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"Beowulf and Grendel." "Grendel and Beowulf." Grinder and Bear.They both work as titles, from the viewpoints of the good guy and bad guy -- and their view of themselves as the wounded party.I was going to go into all the reasons why Beowulf is an Excuse Tale, written in a later time after centuries of re-telling. But Paul Stephens, in his interview, says it better. In fact, everything in Special Features is worth watching, especially "Wrath of Gods." There are no trolls or dragons or sea-serpents in reality, and this is an even more modern attempt to understand why the tale is so important and where it may actually have come from. As inheritors of the conquests of the New World, this is a movie that can explain what happened and why. "He crossed our path -- he took a fish" is all it takes to start a devastating war between the natives and the invaders.Watch it twice; first without the commentary, and then -- don't miss the commentary; it's hilarious and a bit horrible, IE, "We didn't behead the actor for real because we were going to need him in a few more scenes." After what everybody goes through, it's obvious they've all gone a little crazy, in a miniature version of Coppola's wife's "Heart of Darkness." This is the purest form of movie-making. No CGI, actors panting and gasping because they have to, the viewer's mouth hanging open as a half-naked man is dipped into an icy Icelandic stream. A car window is shattered by wind-driven pebbles. Actors are blown off their marks. Beaches are washed away, and disappear under racing tides. The director has no mercy. Ford would have understood.And the horses -- Icelandic horses. All of them doing the Tølt they're famous for, and hitting their marks. In the commentary they're introduced with admiration and fanfare. But so are the glaciers: "We told the grips to wear spikes on their boots, because if any of them slid into those fissures, nobody was going in after them." "There's Brendan, blessing the joint," says somebody in the commentary, referring to the mad saint."You want a beer? Let's get a beer!" is an ad-lib, because by then everybody needed one.Just go get it or ask your library to order it. There is no way you will be sorry (Unless you accept the western movies from the 1930's as historical and are sad anybody did any real research).

I stumbled upon this movie at the local video library, and picked it up comparing it to the lamentable Winstone/Jolie CGI version.There's no point in recapping the story -- others on these pages have done that well. It's not Oscar material, though the screenplay, direction and acting are fine enough. It's old-school film-making, and Sturla Gunnarsson should qualify as a Bard just by this movie. But I have to say this is the first movie I've seen that truly qualifies as a Greek tragedy in the classic sense.Hrothgar did not have to kill Grendel's father. Hrothgar could (should?) have killed young Grendel. So he lays out his Doom. None of his subjects has the strength to fix things, so their Doom follows Hrothgar's.Beowulf is young, with the arrogance of youth. He could (should?) have asked a couple of questions. But he learns humility, and some wisdom. This is not an adventure he can boast of on return to Geatland.And we wonder what the future holds for Grendel's son, Selma's boy. And Selma? Will the tragedy continue?Why cannot Hollywood ask these questions? But maybe we do need to shovel tons of gravel to find each diamond. I didn't think of Casablanca until just now: but that's the quality of "Beowulf and Grendel".

It's hard to believe that this film is set in 500 CE, after the Roman Empire had transformed most of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East into a vast trading network with a sophisticated literature and widespread underfloor heating. The Nordic barbarians in 'Beowulf & Grendel' barely hang on in a treeless landscape with permanent filthy weather. Their womenfolk play a less prominent role in society than Moslem women, and the men are obsessed with killing. In my opinion, this is a bogus and misleading depiction of Nordic life. It has been shown that Vikings, for example, were gifted farmers who built solid communities. I was brought up in one, Rottingdean in Sussex, England. Rote (redhead), inge (folk), dene (valley). In other words, the valley of the people of the Redhead. The name has lasted for fifteen hundred years, and you don't achieve that by killing everyone and downgrading women. The fact is, that the Vikings traded with Mediterranean countries, reached America, and became the famous Normans who defeated England and built the aristocracy. The gormless wretches in this movie bear no relation IMO. I'm not going to echo those who bemoan the travestying of an ancient bardic text. A commercial movie could hardly do that; the popcorn crowd would stay away in droves. However, I do think that tacking on a sexy 'wtich' (Sarah Polley), who survives by building (interlocking) stone circles and planting things in crevices, is going a bit far, particularly when she has intercourse with Beowulf in the politically-correct 'cowgirl' position. This gesture to the ladies in the audience is destroyed by the foul language used by the barbarians, which rules out the film's use in the English classroom for Beowulf studies, which is a shame. I think Mr. Gersins, the screenwriter, must take responsibility for most of the popcorn rubbish in this production. Perhaps he was a co-investor (with a long list of national film agencies) and hyper-concerned about a return on his cash. Sad, because his modish bad language and sex-interest paradoxically may have wrecked his chances. Worth a viewing, if only for what might have been.

Beowulf & Grendel is loosely based on the epic poem written in the 9th century, I thought it was interesting that they did give Grendel a bit of a back story and I thought it was nice that they showed Beowulf showing some sympathy towards him. The movie had some great location shots and the acting was pretty good, there was only a few things that bugged me. One of which was some of the dialogue spoken in this film. Sometimes it felt out of place, "Don't play the bitch with me." doesn't sound very authentic for the Anglo Saxon times. Another thing that didn't seem right was Sarah Polley's American accent, this is 500 A.D Anglo Saxon times and she's talking with an American accent. The things that are in the film but not in the poem are:The Witch SelmaThe Vikings being Converted Christanity versing the Vikings beliefs Grendal not wanting to fight BeowulfNo DragonGrendel has a sonGrendel has a father Beowulf & Grendel is a pretty good film if you think of it has a new take on the story but if you think of it has an adaptation of the epic poem then you may be sightly disappointed. Check this film out.