Beowulf - Director's Cut on DVD

Bonus Features Provide Behind-the-Scenes Info for Zemeckis Film

Feb 27, 2008

Using motion-capture digital animation, "Beowulf" provides action, special effects, and monsters in a new way.

In this sci-fi/fantasy/action film, director Robert Zemeckis brings us an animated 3-D version of the epic story.

As Zemeckis says in “A Hero’s Journey: The Making of Beowulf” (included in the bonus features), this is not the same dry, indecipherable story that most of read in junior high school. Writers Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary take some liberties with the story in order to adapt the epic for the big screen, and Zemeckis uses digital technology to bring the same ultra-realistic animation as in his earlier film The Polar Express.

In this version, a Danish kingdom comes under attack by the hideous monster, Grendel (Crispin Glover), an enormous beast with oozing flesh and highly sensitive ears. The king (Anthony Hopkins) and his young queen (Robin Wright Penn) are delighted when the legendary warrior Beowulf (a highly stylized animated version of actor Ray Winstone) arrives to kill the monster. After his brave attack on Grendel, he is forced into going after the monster’s mother, a seductive sea witch (Angelina Jolie) who wants Beowulf to give her another son to replace the one he took away from her. Unbeknownst to him, this encounter with her comes at an enormous price.

Filled with grotesque monsters, fire-breathing dragons, frightening sea creatures, and grisly battle scenes, Beowulf takes full advantage of its digital technology in the action scenes. The bodies move fluidly, capable of the heroic feats associated with an epic such as this. Strangely enough, this technology flatters the male actors by enlarging their muscles, smoothing their faces, and taking off unwanted pounds, but for the actresses, the motion-capture digital animation isn’t especially kind. Although Jolie’s gold-laminated nude body is perfected by the technology, her facial features seem flat and lifeless, as do those of Penn and Alison Lohman (who portrays Beowulf’s mistress).

Watching the behind-the-scenes footage will greatly enhance knowledge and appreciation of the film. The featurettes are engaging and informative without the usual fluff pieces about how much everyone on the set loves everyone else. The “Making of” featurette shows the actors in their motion-capture suits covered in dots, swinging from wires and using brightly colored wire props. They ride up ramps on their horses, which also have the dots (but no motion capture suits). Stagehands – with bandanas covering their noses – follow the apparently well-fed horses around the set with shovels.

“Beasts of Burden” explores the designs used in creating the monsters, many of which mimic or foreshadow other monsters in the film. “Creating the Ultimate Beowulf” shows how Winstone, an overweight actor with average features, was transformed into a tall, handsome, finely chiseled warrior whose outside appearance matches his larger-than-life voice. “The Art of Beowulf” gives an overview of how thematic and visual elements combine into making the film version far more memorable (and accessible) than the version we had to study in school.

The copyright of the article Beowulf - Director's Cut on DVD in Animated Films is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Beowulf - Director's Cut on DVD in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.