Beowulf (2007 film)

Beowulf

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Produced by Robert Zemeckis
Steve Bing
Jack Rapke
Steve Starkey
Written by Neil Gaiman
Roger Avary
Starring Ray Winstone
Anthony Hopkins
Angelina Jolie
Crispin Glover
Robin Wright Penn
John Malkovich
Alison Lohman
Music by Alan Silvestri
Cinematography Robert Presley
Editing by Jeremiah O'Driscoll
Studio Shangri-La Entertainment
ImageMovers
Distributed by United States
Paramount Pictures
Non-United States
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) November 16, 2007 (2007-11-16)
Running time 115 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Old English
Budget $150 million
Gross revenue $196,393,745

Beowulf is a 2007 American performance capture fantasy film that is based on the Anglo-Saxon English epic poem of the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was created through a motion capture process similar to the technique used in The Polar Express and Monster House. The cast includes Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Angelina Jolie. It was released in the United Kingdom and United States on November 16, 2007, and was available to view in IMAX 3D, RealD, Dolby 3D and standard 2D format.

Contents

Plot

Set in Denmark in the 6th century, the film opens with King Hroþgar celebrating the construction of his mead hall, Heorot. However, the music disturbs and enrages the monstrous creature Grendel, who attacks the mead hall and slaughters nearly all of the people there. He retreats to his mother's cave when Hroþgar challenges him to fight. His mother, a water-demon, takes interest in Hroþgar's presence. Hrothgar has the mead hall sealed and offers half of the gold in his kingdom for a hero to kill Grendel. Beowulf and his group of Geats arrive by ship, and Beowulf agrees to slay Grendel. That night, Beowulf strips naked because he believes it would be more honorable to fight Grendel in the nude. The Geats bed down in the mead hall when challenged by Unferþ, Hroþgar's skeptical advisor. Their singing attracts Grendel, and Beowulf mortally wounds him in unarmed combat by breaking his left arm off. Grendel crawls back to his cave and later dies under his mother's caresses.

Grendel's vengeful mother kills all the rest of the Geats except Beowulf and his friend Wiglaf. Hrothgar reveals that Grendel's mother killed the men, and Beowulf decides to kill her too when Hroþgar says that she is the last of demonkind. Hroþgar does not reveal where Grendel's father is but offers the curious opinion that he poses no threat to them.

Beowulf and Wiglaf go to the cave where Grendel's mother lives, but only Beowulf ventures in, armed with the sword Hrunting and a golden horn shaped like a dragon. Grendel's mother appears as a golden naked woman and seduces Beowulf into giving her a son; in exchange, she promises Beowulf's name will be legendary for all time. Beowulf returns to Heorot with Grendel's severed head which is unceremoniously tossed into the ocean. He then dissembles about killing Grendel's mother and losing Hrunting and the horn to her. When Hroþgar privately confronts Beowulf he lets slip with the truth. Hroþgar then reveals that he was Grendel's father. Thus freed from the curse of Grendel's mother, Hroþgar implies that the burden is now Beowulf's to bear. He informs his people that Beowulf will become king upon his retirement and throws himself from the battlements to his death. Beowulf is crowned king soon after.

Years later an aging Beowulf, despondent and depressed over his deceit, shares his bed with a young mistress named Ursula while queen Wealtheow suffers quietly. One winter evening, the horn Beowulf gave to Grendel's mother is found by Unferþ's servant Cain; Beowulf realises Grendel's mother has reneged on their bargain, and Heorot is once more in danger. The following night, a dragon suddenly appears and burns down a nearby village, leaving Unferþ as the only survivor and carrying the message of "the sins of the fathers". Beowulf realizes that the dragon is in fact his own son and ventures forth to kill both him and his demon mother. The dragon attacks Heorot and attempts to kill Wealþeow and Ursula. Beowulf stabs the dragon in the chest, draining its ability to breathe fire, and then he literally rips its heart out. Beowulf and the dragon fall from a great height onto the beach far below. The dragon's form dissolves away into a hairless, golden, physically perfect man resembling Beowulf before his body washes away. Beowulf tells Wiglaf the truth before dying.

Beowulf is given a Norse funeral but Wiglaf, now king, finds the horn and sees Grendel's mother embrace Beowulf's body and disappear beneath the ocean before rising up again with an expectant smile on her face and Wiglaf standing in the water looking at her.

Cast

The cast members of Beowulf were filmed on a motion capture stage. They were altered on screen using computer-generated imagery, but their animated counterparts bear much resemblance to themselves.

The cast also includes:

Production

Author Neil Gaiman and screenwriter Roger Avary wrote a screen adaptation of Beowulf in May 1997 (they had met while working on a film adaptation of Gaiman's The Sandman in 1996, before Warner Bros. canceled it).[1] The script had been optioned by ImageMovers in the same year and set up at DreamWorks with Avary slated to direct and Robert Zemeckis producing. Avary stated he wanted to make a small-scale, gritty film, with a budget of $15-20 million, similar to Jabberwocky or Excalibur.[1] The project eventually went into turnaround after the option expired, the rights returned to Avary, who went on to direct an adaptation of The Rules of Attraction. In January 2005, producer Steve Bing, at the behest of Zemeckis who was wanting to direct the film himself, revived the production by convincing Avary that Zemeckis' vision, supported by the strength of digitally enhanced live action, was worth relinquishing the directorial reins.[7][8] Zemeckis did not like the poem, but enjoyed reading the screenplay. Because of the expanded budget, Zemeckis told the screenwriters to rewrite their script, because "there is nothing that you could write that would cost me more than a million dollars per minute to film. Go wild!" In particular, the entire fight with the dragon was rewritten from a talky confrontation to a battle spanning the cliffs and the sea.[1]

Sony Pictures Imageworks created the animation for the film, with visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen overseeing creative and technical development for the project. Animation supervisor Kenn MacDonald explained that Zemeckis used motion capture because “Even though it feels like live action, there were a lot of shots where Bob cut loose. Amazing shots. Impossible with live action actors. This method of filmmaking gives him freedom and complete control. He doesn’t have to worry about lighting. The actors don’t have to hit marks. They don’t have to know where the camera is. It’s pure performance." A 25 x 35-foot stage was built, and it used 244 Vicon MX40 cameras. Actors on set wore seventy-eight body markers. The cameras recorded real time footage of the performances, shots which Zemeckis reviewed. The director then used a virtual camera to choose camera angles from the footage which was edited together. Two teams of animators worked on the film, with one group working on replicating the facial performances, the other working on body movement. The animators said they worked very closely on replicating the human characters, but the character of Grendel had to be almost reworked, because he is a monster, not human.[9]

In designing the dragon, production designer Doug Chiang wanted to create something unique in film. The designers looked at bats and flying squirrels for inspiration, and also designed its tail to allow underwater propulsion. As the beast is Beowulf's son with Grendel's mother, elements such as Winstone's eyes and cheekbone structure were incorporated into its look.[10] The three primary monsters in the film share a golden color scheme, because they are all related. Grendel has patches of gold skin, but because of his torment, he has shed much of his scales as well as exposing his internal workings. He still had to resemble Crispin Glover though: the animators decided to adapt Glover's own parted hairstyle to Grendel, albeit with bald patches.[9]

Robert Zemeckis insisted that the character Beowulf resemble depictions of Jesus Christ, believing that a correlation could be made between Christ's face and a universally accepted appeal.[11] Zemeckis used Alan Ritchson (Aquaman of Smallville fame) for the facial image and movement for the title character of Beowulf.

Visual effects

Director Robert Zemeckis drew inspiration for the visual effects of Beowulf from experience with The Polar Express, which used motion capture technology to create three-dimensional images of characters.[12] Appointing Jerome Chen, whom Zemeckis worked with on The Polar Express, the two decided to chart realism as their foremost goal. Over 450 individual graphic designers were chosen for the project, the largest team ever assembled for an Imageworks-produced movie as of 2007.[12] Designers at Imageworks generated new animation tools for facial, body, and cloth design especially for the movie, and elements of keyframe animation were incorporated into the movie to capture the facial expressions of the actors and actresses.[12] The mead hall battle scene near the beginning of the film, among others, required numerous props that served as additional markers; these markers allowed for a more accurate manifestation of a battlefield setting as the battle progressed.[12] However, the data being collected by the markers slowed down the studios' computer equipment, and five months were spent developing a new save/load system that would increase the efficiency of the studios' resources.[12] To aid in the process of rendering the massive quantities of information, the development team used cached data. In the cases that using cached data was not possible, the scenes were rendered using foreground occlusion, which involves the blurring of different overlays of a single scene in an attempt to generate a single scene film.[12]

Other elements of the movie were borrowed from that of others created by Imageworks; Spider-Man 3 lent the lighting techniques it used and the fluid engine present in the Sandman, while the waves of the ocean and the cave of Grendel's Mother were modeled after the wave fluid engine used in Surf's Up. The 2007 film Ghost Rider lent Beowulf the fluid engine that was used to model the movements of protagonist Johnny Blaze.[12]

Jerome Chen worked to process large crowd scenes as early as possible, as additional time would be needed to process these scenes in particular.[12] As a result, the film's development team designed a priority scale and incorporated it into their processors so graphic artists would be able to work with the scenes when they arrived.[12]

So much data was produced in the course of the creation of the movie, the studio was forced to upgrade all of its processors to multicore versions, which run quicker and more efficiently. The creation of additional rendering nodes throughout Culver City, California was necessitated by the movie's production.[12]

Mark Vulcano, who had previously worked on VeggieTales and Monster House, was Senior Character Animator for the film.

Differences from the poem

"It occurred to me that Grendel has always been described as the son of Cain, meaning half-man, half-demon, but his mother was always said to be full demon. So who's the father? It must be Hrothgar, and if Grendel is dragging men back to the cave then it must be for the mother, so that she can attempt to sire another of demonkind."
— Roger Avary[1]

One objective of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary was to offer their own interpretation for motivations behind Grendel's behavior as well as for what happened when Beowulf was in the cave of Grendel's mother. They justified these choices by arguing that Beowulf acts as an unreliable narrator in the portion of the poem in which he describes his battle with Grendel's mother.[13] These choices also helped them to better connect the third act to the second of their screenplay, which is divided in the poem by a 50-year gap.[14]

Some of the changes made by the film as noted by scholars include:

Scholars and authors have also commented on these changes. Southern Methodist University's Director of Medieval Studies Bonnie Wheeler is "convinced that the new Robert Zemeckis movie treatment sacrifices the power of the original for a plot line that propels Beowulf into seduction by Angelina Jolie—the mother of the monster he has just slain. What man doesn’t get involved with Angelina Jolie?' Wheeler asks. 'It’s a great cop-out on a great poem.' ... 'For me, the sad thing is the movie returns to…a view of the horror of woman, the monstrous female who will kill off the male,' Wheeler says. 'It seems to me you could do so much better now. And the story of Beowulf is so much more powerful.'"[18] Other commentators pointed to the theories elucidated in John Grigsby's work Beowulf and Grendel, where Grendel's mother was linked with the ancient Germanic fertility goddess Nerthus.[19]

This is not the first time that the theme of a relationship between Beowulf and Grendel's mother was explored. In Gaiman's collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors, there is a poem, Bay Wolf, which is a retelling of Beowulf in a modern day setting. In this story, Beowulf as the narrator, leaves it ambiguous as to exactly what happened between he and Grendel's mother.

In addition, philosophy professor Stephen T. Asma argues that "Zemeckis's more tender-minded film version suggests that the people who cast out Grendel are the real monsters. The monster, according to this charity paradigm, is just misunderstood rather than evil (similar to the version presented in John Gardner's novel Grendel). The blame for Grendel's violence is shifted to the humans, who sinned against him earlier and brought the vengeance upon themselves. The only real monsters, in this tradition, are pride and prejudice. In the film, Grendel is even visually altered after his injury to look like an innocent, albeit scaly, little child. In the original Beowulf, the monsters are outcasts because they're bad (just as Cain, their progenitor, was outcast because he killed his brother), but in the film Beowulf the monsters are bad because they're outcasts [...] Contrary to the original Beowulf, the new film wants us to understand and humanize our monsters."[20]

Release

Columbia Pictures was set to distribute the film, but Steven Bing did not finalize a deal, and arranged with Paramount Pictures for U.S. distribution and Warner Bros. for international distribution.[21] Beowulf was set to premiere at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, but was not ready in time.[22] The film's world premiere was held in Westwood, California on November 5, 2007.[23]

At Comic-Con International in July 2006, Gaiman said Beowulf would be released on November 22, 2007.[24] The following October, Beowulf was announced to be projected in 3-D in over 1,000 theaters for its release date in November 2007. The studios planned to use 3-D projection technology that had been used by Monster House, Chicken Little, and 3-D re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but on a larger scale than previous films. Beowulf would additionally be released in 35mm alongside the 3-D projections.[25]

Several cast members, including director Robert Zemeckis gave interviews for the film podcast Scene Unseen in August 2007. This is noteworthy especially because it marks the only interview given by Zemeckis for the film.

To promote the film, a four issue comic book adaptation by IDW Publishing was released every week in October 2007.[26] A video game featuring the vocals of Winstone, Gleeson, and Hopkins was released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and PSP formats.[27] The soundtrack composed by Alan Silvestri was released on November 20, 2007. Critics and even some of the actors expressed shock at the British rating (12A) of the film, which allowed children under twelve in Britain to see the film if accompanied by their parents. Angelina Jolie called it "remarkable it has the rating it has", and said she would not be taking her own children to see it.[28]

Box office

Beowulf ranked #1 in the United States and Canada box office during its opening weekend date of November 18[29] grossing $27.5 million in 3,153 theaters.[30]

As of April 27, 2008, the film has grossed an estimated domestic total of $82,195,215 and a foreign box office total of $113,954,447 for a worldwide gross of $196,149,662.[31]

Critical reception

As of July 1, 2009, on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Beowulf received a rating of 71%, based upon 183 reviews. Under the category "Cream of the Crop" Beowulf received a rating of 71 percent, with an average reviewer rating of 6.5/10.[32] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 59 out of 100, based on 35 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[33]

Giving Beowulf three out of four stars, Roger Ebert argues that the film is a satire of the original poem.[34] Time magazine critic Richard Corliss describes the film as one with "power and depth" and suggests that the "effects scenes look realer[sic], more integrated into the visual fabric, because they meet the traced-over live-action elements halfway. It all suggests that this kind of a moviemaking is more than a stunt. By imagining the distant past so vividly, Zemeckis and his team prove that character capture has a future."[35] Corliss later named it the 10th best film of 2007.[36] Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers argues that “The eighth-century Beowulf, goosed into twenty-first century life by a screenplay from sci-fi guru Neil Gaiman and Pulp Fiction's Roger Avary, will have you jumping out of your skin and begging for more... I've never seen a 3-D movie pop with this kind of clarity and oomph. It's outrageously entertaining."[37]

Tom Ambrose of Empire gives the film four out of five stars. He argues that Beowulf is "the finest example to date of the mo-capabilities of this new technique [...] Previously, 3D movies were blurry, migraine-inducing affairs. Beowulf is a huge step forward [...] Although his Cockney accent initially seems incongruous [...] Winstone’s turn ultimately reveals a burgeoning humanity and poignant humility." Ambrose also argues that “the creepy dead eyes thing has been fixed."[38] Justin Chang of Variety argues that the screenwriters "have taken some intriguing liberties with the heroic narrative [... the] result is, at least, a much livelier piece of storytelling than the charmless Polar Express." He also argues that “Zemeckis prioritizes spectacle over human engagement, in his reliance on a medium that allows for enormous range and fluidity in its visual effects yet reduces his characters to 3-D automatons. While the technology has improved since 2004's Polar Express (particularly in the characters' more lifelike eyes), the actors still don't seem entirely there. Beowulf is more vocally than visually commanding."[39]

Kenneth Turan of National Public Radio criticizes the film arguing: “It's been 50 years since Hollywood first started flirting with 3-D movies, and the special glasses required for viewing have gotten a whole lot more substantial. The stories being filmed are just as flimsy. Of course Beowulf does have a more impressive literary pedigree than, say, Bwana Devil. But you'd never know that by looking at the movie. Beowulf's story of a hero who slays monsters has become a fanboy fantasy that panders with demonic energy to the young male demographic."[40] Manohla Dargis of the New York Times compared the poem with the film stating that, "If you don’t remember this evil babe from the poem, it’s because she’s almost entirely the invention of the screenwriters Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman and the director Robert Zemeckis, who together have plumped her up in words, deeds and curves. These creative interventions aren’t especially surprising given the source material and the nature of big-studio adaptations. There’s plenty of action in Beowulf, but even its more vigorous bloodletting pales next to its rich language, exotic setting and mythic grandeur."[41] San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle suggests: "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. To do Beowulf again, there should be some reason to do Beowulf at all. In 2005, for example, Beowulf & Grendel revisited the tale in order to present Grendel as a nice guy with his own point of view. That was a very bad reason to revisit Beowulf, but at least it was a reason."[42]

Media releases

Home media

Beowulf was released for Region 1 on DVD February 26, 2008. A director's cut was also released as both a single-disc DVD and two-disc HD DVD alongside the theatrical cut. The theatrical cut includes A Hero's Journey: The Making of Beowulf while the single disc director's cut features four more short features. The HD DVD contains eleven short features and six deleted scenes.[43]. The Director's Cut has been extended/edited in 20 scenes[44].

The director's cut was released on Blu-ray Disc in the United Kingdom on March 17, 2008 and in the United States on July 29, 2008. The Blu-Ray edition includes a "picture-in-picture" option that allows one to view the film's actors performing their scenes on the soundstage, before animation was applied (a notable exception to this is Angelina Jolie, whose scenes are depicted using storyboards and rough animation rather than the unaltered footage from the set).

Soundtrack

Beowulf Original Soundtrack
Soundtrack by Alan Silvestri
Released November 20, 2007
Recorded 2007
Genre Score/Vocal
Length 46:52
Label Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Group
Producer Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri

The soundtrack was released November 20, 2007.[45] Composer Alan Silvestri was largely responsible for the production of the soundtrack album, although actresses Robin Wright Penn and Idina Menzel performed several songs in the soundtrack's score.[46] The score is notorious for violent and foreshadowing tones intertwined with gentler, anthem-like tendencies.[47]

Title Composer/ Performers Length
Beowulf Main Title Alan Silvestri (composer) 0:54[48]
First Grendel Attack Alan Silvestri (composer) 1:50[48]
Gently As She Goes Alan Silvestri (composer)[48], Robin Wright Penn (performer)[46] 1:36[48]
What We Need Is A Hero Alan Silvestri (composer) 1:40[48]
I'm Here To Kill Your Monster Alan Silvestri (composer) 1:47[48]
I Did Not Win The Race Alan Silvestri (composer) 2:16[48]
A Hero Comes Home (In-film version) Alan Silvestri (composer)[48], Robin Wright Penn (performer)[46] 1:08[48]
Second Grendel Attack Alan Silvestri (composer) 4:02[48]
I Am Beowulf Alan Silvestri (composer) 4:32[48]
The Seduction Alan Silvestri (composer) 4:03[48]
King Beowulf Alan Silvestri (composer) 1:44[48]
He Has A Story To Tell Alan Silvestri (composer) 2:42[48]
Full Of Fine Promises Alan Silvestri (composer) 1:11[48]
Beowulf Slays the Beast Alan Silvestri (composer) 6:01[48]
He Was The Best Of Us Alan Silvestri (composer) 5:23[48]
The Final Seduction Alan Silvestri (composer) 2:25[48]
A Hero Comes Home (Credits Version) Alan Silvestri (composer)[48], Idina Menzel (performer)[46] 3:13[48]

Video games

Beowulf: The Game, a video game based on the film for PC and consoles. The game was announced by Ubisoft on May 22, 2007 during its Ubidays event in Paris.[49] It was released on November 13, 2007 in the United States. The characters are voiced by the original actors who starred in the film.[50]

On November 1, 2007, Beowulf: The Game was released for mobile phones. The side-scrolling action video game was developed by Gameloft.[51]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tom Ambrose (December 2007). "He Is Legend". Empire. pp. 139–142. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rob Carnevale (November 12, 2007). "Beowulf". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2007/11/12/ray_winstone_beowulf_2007_interview.shtml. Retrieved 2007-11-16. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sheila Roberts. "Cast of Beowulf Interview". Movies Online. http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_13362.html. Retrieved 2007-11-08. 
  4. ↑ "Becoming Beowulf". IGN. July 25, 2007. http://movies.ign.com/articles/808/808022p1.html. Retrieved 2007-11-16. 
  5. ↑ Sheila Roberts. "Anthony Hopkins Interview, Beowulf". Movies Online. http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_13394.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
  6. ↑ Sheila Roberts. "John Malkovich Interview, Beowulf". Movies Online. http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_13412.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
  7. ↑ Nicole Laporte; Claude Brodesser (January 20, 2005). "Sony, Bing get Anglo on "Beowulf"". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117916682.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
  8. ↑ Kevil Kelly (July 26, 2007). "Comic-Con: 'Beowulf' Footage Screening, Q&A, and Party!". Cinematical. http://www.cinematical.com/2007/07/26/comic-con-beowulf-footage-screening-qanda-and-party/. Retrieved 2007-11-07. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Barbara Robertson (November 28, 2007). "Beowulf Effects". CG Society. http://features.cgsociety.org/story_custom.php?story_id=4336. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 
  10. ↑ Sheigh Crabtree (November 4, 2007). ""Beowulf" breathes fire into a new kind of dragon". Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/cl-ca-beowulf4nov04,0,443706.story?coll=cl-movies. Retrieved 2007-11-08. 
  11. ↑ "Jerome Chen Talks Beowulf VFX Oscar Potential". VFXWorld. AWN, Inc.. 2007. http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3474. Retrieved November 28, 2008. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 "Beowulf: A New Hybrid for an Old Tale". VFXWorld. AWN, Inc.. 2007. http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3457. Retrieved November 27, 2008. 
  13. ↑ "Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary: Shaping Beowulf's story, video interview". http://www.stv.tv/content/out/film/videointerviews/display.html?id=opencms:/out/films/video_interviews/neil_gaiman_roger_avary. 
  14. ↑ Jeremy Smith (July 30, 2007). "Interview: Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary (Beowulf)". CHUD. http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=interviews&id=11232. Retrieved 2007-11-07. 
  15. ↑ Walter Quinn (November 23, 2007). ""Beowulf" movie takes poetic license — and then some — from the original text". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/movies/s_539150.html. Retrieved 2007-11-27. 
  16. ↑ Duane Dudek (November 16, 2007). "The Real Beowulf". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. http://blogs.jsonline.com/dudek/archive/2007/11/16/the-real-beowulf.aspx. Retrieved 2007-11-27. 
  17. ↑ John V. Fleming (November 29, 2007). "Good Grief, Grendel". The New Republic. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/good-grief-grendel. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 
  18. ↑ "Beowulf movie cops out with revised theme:It’s that evil woman’s fault". SMU. November 16, 2007. http://www.smu.edu/newsinfo/pitches/beowulf-16nov2007.asp. Retrieved 2007-11-27. 
  19. ↑ Paul Vallely (November 10, 2007). "Beowulf: A her for our times". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-and-tv/features/beowulf-a-her-for-our-times-399739.html. Retrieved 2008-10-22. 
  20. ↑ Asma Stephen (December 7, 2007). "Never Mind Grendel. Can Beowulf Conquer the 21st-Century Guilt Trip?". The Chronicle of Higher Education: B20. 
  21. ↑ Michael Fleming; Dave McNary (August 17, 2005). "Par, WB cry "Beowulf"". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117927670.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
  22. ↑ Eric J. Lyman (June 13, 2007). ""Beowulf" misses Venice festival bow". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/awards_festivals/news/e3i2d5887633794139a8e655639dfbe6c76. Retrieved 2007-11-08. 
  23. ↑ Robert Sanchez (November 5, 2007). "Exclusive Photo Gallery: World Premiere of Beowulf!". IESB. http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_ezine&task=read&page=1&category=3&article=3659. Retrieved 2007-11-09. 
  24. ↑ Hilary Goldstein (July 21, 2006). "Comic-Con 2006: Neil Gaiman's Future Movies". IGN. http://movies.ign.com/articles/720/720459p1.html. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
  25. ↑ Ben Fritz; Pamela McClintock (October 24, 2006). ""Beowulf" gets 3-D bigscreen bow". Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117952561.html?categoryid=13&cs=1. Retrieved 2007-01-13. 
  26. ↑ ""Beowulf" coming to theaters and comics". Comic Book Resources. June 19, 2007. http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=10939. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
  27. ↑ John Gaudiosi (October 23, 2007). "Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone Make Video Game Debuts in Beowulf". Game Daily. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/anthony-hopkins-ray-winstone-make-video-game-debuts-in-beowulf/71086/. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
  28. ↑ "Beowulf violence "shocked" Jolie". BBC. November 12, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7090277.stm. Retrieved 2007-12-24. 
  29. ↑ "Beowulf tops US box office chart". BBC. November 19, 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7101565.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  30. ↑ "Beowulf (2007)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beowulf.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-21. 
  31. ↑ "Beowulf (2007) - International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=intl&id=beowulf.htm. Retrieved 2007-11-25. 
  32. ↑ "Beowulf - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beowulf/. Retrieved 2008-01-01. 
  33. ↑ "Beowulf (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/beowulf. Retrieved 2007-11-19. 
  34. ↑ Roger Ebert (November 15, 2007). "Beowulf". Chicago Sun-Times. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/REVIEWS/71115001. Retrieved 2007-11-16. 
  35. ↑ Richard Corliss (November 16, 2007). "Beowulf and Grendel — and Grendma". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1684839,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  36. ↑ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2007/toptens.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-05. 
  37. ↑ Peter Travers (November 15, 2007). "Beowulf (Paramount)". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/7667721/review/17335234/beowulf_paramount. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  38. ↑ Tom Ambrose. "Beowulf". Empire. http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=11012. Retrieved 2007-11-12. 
  39. ↑ Justin Chang (November 9, 2007). "Beowulf". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=awardcentral&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117935372. Retrieved 2007-11-11. 
  40. ↑ Kenneth Turan (November 16, 2007). ""Beowulf" Sexes Up, Dumbs Down an Epic". National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16334109. Retrieved 2007-11-16. 
  41. ↑ Manohla Dargis (November 16, 2007). "Confronting the Fabled Monster, Not to Mention His Naked Mom". New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/11/16/movies/16beow.html?ex=1195880400&en=e0059fd42f72cf7d&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY. Retrieved 2007-11-16. 
  42. ↑ Mick LaSalle (November 16, 2007). "Review: "Beowulf" is back, beefed up, in 3D". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/16/DDIITCC2D.DTL&type=movies. Retrieved 2007-11-17. 
  43. ↑ Tom Woodward. "Beowulf (US - DVD R1 | HD)". DVD Active. http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/beowulf.html. Retrieved 2008-01-17. 
  44. ↑ http://movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=4803
  45. ↑ "Beowulf Soundtrack: Alan Silvestri: Music". Amazon.com. Amazon.com. 2007. http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Soundtrack-Original/dp/B000WVUNXG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-2764251-6286863?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194830454&sr=1-1. Retrieved 2008-11-06. 
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 "Beowulf (2007) - Soundtracks". IMDb. Internet Movie Database. 2007. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442933/soundtrack. Retrieved 2008-11-08. 
  47. ↑ "Beowulf Review". Allmusic.com. Macrovision Corporation. 2007. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fxfuxzlhldte. Retrieved 2008-11-28. 
  48. ↑ 48.00 48.01 48.02 48.03 48.04 48.05 48.06 48.07 48.08 48.09 48.10 48.11 48.12 48.13 48.14 48.15 48.16 48.17 48.18 48.19 "Beowulf (Warner Brothers Soundtrack)". Allmusic. Macrovision Corporation. 2007. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fxfuxzlhldte. Retrieved 2008-11-08. 
  49. ↑ "IGN". http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/790/790755p1.html. 
  50. ↑ "Beowulf Game Launches Alongside Film". http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/836/836712p1.html. 
  51. ↑ "Beowulf: The Game". IGN.com. http://wireless.ign.com/objects/953/953438.html. Retrieved 2008-10-14. 

External links

Beowulf
Characters
Beowulf  · Grendel  · Grendel's mother  · Hroðgar  · Ecgþeow · Hygelac  · Heardred  · Æschere  · Onela  · Wealhþeow  · Wiglaf  · Unferð  · The Dragon
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Scholars and translators
M. H. Abrams  · Michael J. Alexander  · Nora Kershaw Chadwick  · Kevin Crossley-Holland  · Michael D. C. Drout  · Seamus Heaney  · William Morris  · Frederick Klaeber  · Burton Raffel  · J. R. R. Tolkien  · Charles Leslie Wrenn
Artistic depictions
Literature
Grendel · Eaters of the Dead · The Legacy of Heorot · Beowulf's Children · Beyond Beowulf
Film
Grendel Grendel Grendel · Beowulf (1999) · The 13th Warrior · Beowulf & Grendel · Wrath of Gods · Grendel · Beowulf (2007)
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"The Monsters and the Critics"  · Heorot  · Hrunting  · Nægling  · Nowell Codex
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1970s
I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)
1980s
Used Cars (1980) · Romancing the Stone (1984) · Back to the Future (1985) · Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) · Back to the Future Part II (1989)
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Back to the Future Part III (1990) · Death Becomes Her (1992) · Forrest Gump (1994) · Contact (1997)
2000s
What Lies Beneath (2000) · Cast Away (2000) · The Polar Express (2004) · Beowulf (2007) · A Christmas Carol (2009)
2010s
Yellow Submarine (2012)
Films of Roger Avary
Directed
Killing Zoe (1994) • The Rules of Attraction (2002)  • Glitterati (2004)
Written
True Romance (1993) • Pulp Fiction (1994) • Killing Zoe (1994)  • The Rules of Attraction (2002) • Glitterati (2004)  • Silent Hill (2006) • Beowulf (2007)
Neil Gaiman bibliography
Novels
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Books edited by Neil Gaiman
The Sandman: Book of Dreams
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Angela · Black Orchid · "Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" · The Books of Magic · Creatures of the Night · Mr. Hero the Newmatic Man · Death: The High Cost of Living · "Green Lantern/Superman: Legend of the Green Flame" · Harlequin Valentine · The Last Temptation · Death: The Time of Your Life · Eternals · Marvel 1602 · Midnight Days · Marvelman · Neil Gaiman's Only the End of the World Again · The Sandman · The Sandman: Endless Nights · The Sandman: The Dream Hunters · Signal to Noise · Tekno Comix · The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch · Violent Cases
Screenplays and films
Babylon 5: "Day of the Dead" · Beowulf (with Roger Avary) · Princess Mononoke (English adaption) · Stardust · Neverwhere · MirrorMask · A Short Film About John Bolton · Death and Me (unproduced screenplay) · Coraline · Statuesque
Non-fiction
Don't Panic: The Official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Companion