SCI FI PI

Released on Blu-ray and DVD (Blu-ray reviewed)
Starring: Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Rating: M





Beowulf on Blu-ray may not provide the ear-bleeding high octane impact of the 3D experience at Imax, but it's an impressive piece of entertainment for the home theatre crowd, and certainly a must-have for those who bend towards fantasy, action, adventure and CGI recreations of Angelina Jolie.

Robert Zemeckis made quite a stir with the digitally recreated characters of The Polar Express. He’s gone down the same route for the epic Beowulf, although thanks to advances in technology the digital humans aren’t quite so... disturbing. The humans here are CG versions or echoes of themselves, and for the most part it works. Ray Winstone must've been happy to drop a few kegs, and John Malcovich gets his hair back.





Written by fantasy legend Neil Gaiman and ex-Tarantino co-writer Roger Avary, the film blends the ancient poem with modern storytelling, making deep psychological insights out of the gaps in the original story. It’s masterful stuff. The boundless camera angles gives you a true thrill-ride as the action explodes all around you.

At the centre of the story, Beowulf, voiced by Ray Winstone. A larger than life hero, perfect for the Dark Ages' twilight between myth and history. He is all man – a life of battle, treasure and ‘swiving’ all he desires. Swimming races with sea monsters? Sure!

His opponent – Grendel. From the opening sequences, a fresh take on the traditional beast, more haunted monster than slavering animal, and as the film progresses we find out why. Quite the tortured momma's boy. We also get to meet Grendel’s mum, who is also quite the piece of work. Voiced by Angelina Jolie (and delectably rendered in CG) Grendel’s mother is the curse at the core of this story.





The central tenet of the film, and it’s final, basic statement, is that the deadly sins that 'woman' inspires are the ones that eternally destroy man. She's that darkness, the mystery, that lives forever on the fringes of civilization; a few steps away from our path and we find our destruction. Much more than you’d expect from a brawling fantasy comic of a movie, and a nice talking point, giving the film a richness beyond it's delightful pixels.

However, the pixelly cleverness of it all isn't entirely successful. But that said, perhaps the exact replication of human emotion by mo-cap is only a film away. Whilst there's an amazing amount of detail in face, skin, hair and clothes, it's still not completely 100% perfect. But it is pretty darned good. And do we really want perfect, any way?

One true high point, and not to give too much away: there is a dragon in the film. After quite a few variations on the classic dragon theme in recent times (with varying results), you’ll be impressed by the exacting design that’s gone into this one. Thumbs up for fans of fire-breathing reptiles here.





With all the fantasy elements in the film, it would be easy to assume it’s just 'for kids'. Perhaps, but for traumatized kids (really traumatized kids). Prepare for violence of heroic (even epic!) proportions and gut-wrenching savagery. With the 'Director's Cut' we see more blood and gore and hurty hurty action, whereas before it was more implied than specifically thrown in our faces (with a splash). You can now see Grendel bite someone’s head off, and ripping that guy in half with his bare hands.

The sound design (integral to the plot) is just as impressive, as is the lush visual design. This is a beautiful audiovisual experience. If you weren't sure whether you should upgrade to Blu-ray and an HD TV, Beowulf is another reason to add to the 'yes' pile.

Extras:

There's quite the extras package on the Blu-ray, which includes:

A Heroes Journey: The Making of Beowulf -
One of the best behind the scenes, or 'making of' packages for a while, due to the motion capture technology used and the purest of make-believe from the actors. The stage, or 'Volume' is filled with actors and weird looking wire-frame (literally made of wire) props. And horses (that pee) (and poop). The actor's day starts at 5am. Getting dressed up in silly looking jumpsuits and getting their faces covered in little bubbles and electrodes, which react when the Volume is filled with infrared light.

There's some nice compare and contrast (before and after) of the actors in the Volume during the capturing process to the finished product. Crispin Glover as Grendel is fantastic! Writers Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman are seen allowed on set, having chats with Robert Zemeckis. Tom Hanks also drops in for a peek.





Beowulf: Mapping the Journey -
10 mini-docos that go further in depth into every single area of production.

1 Shows us 'the Volume'. The 'T' Pose. The jumpsuits, the humiliation of wearing them.

2 One fascinating facet is how the technical crew measure eye movements, by using the DC current that emanates from the eye as they move. The actual bio-electricity of the human being! Awe.Some. Capturing the eyes is truly amazing.

3 Every prop is literally wire-frame, so that they don't occlude the infra-red lights hitting the actors.

4. There's a great deal of amazing new technology. One cool thing is figital tracking within the shots. Within meaning literally within - virtual cameras that move the reference point within a shot, within the virtual Beowulf world, as if moving around real three dimensional objects. A real camera is hooked up in our relaity and its moves ar mimicked in the computer, so if you want to shoot a flying dragon from interesting angles, all you have to do is move the camera about in the air and you can see it from anywhere you want. Nifty.

5. Storyboarding.

6. Zemeckis directing the actors, nice to see his style close-up. Cool to see how it translates from the volume to the three dimensional world.

7. Possibly the oddest thing about all of this is seeing Academy award-winning actors dressed up in weird bubble suits. And dealing with the cold of 15 degrees celsius, because sweat makes little face bubbles fall off.

8. The origins of Beowulf. Taking the original poem and turnign it into a screenplay. Chats with Neil Gaiman and Rogers Avary and Robert Zemeckis.

9. The Art of Beowulf. 3D.Creature Design, Grendel as 'the embodiment of pain'. Crispin Glover speaks of him as a 'momma's boy'. Grendel's mum.

10. Ray Winstone played the Dragon as well as Beowulf!

Deleted Scenes -
You also get deleted scenes, at the 'just beyond' pre-viz stage, with music and dialogue, with one major plot beat and some extra colour here and there removed for time.

One thing you don't get, is a director's commentary form Robert Zemeckis. Or anyone else. Which is a shame.