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David Stokes
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Posted: Mon 02 Oct, 2006 7:30 am Post subject: |
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The sword looks pretty nice........ has anyone gotten one yet?
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Roger Hooper
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Posted: Mon 02 Oct, 2006 8:01 am Post subject: |
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David Stokes wrote: |
The sword looks pretty nice........ has anyone gotten one yet? |
The fuller is very wrong on that sword - it should be wide and shallow, and go almost to the tip like the DT2071 shown below.
I really like that helmet, though I don't know enough to notice any inaccuracies in it.
Attachment: 36.74 KB
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Steve Grisetti
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Posted: Mon 30 Oct, 2006 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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Edward Hitchens wrote: | ... One of its features that I was especially delighted with was the filmmakers' use of the natural landscape of where they were filming (Iceland?), as opposed to ruining the background with unimpressive CG effects ... |
I finally got around to renting a copy of Beowulf and Grendel last week. I very much enjoyed the film. My favorite feature, as Ted pointed out, was the landscapes! But I thought that the interpretation of the epic was pretty well done, and the acting was also well done. Not a perfect film, by any means. I tried to ignore the leather-scale armour. As Patrick Kelly pointed out, I question whether each of Beowulf's compatriots would have possessed such a fine helm. Some other points were iffy as well, but those things did not inhibit my enjoyment of the film. I plan to purchase a copy of the DVD for my collection.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Jonathan Harton
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Posted: Mon 30 Oct, 2006 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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Patrick,
In regards to your previous post about most of Beowulf's men not having maille. The poem refers in line 321 that "Their maille shirts glinted, hard and hand-linked; the high-gloss iron of their armour rang." I don't know if it is just this translation, but the poet goes through a sizable passage in and around these lines regarding the armour and weapons of the whole group. This leads me to believe that all of Beowulfs men are remarked as being so armoured.
Regarding the issue of decorated helms, a near passage of the text states "Boar-shapes flashed above their cheeck-guards, the brightly forged work of goldsmiths, watching over those stern-faced men." Again, the poet is writing of the group of warriors as a collective. This also leads me to believe that most or all of Beowulf's men are regarded as having finely forged and gilt helments.
One must take into account that these men were seasoned professional warriors renowned as the best of their people. If anyone would be armed to the hilt in the manner of the era, it would be these fellers.
I have just read this poem again for a pre-1700 Brit Lit course. I don't mean to throw dirt at anyone. The text is just fresh in my mind and I figured some food for thought might be entertaining.
Jonathan.
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Patrick Kelly
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Posted: Tue 31 Oct, 2006 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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Jonathan,
Those are all very good points and I would agree with them all except for one thing: The movie is not a literal translation of the poem, but is instead an interpretation of possibly real events that would have inspired the poem. When judged in that context I would have rather seen a bit more variation in the accoutrements of Beowulf and his men.
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Tim Harris
Industry Professional
Location: Melbourne, Australia Joined: 06 Sep 2006
Posts: 168
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Posted: Tue 31 Oct, 2006 6:55 pm Post subject: |
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The film doesn't appear to have had a cinema release in Australia as yet, and I've not seen any of it, but the scale armour can't be as egregious as the scale on the English soldiers in Braveheart - can it?
Tim Harris
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Hugo Voisine
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Posted: Wed 01 Nov, 2006 6:58 am Post subject: |
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Unfortunately, it is.
Otherwise the movie is great, I just re-watched it yesterday... was better the second time (the first time I had some problem to understand the scotish accent of Beowulf... ).
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Dan Crowther
Location: Valley Falls, NY Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 35
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Posted: Wed 01 Nov, 2006 7:38 am Post subject: |
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FYI for the Americans out there.
Since Beowulf and Grendel wasn't released in US theaters (except for possibly NYC and San Fran) you may be interested to learn that the DVD is available for purchase at your local Walmart now.
I bought mine for $14.87, but Walmart.com is claiming $19.87.
Personally, I didn't find the leather all that bad (it's actually an upper layer that covers the mail, not worn seperately) since the mail IS rivetted. The other nice thing, is that the daily accutrements in the movie look like they walked on set from the Mastermyr dig.
It did take a me couple of times to catch some of the interspersed dry humor thanks to accent. Especially the fisherman at the beginning of the movie talking about eating eel only to eaten by eel when he dies; his accent was real rough to decern.
Dan Crowther - aka Gobae
Historic Strides Blog
Ancient Celtic Clans
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Steve Grisetti
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Posted: Sat 04 Nov, 2006 5:36 am Post subject: |
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Dan Crowther wrote: | ... It did take a me couple of times to catch some of the interspersed dry humor thanks to accent. Especially the fisherman at the beginning of the movie talking about eating eel only to eaten by eel when he dies; his accent was real rough to decern. | Yes, that bit of the story was very entertaining, and the accent just added to the scene, IMO.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Dan Crowther
Location: Valley Falls, NY Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 35
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Posted: Sun 05 Nov, 2006 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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When when they were tracking Grendel and lost him, a voice from the back of the tracking party said:
"Well, we could split up... and meet back here in a year".
I practically fell off my couch laughing. I was SO anticipating they the typical Hollywood "Yeah, good idea. Let's go men!" type of scene. It was such a nice break from what I was expecting.
Dan Crowther - aka Gobae
Historic Strides Blog
Ancient Celtic Clans
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Thomas Beckett
Location: Kansas City, MO Joined: 23 Feb 2004
Posts: 12
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Posted: Tue 07 Nov, 2006 4:39 am Post subject: |
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I finally got around to watching this movie last night (rented it from Netflix). The maille looked good, the rest of the movie was utter crap.
The scene where the celtic priest was praying in Latin, and Grendel got in his face mumbling at him was kinda funny, though.
"It's only funny until someone gets hurt... then it's hilarious!"
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Steve Grisetti
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Posted: Sat 11 Nov, 2006 11:21 am Post subject: |
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Thomas Beckett wrote: | ... The scene where the celtic priest was praying in Latin, and Grendel got in his face mumbling at him was kinda funny, though. | I think that the "celtic priest" was supposed to be Saint Brendan the Navigator, another rather legendary figure.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Dan Crowther
Location: Valley Falls, NY Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 35
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Posted: Mon 13 Nov, 2006 6:49 am Post subject: |
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Yes, it's supposed to be him. But, I didn't catch that until I watched it with the director's commentary on. The other thing was that the scene where Brendan makes land fall is cut. So, instead of understanding that he's exhausted and malnourished when he meets the Dane King (and subsiquent keels over), he just looks like a spazz.
Dan Crowther - aka Gobae
Historic Strides Blog
Ancient Celtic Clans
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Stephen D. Sharp
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Posted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: |
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Where can I get this movie for U.S.? Did I understand that it isn't here yet? How do you see it? Rent, Buy? Hmm?
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Nathan Robinson
myArmoury Admin
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Steve Grisetti
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Posted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 5:07 am Post subject: |
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Stephen D. Sharp wrote: | Where can I get this movie for U.S.? Did I understand that it isn't here yet? How do you see it? Rent, Buy? Hmm? | I just rented Beowulf & Grendel at my local Blockbuster in mid-October. At the time, they had three copies in their rental stock.
"...dismount thy tuck, be yare in thy preparation, for thy assailant is quick, skilful, and deadly."
- Sir Toby Belch
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Dan Crowther
Location: Valley Falls, NY Joined: 18 May 2004
Posts: 35
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Posted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Quote: | FYI for the Americans out there.
Since Beowulf and Grendel wasn't released in US theaters (except for possibly NYC and San Fran) you may be interested to learn that the DVD is available for purchase at your local Walmart now.
I bought mine for $14.87, but Walmart.com is claiming $19.87. |
Dan Crowther - aka Gobae
Historic Strides Blog
Ancient Celtic Clans
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Jim Adelsen
Industry Professional
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Posted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 8:58 am Post subject: |
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I got a previously rented one from Family Video for $10.
www.viking-shield.com
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Marcos Cantu
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Posted: Thu 16 Nov, 2006 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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Netflix has it too.
On a side note, I saw Sarah Polly (the witch) ice skating in Bryant Park last week...
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Kyro R. Lantsberger
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Posted: Fri 17 Nov, 2006 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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Great movie........just got it via Netflix.
Im mostly in consensus with what has been already said. There are some minor issues here and there which I can see could irritate some people.
Beowulf & Grendel does a terrific job of creating an atmosphere of brutal melancholy, and recreating the feeling of living in this time period. The Icelandic scenery is gorgeous to watch. This is the only movie I remember seeing in a long time where I scan every scene back and forth, up and down to take it all in.
I went into this movie predjudiced against it. Anytime anyone tries to "re-tell the story for modern times" usually means that they are going to slaughter the story, and produce a music video with a shallow plot and thinly veiled political dialogue. I really like the grittyness and conflict that comes through here.
The only thing I would have liked to have seen would have been the "disarming" scene being done a bit differently. I knew this movie would be coming out so I re-read the poem before ordering from netflix. I would put this on a Christmas list to own before 13th Warrior.
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