Hey Celt!

I'm not usually the one to enjoy movies where someone
(okay, thing) gets beaten with their own disarticulated arm,
but you can't get more classic than Beowulf.

I want to see it, too. Like you, I don't want to invest in the theater experience unless it's stellar.

So tell us:
If you've seen it, did you get your money's worth?

There's already been some discussion about the movie here:

http://www.tbd.com/group/12/discussion/28967/view

Thanks Carol!

I saw it, and the linked discussion was one I started. Understand that I LOVE science fiction and fantasy. I watch everything even remotely sci-fi fantasy, loved Lord of the Rings, and I don't usually nitpick even when I know a story really well. And when I found out that Beowulf was coming this fall, and that one of my all-time favorite authors (Neil Gaiman) was part of it, the anticipation almost killed me

That said... Beowulf was relentlessly bad. There is just no redeeming this film. Zemeckis used motion capture for all of the figures, so that they all have that wierd plastic look to them. And it is beyond me as to why anyone would use actors with wonderful expressive faces and bodies - and digitally render them to make them flat and artificial. None of the eyes focus. Clothing doesn't move the way it should. Running motions don't make sense.

My son is 19, an English major and a huge fan of video games and animation in all forms. And he even turned to me at the end of the film and said "What the HELL?" We've both seen far better animation in video games.

This film could have been great. Zemeckis destroyed it with his insistence on poorly-used computer toys.

Reminds me how bad a certain actress (unnamed but initials are Angelina Jolie) did playing Alexander's mother !? - when he(Colin Farrell)'s older than she is) and the big to-do about her 'nude' scenes... thanks for the heads-up, I'll go back and reread the classic and play the movie in my own mind!

I'm gonna skip Golden Compass, too, even though I like Nicole Kidman...

Well, thanks for the input. I guess I'll just wait till it comes out on video. I had such hopes for it. <sigh>

I've heard the special effects are fun in 3D. Unfortunately, I saw it on a regular screen and it was ho-hum. If you can't see it in 3D, I'd definitely support the decision to wait.