Beowulf (film)

Beowulf is a 2007 motion capture film loosely based on the Old English epic poem of the same name. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was created through a similar motion capture technique to that used by the director in The Polar Express. The cast includes Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Alison Lohman, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Brendan Gleeson, and Angelina Jolie. It was released in the US, Canada and the UK on November 16, 2007, and was available to view in IMAX 3D and Real D format.

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

Set in Denmark, King Hrothgar has constructed a new mead hall, Heorot. The noisy celebration at the hall disturbs the deformed monster Grendel, who is pained by the noise even from miles away on the high moors. He attacks the hall, killing many of the men inside. Hrothgar challenges Grendel to fight him instead, but the monster after quietly staring at Hrothgar for a few moments, runs screaming off into the night. Back at his lair, Grendel is admonished by his (unseen) mother for attacking the humans and possibly inviting retribution. She calms down after Grendel tells her that he did not harm Hrothgar. The following morning, Hrothgar closes Heorot and proclaims that he will give half the gold in the kingdom to any man who can defeat Grendel. Soon Beowulf and his men arrive by ship from Geatland, and Beowulf offers to destroy Grendel. He convinces Hrothgar to reopen Heorot and let Beowulf's men stay there. Unferth, the King's advisor, challenges Beowulf's credibility. The warrior tells a tall tale of how he slew several sea serpents, and is capable of slaying Grendel too. Hrothgar offers Beowulf his precious golden drinking horn taken from the dragon Fafnir as a reward for Grendel's death. Beowulf is more entranced by Hrothgar's young queen, Wealtheow.

That evening, Beowulf asks his men to sing loudly. He undresses in order to fight the unarmoured Grendel on equal terms and elects to sleep until the monster arrives. As expected, Grendel is infuriated by the noise and attacks the hall. Beowulf fights him with his bare hands, proving more than a match for the nearly invulnerable demon. After Beowulf punches out the monster's sensitive ear, Grendel tries to flee for his life, only to have Beowulf taunt him and eventually rip his arm off. The dying Grendel flees back to his cave, where he tells the name of his killer to his mother. Beowulf is proclaimed a hero. That night, a private conversation between Hrothgar and Wealtheow indirectly reveals that Hrothgar was in fact the father of Grendel. Wealtheow has been refusing to sleep with her husband out of revulsion. This is why the king has no heir.

Enraged by grief over her son's death, Grendel's mother flies to Heorot. She distracts Beowulf in a dream by taking the guise of Wealtheow. When Beowulf awakes, he finds that all of his men in the hall have been killed, skinned and hung from the rafters like hunting game. Only his friend Wiglaf survived, only because he had been at the beach preparing their ship for departure. Beowulf confronts Hrothgar, who tells Beowulf that Grendel's mother is indeed the last of the monsters. Unferth apologizes to Beowulf for having doubted him, and offers his sword Hrunting for use against Grendel's mother.

Beowulf and Wiglaf seek out the flooded cave of Grendel's mother. Beowulf enters the cave alone to find it filled to the ceiling with treasure. Grendel's mother appears to him in the form of a beautiful woman, offering him fame and power if he will give her another son. She also asks for the Dragon Horn of Hrothgar, with the promise that Heorot will be safe as long as it is in her possession. Beowulf gives in to her temptations.

Beowulf returns to Heorot, claiming to have slain Grendel's mother. He brings back Grendel's head as proof of his deeds. He says that he lost Unferth's sword and Hrothgar's horn during the battle. In private, Hrothgar points out inconsistencies in Beowulf's story and asks if he did indeed slay Grendel's Mother. When Beowulf doesn't give a straight answer, Hrothgar knowingly says that with Grendel's death, he is no longer the cursed one. King Hrothgar names Beowulf heir to the throne. Hrothgar then leaps from the balcony to his death to the surprised horror of everyone. Beowulf is crowned king, and takes Wealtheow as his wife.

Many years pass. King Beowulf is unable to enjoy his power and glory, and his relationship with Wealtheow has grown cold. When Unferth's slave Cain finds the Horn of Hrothgar on a barren hill, Beowulf understands that Grendel's mother has ended their deal. Heorot is in danger once more. That night he dreams of his son by Grendel's mother. The son, who appears as a golden youth, threatens to kill Beowulf's wife and his young mistress Ursula. The next morning before dawn, a fierce dragon attacks a village outside of Heorot. The dragon gives a message to Unferth for Beowulf: "The sins of the father!"

Beowulf and Wiglaf ride to the cave of Grendel's mother and Beowulf confronts the dragon. The dragon flies to Beowulf's castle, but Beowulf is able to cling to its back. The dragon spots Wealtheow and Ursula on the castle wall and attempts to burn them. Beowulf finally manages to rip the dragon's heart out, severing one arm and burning the other in the process. The two fall to the shores far below. The dragon's form changes to that of the golden man from Beowulf's dreams. Wiglaf arrives at the beach in time to hear Beowulf's last words. Beowulf leaves his kingdom to Wiglaf.

Wiglaf prepares a Viking funeral for Beowulf. As Wiglaf watches the burning boat that serves as Beowulf's funeral pyre, he sees Grendel's mother kissing the corpse. Grendel's mother then appears in the water in human form and beckons to Wiglaf. It is unknown if the cycle will continue.

Tagline : Pride is the curse

Cast

Ray Winstone - Beowulf / Golden Man / Dragon

Robin Wright Penn - Wealthow

Anthony Hopkins - Hrothgar
John Bilezikjian - Musician #2
Brice Martin - Musician #4 (as Brice H. Martin)
Sonje Fortag - Gitte
Sharisse Baker-Bernard - Hild

Charlotte Salt - Estrith

Julene Renee - Cille

Greg Ellis - Garmund

Rik Young - Eofor

Sebastian Roché - Wulfgar
Leslie Harter Zemeckis - Yrsa (as Leslie Zemeckis)

John Malkovich - Unferth

Woody Schultz - Aesher