park, even when it's exercising battle-worn clichés. Full Review

Peter Howell
November 16, 2007
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

Heads roll, arteries gush and spleens spill across the IMAX screen in Beowulf, just as you'd expect in a screen adaptation of the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language. Full Review

Richard Corliss
November 16, 2007
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

You want to read Beowulf? Get the book, I'm not stopping you. You want bloody adventure with a brain, see the movie. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
November 16, 2007
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It's the Beowulf saga once again, and the movie becomes tiresome and trivial -- well done within the narrow limits of its aspiration but not worth the inflated effort. Full Review

David Ansen
November 16, 2007
David Ansen, Newsweek

Zemeckis has been seduced by the siren call of motion capture... Memo to Zemeckis: come back to earth! Full Review

Stephen Whitty
November 16, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

It is --quite literally -- an epic achievement. Full Review

Jack Mathews
November 16, 2007
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

Beowulf is as dazzling a feast for the eyes as the hungriest eyes can take. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • King Hrothgar: She's not my curse... not anymore.
    • Beowulf: If we die... it will be for GLORY, not gold.
    • Beowulf: I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength... and Lust... and Power! I AM BEOWULF!
    • Grendel's Mother: Are you the one they call Beowulf? The Bee-Wolf. The bear. Such a strong man you are with the strength of a king. The king you will one day become.
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Beowulf Trivia

  • In Beowulf & Grendel, why does Grendel snap the neck of Beowulf's friend?  Answer »
  • True or False: James Remar was auditioned for Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat Annihilation and Christopher Lambert was interested in reprising the role of Rayden but was committed to Beowulf.  Answer »
  • who played Beowulf in Beowulf and Grendal?  Answer »
  • "I am ripper, tearer, slasher! I am the teeth in the darkness, the talons in the night! Mine is strength and lust and power! I am..."  Answer »
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