Beowulf

[Skjaldbakka]

I went to see Beowulf 3D today. It was freakin' awesome! Best fight with a dragon I have seen in a movie for a long time, maybe ever.

[The_Hunting_Enemy]

I enjoyed it. Finally an animated movie that isn't for the kiddies. It was about time people learnt that animation appeals to older audiences as well.

[Skjaldbakka]

I have to admit, the 3D thing threw me off. But I was already at the theater before I found out it was 3D, so I went ahead and watched it anyway. I was actually impressed. My eyes hurt a little afterwards, though (glasses + 3D glasses, ugh).

[EvilElitest]

Depressing, oh so depressing, but will give it credit for graphics
from,
EE

[Weezer]

purely looking at it from an animation standpoint it was very well done, but the changes they made in the plot wanted me to gouge out my eyes.

[Volug]

I saw it yesturday, but not 3-D.

I have to say, it was good. Though some things... Could have been left out... I didn't like the nudity:yuk: :yuk:

[Skjaldbakka]

purely looking at it from an animation standpoint it was very well done, but the changes they made in the plot wanted me to gouge out my eyes.

I don't see why people expect movies to be true to whatever they are based on. If you just give up that assumption, you can enjoy the movie on its own merits.

[EvilElitest]

purely looking at it from an animation standpoint it was very well done, but the changes they made in the plot wanted me to gouge out my eyes.

Well, that is a few thousand years of intellectual research down the drain. Also they ruined Grendal's character.


I have to say, it was good. Though some things... Could have been left out... I didn't like the nudity
While i am an American, and thus prone to do this anyways, i always find nudity rather unimportant to the plot. I mean i don't mind it if it somehow matters to the plot, but i often find it unnecessarily and seemed to be thrown in to sadifiy teenage boys (didn't have that effect on me certainly)


I don't see why people expect movies to be true to whatever they are based on. If you just give up that assumption, you can enjoy the movie on its own merits.
1. If your got going to be true to a source, then make your own story or
2. Make your own story, but please do it well. A creative new story is always cool, but this was just ug.

It wasn't teh worst movie i've ever seen however, but it certainly wasn't great
from,
EE

from,
EE

[Skjaldbakka]

The nudity was true to the source. Which means you are contradicting yourself.

I have to agree that I wasn't happy with Grendel. The level of detail there was rather unpleasant in 3D. None of which changes the fact that the fight with the dragon was freakin' awesome. It's worth going to see just for that, IMO.

[....]

Didn't we already have a thread like this?

And the nudity defiantly wasn't pleasing and teenage boys.

Well, I guess Grendel's mommy was pretty much nude.

[EvilElitest]

The nudity was true to the source. Which means you are contradicting yourself.

I have to agree that I wasn't happy with Grendel. The level of detail there was rather unpleasant in 3D. None of which changes the fact that the fight with the dragon was freakin' awesome. It's worth going to see just for that, IMO.

I was talking about grendal's mom. not true to the scource.
As for Beowulf, i thought hte poem said he stripped himself of his armor, not of everything
Beowulf was the same, just aimed for teenage girls
from
EE

[Kaelaroth]

I saw this film recently. I rate it with an "OK".

Grendel was icky. His mothr was awesome, but Angelina Jolie's accent was incredibly painful, and the dragon was uber. Ray Winstone's Beowulf voice was incredibly out of place, and I was slightly insulted by the way in which they showed female genitalia, but hid male.

Overall, I felt the entire thing felt a bit like the film you get before a computer game. A really long one. I was waiting for the moment when I could take over Beowulf... :smallfrown:

And very good graphics, but I think a live-action Beowulf movie might've been better.

[Crow]

I guess I called this one.

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3445087&postcount=34

[....]

I was slightly insulted by the way in which they showed female genitalia, but hid male.

To be fair, female genitalia don't automatically give youan NC-17 raiting, while any lengthy male genitalia do.

Or so I hear.

[zeratul]

I personally didn't mind the nudity. I mean honestly, who cares? I think it's cool that in that since they were true to the plot. I mean it's a little immature to get all up in arms about it when it isn't even a large aspect of the movie.

[Irenaeus]

purely looking at it from an animation standpoint it was very well done, but the changes they made in the plot wanted me to gouge out my eyes.

That's almost the opposite of my reaction. The changes in the plot was well thought-out, made sense and was an interesting new take on the story, but I did not care very much for the execution. It usually looked quite good, but I tend to feel that watching such movies is a bit like watching an incredibly long cut-scene.

As for the nudity, I would not have been bothered by it had been handled differently. Having Beowulf either 1) wear some garments or 2) be shown completely nude in the fight in the mead-hall would have made the scene less laughable.

[EvilElitest]

I personally didn't mind the nudity. I mean honestly, who cares? I think it's cool that in that since they were true to the plot. I mean it's a little immature to get all up in arms about it when it isn't even a large aspect of the movie.

I was refering to the naked grendal's mom and yes that defently wasn't true to the plot
I don't mind changing the plot, but i felt this didn't do a good job in executing it
from,
EE

[Xuincherguixe]

I liked everything about the movie except for those high heels. I mean what the hell man?

The conveniently placed objects when Beowulf was fighting Grendel naked was stupid too. But it's the kind of stupid you can just laugh at.

And as I said in the other thread, if they had just done a carbon copy of the original it would have been pretty boring I think.

[Sundog]

Okay, were we watching the same movie here? Angelina Jolie was clearly covered in thick, gold body paint - no nipples showing, let alone genitalia. Shed've been more nude in a skintight lycra catsuit.

As to Beowulf's nudity - you just can't show a man's genitals and get less than an NC-17 rating, kiss of death at the box office (there have been exceptions - Life of Brian for instance - but they are few and far between).

[JadedDM]

As to Beowulf's nudity - you just can't show a man's genitals and get less than an NC-17 rating, kiss of death at the box office (there have been exceptions - Life of Brian for instance - but they are few and far between).

I don't think the complaint is that they didn't show anything (I'm rather thankful that they did not!), but the way in which his goods were hidden. They could have just kept the camera above his waist or shown him from the back, rather than going Austin Powers on it by having convenient objects placed strategically in key areas to hide it. It just kind of seemed silly.

[Irenaeus]

They could have just kept the camera above his waist or shown him from the back, rather than going Austin Powers on it by having convenient objects placed strategically in key areas to hide it. It just kind of seemed silly.It seemed very silly. In fact, for me, it would still seem quite silly if they had kept the camera above the waist or filmed from the back. Either the man should wear clothes, or full nudity should be shown. At least to me these seems to be the only solutions for such a long scene with so many different shots and so much motion that would not seem contrived or plain dumb.

I shouldn't really complain to much, though. The castle design, the high heels, the ballistae, some of the armour, much of Jolie, and all of Denmark's lofty mountains were about equally stupid. I just didn't mind as much because these things wern't drawn attention to by carefully prudish cinematography.

Simpsons: The Movie had a PG-13, by the way.

[Swordguy]

I don't think the complaint is that they didn't show anything (I'm rather thankful that they did not!), but the way in which his goods were hidden. They could have just kept the camera above his waist or shown him from the back, rather than going Austin Powers on it by having convenient objects placed strategically in key areas to hide it. It just kind of seemed silly.

It would have been impossible to shoot a "grappling-style" fight with that sort of camera-play. The correct choice would have been to either have him wear a loincloth or some such, or go ahead and shoot the scene full-on and challenge people to grow the hell up about nudity, especially when it's a CLEARLY non-sexual context.

I was annoyed a bit at the plot changes, but they kept it coherent. There wasn't anything that was out of character from the characters they established early-on. The nudity? Big deal. I didn't have a problem with Grendel's mother as she was portrayed - they swapped another melee beast (which would have been boring and repetitive in a primarily visual format) for something different - a temptress...a mental challenge. Different isn't bad.


@Irenaeus:
The armor wasn't bad, IIRC. Pretty much just chain, wasn't it?

[Irenaeus]

@Irenaeus:
The armor wasn't bad, IIRC. Pretty much just chain, wasn't it?Most of the armour worn by the central characters was mail, and it often looked rather good. However, some warrirors in the first half of the movie had breastplates of some sort, but they might have been leather, making it a bit better (but a bit strange to me). In the scenes with massed soldiers in the final third of the movie I thought I saw a lot of breastplates that were clearly metal, but they was rarely in focus, and I might be mistaken. As I said, I didn't really mind it very much. If they have concentric towers, high heels, Danish mountains and serendipiously prudish mead hall furniture, then I can handle a few anachronistic pieces of plate in the periphery. It is a legend, after all, and not every movie need to cater to my obsessive compulsive need for minimalizing anachronisms. (Though it would be nice if it happened at least once.)

The design choices of several buildings and items often seemed strange to me. Sometimes it was beautiful and very much what I associate with the dark ages/ late antiquity in northern Europe, and sometimes it seemed to have been lifted straight from Disney. Very much of the stuff in the mead hall, for example, looked really good to me. I'm no archeologist, though. I also liked the way boasting was handled in the movie. Very old-norse style.

[Swordguy]

Most of the armour worn by the central characters was mail, and it often looked rather good. However, some warrirors in the first half of the movie had breastplates of some sort, but they might have been leather, making it a bit better (but a bit strange to me). In the scenes with massed soldiers in the final third of the movie I thought I saw a lot of breastplates that were clearly metal, but they was rarely in focus, and I might be mistaken. As I said, I didn't really mind it very much. If they have concentric towers, high heels, Danish mountains and serendipiously prudish mead hall furniture, then I can handle a few anachronistic pieces of plate in the periphery. It is a legend, after all, and not every movie need to cater to my obsessive compulsive need for minimalizing anachronisms. (Though it would be nice if it happened at least once.)


Yeah, I missed the background armor completely. As long as it's better than 13th Warrior, I can deal with it. :smallbiggrin:

The Danish mountains were pretty funny though. My wife is Danish - she lol'd.

[Darken Rahl]

Selling this movie based on Angelina Jolie's sexuality ruined any desire for me to see it in the theater.

It angers me to think that Jolie has the kind of hubris that would allow her to say "OK guys, I'll be the only actor in the movie wearing my real face."

Plus, she needs to learn to keep her grammar straight.

"Such a strong MEN."...?

I hope this does not become the "movie of the future" as Peter "Hack" Travers would have us believe it is. The CG falls at the WORST part of the uncanny valley, and I'd much rather have real actors with Jason and the Argonauts style effects. At least they didn't overshadow the acting.

[SmartAlec]

Plus, she needs to learn to keep her grammar straight.

"Such a strong MEN."...?

She does actually say 'Man' rather than 'Men'. It might sound like 'Men', but that's just the accent.

[Swordguy]

Selling this movie based on Angelina Jolie's sexuality ruined any desire for me to see it in the theater.

...

Plus, she needs to learn to keep her grammar straight.

"Such a strong MEN."...?



To be fair, that's the accent talking.

And EVERYTHING is sold on sexuality (subject to the advertiser's creativity). If you don't like it, you may as well get off the world.

[Darken Rahl]

It's a piss poor accent.

Angelina is skanky, not sexy.

[Crow]

Angelina is skanky, not sexy.


Thank God. Somebody other than myself finally said it. I was willing to look past all of this movie's other shortcomings until I found out she was playing in it. I probably won't be renting it either.

Something about the way Angelina looks, and her general demeanor, just irks me. But then I also think that Nicole Kidman's face is grotesque and unnatural from all the plastic surgury she's had, so maybe it's just me.

[Skjaldbakka]

I still say it is worth watching just for the dragon fight in 3D. I griped about the chainmail throughout most of the movie (I make chainmail- it looked horrible).

[Darken Rahl]

I still say it is worth watching just for the dragon fight in 3D. I griped about the chainmail throughout most of the movie (I make chainmail- it looked horrible).

I respect your patience.

[Tweekinator]

Selling this movie based on Angelina Jolie's sexuality ruined any desire for me to see it in the theater.

It angers me to think that Jolie has the kind of hubris that would allow her to say "OK guys, I'll be the only actor in the movie wearing my real face."


One the highlights for me going into the film was,"I get to see Angelina Jolie get stabbed in the face! In a Beowulf movie! This is going to be awesome!".

I was sorely disappointed.

[Tweekinator]

Thank God. Somebody other than myself finally said it. I was willing to look past all of this movie's other shortcomings until I found out she was playing in it. I probably won't be renting it either.

Something about the way Angelina looks, and her general demeanor, just irks me.

Yes to everything said here about Angelina Jolie. I love the Beowulf story, and even though they messed with it and I didn't get to see Angelina die, I found it was still worth watching.

[Irenaeus]

I griped about the chainmail throughout most of the movie (I make chainmail- it looked horrible).I think the movie is worth watching for Gaiman & Avery's take on the story alone. The dragon-fight was a big bonus, though. As for the armour, at least it mostly was mail and not, well...
...13th Warrior...

By the way, I've actually never met anyone who made medieval armour that does not call it maille or simply mail instead of chainmail, so vocabuary among armour-makers is probably not as streamlined as I thought.

[EvilElitest]

One the highlights for me going into the film was,"I get to see Angelina Jolie get stabbed in the face! In a Beowulf movie! This is going to be awesome!".

I was sorely disappointed.

as was I, the amount of joy i was imagining turned into wasted pain and rage
from,
EE

[Irenaeus]

I personally find that I need to research movie adaptations of works that mean a lot to me. That way I can decide which movies I think I will be able to enjoy and which ones I'll probably hate. It really helps me to enjoy movies more (and avoid 300 completely).

[EvilElitest]

I personally find that I need to research movie adaptations of works that mean a lot to me. That way I can decide which movies I think I will be able to enjoy and which ones I'll probably hate. It really helps me to enjoy movies more (and avoid 300 completely).

300 was a wonderful adeptation of real events. Don't you know anything, of course all of the Spartians looked overly buff despite such a build being impossible at the time, of course every single Persian was a scary looking monsters with claws and fangs, and everybody knows the Persians had ninjas and cave trolls at their disposal. Duh, were do you get your ideas, books?:smallbiggrin:
from,
EE

[Irenaeus]

Duh, were do you get your ideas, books?:smallbiggrin:But, but...books... I mean... ...sorry.

[EvilElitest]

But, but...books... I mean... ...sorry.

yeah thats right mr. think about stuff, you just crawl back to your white collar job, yeah thats right go, you and all your fancy cloths, and logic, and historical accuracy. Get back to the place were all your smart people with big ideas like democracy and phisophy came from, England or where ever that is, and let us macho folk have Greece, land of the massive unrealistic six packs?:smallwink:
Greece isn't the land of phisophy and other big words

When i lived down south, i accully heard somebody talk like this
cool name by the way, love BGII
from,
EE

[Irenaeus]

(runs away to England or whereever and tries to get a job)

Is there a character named Irenaeus in Baldur's Gate 2? That's pretty cool. I actually tried to be a bit original on this gaming-centric forum and took my handle from the history of the early western church (St. Irenaeus of Lyon, dead ca 200 CE) but that seems to have backfired a bit.:smallsmile:

[EvilElitest]

(runs away to England or whereever and tries to get a job)

Is there a character named Irenaeus in Baldur's Gate 2? That's pretty cool. I actually tried to be a bit original on this gaming-centric forum and took my handle from the history of the early western church (St. Irenaeus of Lyon, dead ca 200 CE) but that seems to have backfired a bit.:smallsmile:

1. The irony is that most of the examples i mention do in fact come from Greece
2. Unless i got hte spelling wrong (quite possible) i htink he is the main villian.
3. I never knew there was a saint iranaues you learn something every day
from
EE

[Mr. Mud]

Not Complaining, but how did we get from Beowulf to St. Irenaeus of Lyon? :smallbiggrin:

[EvilElitest]

Not Complaining, but how did we get from Beowulf to St. Irenaeus of Lyon? :smallbiggrin:

well he commented on how Beowulf stuch to its source material better than 300, and i commented taht 300 did in fact show the events exactly as it really occured (yes, the Persians had ninjas, no i don't know how this or anything else in that movie makes sense. I then attacked him for thinking that you can learn stuff in books, which is of course absurd (books teaching people thing, how silly) and complemented him on his name
from,
EE

[Mr. Mud]

:smallbiggrin: That was 30+ replies summed up in no time... Tip of the hat to EE!

[EvilElitest]

:smallbiggrin: That was 30+ replies summed up in no time... Tip of the hat to EE!

Sweet. Thank you, can i put that on my sig, or visa versa?
from
EE

[Skjaldbakka]

By the way, I've actually never met anyone who made medieval armour that does not call it maille or simply mail instead of chainmail, so vocabuary among armour-makers is probably not as streamlined as I thought.

I've only recently acquired the hobby, so I haven't fully incorporated the lingo. That a newbie mailler can gripe about beowulf maille should tell you something though.

[GolemsVoice]

I've watched it only recently, and it seems that the german voiceovers are better than the english ones, (I've been waiting for the day to come!) since I have not noticed them in a negative way. But I agree, the amount of nudity just for the hell of it, and the whole unnecessary talking about whom they are going to sleep with tonight annoyed me. Also, the amount of someone pointing out the name of the main character ("I am Beowulf" "YOu are Beowulf" "He/She/It is Beowulf") was quite high.
And, yes, I found it cool that the movie felt like a cinematic for a game, and I, too, was waiting for the point (maybe where the dragon attacks) where you suddenly change into 3 person view, and a voice tells you: "To hit an enemy with your sword, press...", kind of like in Prince of Persia Warrior Within.

If you watched the movie just for fun, it was entertaining, but if you actually wanted to SEE anything brilliant, it did fail.

[Irenaeus]

I've only recently acquired the hobby, so I haven't fully incorporated the lingo. That a newbie mailler can gripe about beowulf maille should tell you something though.

Gotcha. I was simply to distracted by most of the rest of the anachronisms to notice the mail in detail (oooh, it rhymes). In fact, everytime I saw somebody wearing mail I simply gave it points for time-appropriate armour.


Not Complaining, but how did we get from Beowulf to St. Irenaeus of Lyon?By the awe-insipring power of OT digression.


The irony is that most of the examples i mention do in fact come from GreeceThat sounds familiar, I might have read it in a fortune cookie or something.

By the way, I enjoyed seeing a two legged (wyvern-style) dragon. I can't remember seeing one of those on film since Vermithrax Pejorative in Dragonslayer.

[EvilElitest]

By the way, I enjoyed seeing a two legged (wyvern-style) dragon. I can't remember seeing one of those on film since Vermithrax Pejorative in Dragonslayer
good point


I liked that movie better i must say
from,
EE