Beowolf

[kayt]

Anyone going to see this movie? I'm undecided. Why was the monster Grendel killed in the first place? What did it ever do to it's killer?

[Ali]

Is this movie an animation? I just got a glimpse of the preview, i'm not sure

[IN-A-QUANDRY]

I am at work and my computer has a DVD player so I got to see a piece of it this morning. It feels kinda like a very real to life cartoon but so far I only got to the part where Beowulf was introducing himself as interested in slaying the dragon.

[kayt]

It is part computer animated. I've notice that I've spelt Beowulf wrong :oops: . This movie is based on some old epic poem I've heard of but never read.

[IN-A-QUANDRY]

Plot

This adaptation of Beowulf begins with King Hrothgar celebrating the construction of his new hall, Heorot. The noise of the celebration echoes into Grendel's cave and torments him. In Heorot, the celebration continues until Grendel breaks down the door and kills almost everyone inside. Hrothgar challenges Grendel to fight him as well but the monster vanishes and returns to his cave. Grendel's mother then confronts him about the event, telling him it is a bad idea to mix with humans.

Hrothgar closes Heorot and proclaims that he will give half of his kingdom in gold to any man who can defeat Grendel. Beowulf and his men hear of the task, land on the coast and are met by one of Hrothgar's soldiers who demands to know why he has come. Beowulf responds that he will destroy Grendel for glory and not for gold.

Beowulf meets Hrothgar and convinces him to reopen Heorot to celebrate his intended slaying of Grendel. Beowulf's intention is to draw Grendel back to the hall, knowing that the troll hates the sound of 'merry-making'. During the celebration, Beowulf is challenged by Hrothgar's adviser, Unferth who tells Hrothgar's people a story of how Beowulf once raced a man across the ocean for five days but ultimately lost, showing that he is clearly not a hero. Beowulf then explains that he lost because he was attacked by leviathan-type sea monsters. We then see a flashback of Beowulf fighting the monsters. After he kills two, he is approached by a mermaid who appears as though she wants to embrace him. He drops his knife and we cut back to the hall. Beowulf tells the people that he slew the third but it is assumed by the audience that he did not actually do so. Beowulf then mocks Unferth in retaliation. Unferth draws a knife and Beowulf disarms him. Hrothgar takes Beowulf aside and shows him a golden drinking horn which Beowulf immediately covets. Hrothgar tells him that he will give Beowulf the horn if he defeats the troll and saves the kingdom. Celebrations recommence and once again Grendel is tormented by the noise.

As the people go to bed, Beowulf asks Queen Wealtheow to sing one more song before they prepare for battle. When she finishes, he tells her to leave and undresses, boasting that it would be unfair if he fought Grendel with a weapon and armour as Grendel uses none. Beowulf commands his men to sing as he falls asleep. Moments later, Grendel breaks the door open and attacks Beowulf's men, killing some. During the fight, Beowulf rises and waits for his chance to strike. He discovers Grendel's weakspot, a throbbing red lump where his ear should be and repeatedly punches it with his bare fist. Eventually Grendel attempts to escape but Beowulf traps him with chains. Grendel manages to get outside the hall but his arm is still stuck in the doorway. Beowulf smashes the door against Grendel's arm and eventually severs it while exclaiming "I am Beowulf!"

Meanwhile, Hrothgar glad to hear the news, tells Wealtheow that he needs an heir. Wealtheow states that she cannot share a bed with him knowing that he once had an affair with Grendel's mother. Hrothgar mentions that he regrets having revealed it to her.

Beowulf is proclaimed a hero and Grendel's arm is nailed above the door of Heorot.

Grendel returns to his cave and collapses in his mother's arms. Before dying, he tells her that Beowulf was the man who has defeated him.

The people celebrate. During the night, Grendel's mother comes to Heorot herself and kills all of Beowulf's men except for Wigglaf, Beowulf's closest friend, who rode off on a horse after witnessing Grendel's massacre. Beowulf wakes up and sees that all of his men in the hall have been slaughtered and hung from the beams of the roof. He confronts Hrothgar who confesses his own past with Grendel's mother (that Grendel is his son) and tells Beowulf where to find her. Unferth enters to apologize to Beowulf, claiming that the man he had previously mocked truly is a hero and champion of the Danes. He then proceeds to give Beowulf his ancestral sword, Hrunting. Beowulf awkwardly accepts, forgives Unferth and leaves with Wigglaf to slay Grendel's mother.

Beowulf and Wigglaf find the cave, he goes inside alone and eventually confronts Grendel's mother. She appears to him as a naked beautiful woman who beckons him. He attempts to slice her with his sword but she evaporates. He is ultimately seduced by her with the promise of fame and power if he gives her a son to compensate for her loss. She then melts Hrunting in his hands and says that she will keep the Horn of Hrothgar to seal the bargain.

Beowulf returns to Heorot and presents to Hrothgar the head of Grendel. Beowulf tells the people Grendel's mother is dead and they rejoice. Hrothgar, however discerns what has passed between Beowulf and Grendel's mother and tells Beowulf in secret that the curse has been passed to him now. He tells his people that Beowulf shall be his new heir since he has no son of his own. He then jumps from a balcony into the sea where his body is claimed by Grendel's mother. Beowulf is then crowned King by Unferth.

Many years pass. We see a much older King Beowulf in battle and ruling over his new kingdom. His men slaughter their enemy and are about to execute the last survivor, who calls Beowulf a coward for now killing the man himself. Beowulf challenges the man to a duel proclaiming that no one will remember his name if he fails to kill Beowulf. Beowulf forces an axe into the man's hand and yells at him to attack. The man cannot and Beowulf tells him he cannot kill him because "I died many years ago, when I was young" referring to the deal he made with Grendel's mother. He then releases the man and returns home.

At Heorot, they discover that Unferth's servant has recovered the Horn of Hrothgar in the moors near Grendel's mother's lair. Beowulf then has a dream in which he encounters a golden skinned man in the middle of Grendel's cave who calls him father. The man then tells Beowulf that he will kill his father's queen as well as his mistress. Beowulf wakes up as a dragon attacks a church. Unferth, now a Christian priest there, is spared in order to tell Beowulf that, "The sins of the father will doom us all."

Beowulf dons his armor and rides to the cave of Grendel's mother with Wigglaf. He confronts her, throws back the horn of Hrothgar and demands that she stay away from his people. Grendel's mother replies that it is too late and the dragon attacks him. They battle in the air and in the sea. Finally they arrive at Beowulf's castle where the dragon is attempting to kill the two women Beowulf holds dear(and who have replaced Grendel's mother in the dragon's eyes), Wealtheow and a younger servant who has become his mistress. At this point, Beowulf has wrapped a chain around the dragon's neck which is attached to his arm. He sees the dragon's soft spot and attempts to attack it. He cannot reach it with his arm attached to the chain so he takes his sword and amputates himself while staying attached to the chain via his armor. He then manages to rip out the dragon's heart with his bare hands. The dragon falls to the beach far below with Beowulf. The shape of the dragon vanishes to reveal Beowulf's son by Grendel's mother, dead. Wigglaf attempts to carry his friend away but Beowulf urges him to stop. As he takes his last breath, Beowulf tells Wigglaf that he must be king and protect his people.

Beowulf's corpse is later placed in a boat with his treasures and cremated as the people watch. As the boat burns in the sea, Wiglaf sees Grendel's mother claim the body. She gazes up at him and he goes down to the beach. She rises to the surface again and stares intently at the new king. We are left unsure if the cycle is about to repeat itself.

[IN-A-QUANDRY]

My comments: It's a good movie but I find Beowulf a little too cocky for my taste. There should be a sequel to this movie in the future.

[KFCSpicy]

rubbish film adaptation of a seemingly good book ...I watched the movie on Sunday on DVD. Beowulf is wayyyyyyyyyyy cocky but I think it was the era of men who were men's men kinda thing. Everyone wanted to go down in song and history for something or the other.

The story shows that no matter what man never learns... just look at the end.

[kayt]

It seems to me that regardless of the so called macho kings Grendel's mother is queen of them all.

[KFCSpicy]

true talk no lie Kayt.

I just bought the book on Amazon today so hopefully I can read it from the authours perspective.