Beowulf Discussion (movie spoiler)

[Litz]

So whoever went to see Beowulf what did you think? I never read any version of the book/story, but knew of its existance prior to the movie. I talked with a guildy of mine and found out that the storyline was changed from what he knew of the story, but I also understand changing the story has been part of its history since the founding of the roman catholic church. I did find it entertaining even if it was not the true story, and it had been filled with eye candy from the 3d effects. I didn't find that the animation effects detracted from the story too much. I just kept in mind it was suposed to be a fictional story that my mind was supposed to be generating the images, and not that I was actually there watching the events unfold. That made the unrealness of it more acceptable.. My favorite scenes were the Dragon fight, and the 3d Agelina. Overal the story was a good one with a lesson for people to walk away with. I give it a thumbs up.

[Kerr]

I'm torn. A painted and otherwise nekkid Angelina is in it. And they changed the story so Beowulf does a painted and otherwise nekkid Angelina being Grendel's Mom.

The first is a good thing, but the second is too much for me to consider seriously. They may as well make Ahab fall in love with Moby (oh jeeze, the alternate name for Richard).

[BlueLightBandit]

I'm confused... what does the Roman Catholic Church have to do with it? It's not the Da Vinci Code...

Beowolf is infamous because it was the first known folk lore to be written down. Prior to that all stories were passed through generations verbally through songs and poems, and liable to be greatly embelished over the years. So really it should in theory be less grandios than other fables, not more.

My recollection was that the story was awfully slow, boring in parts and borderline ridiculous in others. Part of the story line was that Beowolf detaches Grendels arm during a fight in a bar, and Grendels mother (your Angelina) returns in the middle of the night to retrieve it. Beowolf tracks her down and kills her with a magical sword he just happened to find laying around in the swamps where she was chilling out with her then one armed son.

Then he goes on to slay some dragons and other boring stuff... which is where I believe the movie picks up.

Then again, the story was supposedly written down around the same time as the story of Sir Arthur and his magical sword, that he found chasing a woman through muck filled pond scum. Yet the truth isn't revealed until 1975 when we find out "you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you."

That's what made these kind of stories fun... is that you could see resemblances and similar story lines even today. We see the same theme over and over (and over again... Rambo 8 anybody, Rocky XVII, every quest in the Necropolis?) and yet we're motivated to wonder "how will this guy solve it?"

It's also fun because as it turns out Eberron is not the only place where mobs leave uber weapons just lying around. And you thought that was a rp flaw.

[Shaunassey]

I liked this movie, it was a sweet treat for the eye. The animation in the film was excellent when zooming in on a single hair being moved by a soft breeze was a very nice touch. This story picks up after the king has a Ale Hall built to celebrate the infamous ale of his kingdom. Grendal is the results of the kings improprieties with a Water Demon and thus a curse on his kingdom. Grendal attacks the Hall because the the song and merriment that hurts his sensitive ear. And thus the story begins. Grendal is infamous for being the first monster in written fiction derived from folklore, more along the lines of Urban Legend, and so called wives tales we have in modern folklore. The story is embellished in many ways, but when did that ever stop Hollywood from making what they consider boring into a more exciting storyline in their eyes. We can see quite a bit of the lore and fiction writings we know and love today based on this story, and until someone comes up with an entirely new line of Fantasy writing that doesn't use these as a baseline for their stories, we always will, not withstanding SciFi Fantasy. and to BLB, if you find Dragon Fights Boring, I really don't want to know what you find entertaining...lol

Two Thumbs up for Stunning animation, the Digital 3D was a very nice touch, and well made, and the Storyline was bit too scattered w/ jumping back and forth from past and present to going from current story and jumping 30 to 40 years in the future in a blink of an eye, but over all very entertaining movie. Go see it for yourself.