Beowulf HD DVD review

[Wayde]

Starring: Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Production Year: 2007
Media Year: February 26, 2008
Rating: R
Length: 113 minutes

Movie

Beowulf loosely retells an age old literary classic, the poem of the same name that was written down in 700 A.D. The Paramount film that just arrived on DVD and HD DVD gives us an animation technique that overlays real actors with fantasy CGI, placing them into computer generated environments. You can see the real life actors playing the animated characters somewhere in the details of the faces if you don’t already recognize their voice.

You watch a movie like Beowulf for fun, not because you’re expecting rich and in-depth story. Prepare for a few laughs and some amazing CGI thrills and you’ll have a good time watching Beowulf.

The title character is a warrior of impossible masculinity and skill in battle – he’s not too shy to boast of his lofty deeds either. The story starts with a Danish King Hrothgar played by Anthony Hopkins who calls for a horn of mead in the best jovial barbarian-king-voice possible. It’s celebration time in Herot, the mead hall that’s about to be set upon by a curse of the King Hrothgar’s own making. A creature called Grendel crashes the party and presents some of the most grisly CGI I’ve seen.

Soon, a warrior shall emerge from the sea – Beowulf. This is the kind of movie where a hero can shout out a line like:

“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 BEOWULF!”

And if it sounds a bit like a farce, you might be right. The screenplay was written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. Gainman is a noted novelist and comic writer known for the Sandman series that practically gave birth to DC Comics Vertigo line. The new line of comics helped the giant comics company keep pace with the rise of indie comics, known for their strange and sometimes adult oriented tales.

The film borrows form nearly every barbarian stereotype you can imagine. It should be viewed with a sense of humor and if you’re of a mind, a horn of ale and a well bosomed wench to serve it to you. The CGI characters look amazing, especially a very recognizable Angina Jolie who appears in full CGI nudity with only golden reflections from water that strategically soaks certain parts of her anatomy.

And on the topic of strategic modesty, one of the funniest effects in the film is a very creative AustinPowerism that occurs when Beowulf decides he should strip naked to fight Grendel. After all, Grendel himself is a troll that wears no clothes so it’s only fair. Environmental objects keep us from seeing a little too much Beowulf during the entire fight.

The movie was originally designed to be seen at 3D cinemas and Imax theaters. Though the HD DVD

release isn’t 3D there are several obvious plays to the 3D effect. Spears try to poke at the audience through your screen and points of view pull you back away from rooftops and then down again.

Audio: English/French/Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround

You won’t be disappointed in the audio quality of Beowulf. The only soundtrack available is a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and it’s particularly heavy on bass – what else would you expect from Beowulf? The only thing I could have possibly asked of the soundtrack would be the option of DTS-HD. Although once the movie gets rolling you won’t miss it.

The directional effects during the many fight scenes will keep you immersed and the LFE channel often supports sound effects from the surround speakers. Depending on how your system is calibrated it might just make you feel that you have much larger surround speakers. The sounds effects are effect are stunning, from detailed wind and rain, to rocks falling from high above and pattering all around you when they land. The dialogue won’t disappoint. Voices are defined and articulate – especially when calling for another mead.

Video: 2.35:1, 1080P/AVC MPEG-4

The video from this digital source transfer is flawless on a 1080P HDTV. Lanscapes were particularly impressive with glistening ice and and perpetual fog. I haven’t seen a picture this good since the last CGI film I screened which was Ratatioulle. That film seemed to set the benchmark for CGI on 1080P but Beowulf is at least its equal.

I have a setting on my display reserved for this level of perfection that brings out finer details. The Beowulf HD DVD certainly earned it. Subtle details in skin-tones and hair look lifelike and gaping wounds with glistening sores on the monster Grendel look equally hideous. The animation style never tries too hard to look real, but it does lend a sort of hyper-reality with its stark contrasts dynamic light sources. The video, like the audio is of the highest caliber with no obvious imperfections.

Special Features:

There are two versions of the DVD. A single disc standard DVD, single disc unrated DVD and a two disc unrated HD DVD.

There is such a cornucopia of high definition extra features on the HD DVD that they had to pack it all on an extra disc. I appreciated the straightforward navigation of the special features disc as well. You load it up and get a single continuous main menu with sub-categories where applicable. You could spend the day watching all the extras.

• A Hero's Journey: The Making of Beowulf (HD, 24 minutes) Director Robert Zemeckis talks about the cast and teaming up with the screenwriters. Zemeckis admits he never cared for the original poem of Beowulf that they likely made him read in school, but was intrigued by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary’s screenplay.

• Deleted Scenes (HD, 12 minutes)

• Beasts of Burden: Designing the Creatures of Beowulf (HD, 7 minutes)

• The Origins of Beowulf (HD, 5 minutes) An interesting feature where the screenwriters and Zemeckis talk about adapting the poem to a movie and the liberties they took with the original.

• Creating the Ultimate Beowulf (HD, 2 minutes) Showing the difference between actor Ray Winstone and the digital Beowulf. No, that’s not Winstone’s body used as Beowulf but a digital rendering.

• The Art of Beowulf (HD, 5 minutes) Detailed look at the original drawings and paintings that were used as the art direction for the whole movie. It is a point of interest to see how the movie itself was built around this large series of art work.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)
Bonus Content
• Beowulf In the Volume: Picture in picture feature that appears at the bottom right of the screen while watching the movie.
• A Hero's Journey: Interactive Version (HD, 44 minutes): Gives access to extra features while watching the making of feature. Shows lots of extra behind-the-scenes featurettes.
• The Journey Continues (HD, 20 minutes)
• A Conversation with Robert Zemeckis (HD, 10 minutes)
• Web Enabled Content

Easter Eggs

A one minute feature called “A Coffee Break with John Malkovich” is hidden. When you highlight “A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf” press left on the remote and click the new icon that appears.

Overall

Not a great movie by any means. Some of ploys to tweak the 3D effect are rather annoying. But the movie is fun and shouldn’t be taken too seriously. If you enjoy a good sword and sandal epic you’ll at least like Beowulf. The number of special features and the perfection of the sound and visual experience might be enough to recommend actually buying the HD DVD set if you really enjoyed the movie.

[Sonnie]

I watched this movie over the weekend and thought it was pretty interesting. I thought the story was fairly well done. I am not sure I like this type of animation, but the video quality appeared to be superb.

[Wayde]

I think the small changes to the Beowulf legend were well done. Some purists might think they butchered the story... bah... if they stayed too true to the poem parts of it wouldn't make sense.