Beowulf (1999)

Director:

Graham Baker

Writers (WGA):

Anonymous (epic poem "Beowulf")
Mark Leahy (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

1 April 1999 (Singapore)

Genre:

Horror | Action | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Unleash your dark side.

Plot:

A sci-fi update of the famous 6th Century poem. In a beseiged land, Beowulf must battle against the hideous creature Grendel and his vengeance seeking mother.

Plot Keywords:

Beowulf | Warrior | Massacre | Weapon | One Word Title

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Christopher Lambert	...	Beowulf
Rhona Mitra	...	Kyra
Oliver Cotton	...	Hrothgar
Götz Otto	...	Roland
Vincent Hammond	...	Grendel
Charles Robinson	...	Weaponsmaster
Brent Jefferson Lowe	...	Will
Roger Sloman	...	Karl
Layla Roberts	...	Grendel's Mother
Robert Willox	...	Chief Officer
Patricia Velasquez	...	Pendra
Marcello Cobzarju	...	Lookout
Vlad Jipa	...	Sentry
Diana Dumbrava	...	Hrothgar's Wife
Andrei Rusu	...	Soldier #1

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and sexuality.

Runtime:

95 min | Argentina:99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Philippines:PG-13 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Romania

Company:

Capitol Films

Trivia:

A short scene of Grendel having sexual contact with Rhona Mitra's character in her room was shot but left out because it didn't really work and the director later felt that it also wouldn't match with the story.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Beowulf and the others confront the beast in the chapel you can see the cables pulling Beowulf up as he climbs on the rafters.

Quotes:

Beowulf: You don't have to be good all the time. Just when it matters.

Movie Connections:

Version of Beowulf & Grendel (2005)

Soundtrack:

Front 242 (Bass Under Siege by The Prodigy)

Come on, people, dance, not fight!

The future of fantasy never looked so dark! Christopher Lambert gets to fight the evil demon Grendel in this grim looking trashy fantasy-epos. "Epos" I said? Er... there's only one location, so you can't really call it an epic adventure, can you? The location is a medieval/futuristic 5 inch tall castle, so how did they manage to cram in all the actors? Oh, I get it, those where special effects. A miniature. Silly me.

Here's some reasons why you might want or NOT want to watch this motion picture:

- Lambert gets to do his sword-swinging tricks over again like he did in Highlander.

- The sets and costumes are amazingly cool (if you're a 12-year-old).

- Rhona Mitra has a voluptuous pair of knockers which she likes to show off through-out the whole movie.

- ...er, Christopher Lambert has white hair...

- Every time they start fighting, this over-the-top raving techno-soundtrack gets going. So why are these medieval slayer-dudes fighting while they should be dancing.

- They don't have electricity in this castle but they do have speakers installed which seem to work fine. So where's the amplifier? I guess they borrowed it from the techno-dj who delivered the soundtrack.

- Watch it for the climax in the end which features an outrageous demonoïd CGI creature coming straight out of any Playstation 2 survival-horror game.

If all this got you interested, then go watch it (at your own risk), but don't tell anyone I told you to. I strongly suspect Pinhead visiting the set while shooting, because this movie has no soul. Anyway, if you want to see beautiful Rohna Mitra really show some skin, then watch Paul Verhoeven's HOLLOW MAN.