Beowulf (1999 film)

Beowulf
Beowulf DVD cover
Directed by	Graham Baker
Starring	Christopher Lambert Rhona Mitra Oliver Cotton
Music by	Jonathan Sloate Ben Watkins
Cinematography	Christopher Faloona
Editing by	Roy Watts
Distributed by	Dimension Films Miramax Films
Release date(s)	1 April 1999
Running time	95 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Beowulf is a 1999 action movie loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. It has strong fantasy elements and some science fiction elements. It was directed by Graham Baker and the screenplay was written by Mark Leahy and David Chappe. The movie comes from the same producer as Mortal Kombat. While some of the film remains true to the original poem, other plot elements deviate from the original poem (Hrothgar has an affair with Grendel's mother, and they have a child together, Grendel; Hrothgar's wife commits suicide).

Plot

Beowulf is a powerful warrior. He goes to a castle which is haunted by a demon, Grendel, who is slowly killing its entire population. The castle is surrounded by soldiers who will not let anyone in or out, but Beowulf fights his way through. Beowulf then states he intends to kill the demon. Hrothgar, who is king of the castle, welcomes his help. Hrothgar has a daughter named Kyra. Another important character is Roland who is probably the strongest soldier of the castle. Roland is in love with Kyra, but she does not love him back. It also becomes clear once Hrothgar had a wife who committed suicide after Hrothgar had an affair with another woman. This woman was an ancient being who originally lived on the location where the castle is now. They had a child, Grendel. Beowulf and Grendel fight and they wound each other, but both recover. Later Beowulf and Grendel fight again. Beowulf cuts Grendel's arm off with a retracting cestus. After this the castle celebrates, as they believe Grendel has been slain. Kyra declares her love for Beowulf and he returns her affection. Kyra tells him that she killed her previous husband after he treated her badly. Beowulf tells her that his mother is human and his father is Baal, "God of lies". This explains his tremendous fighting prowess. While Kyra is with Beowulf all the other people in the castle are killed by Grendel's mother (and possibly Grendel). Beowulf kills Grendel by stabbing him and then kills his mother by stabbing her and cutting a fire vent placed in front of her, causing flames to engulf her and consume the castle. Beowulf escapes the falling castle with Kyra. The castle is destroyed, with Beowulf and Kyra the only survivors.

Cast

• Christopher Lambert as Beowulf
• Rhona Mitra as Kyra
• Oliver Cotton as Hrothgar
• Götz Otto as Roland
• Vincent Hammond as Grendel
• Charles Robinson as Weaponsmaster
• Brent Jefferson Lowe as Will
• Roger Sloman as Karl
• Layla Roberts as Grendel's mother
• Patricia Velasquez as Pendra

Soundtrack

• Jonathan Sloate - Beowulf
• Front 242 - Religion (Bass under siege mix by The Prodigy)
• Pig - No One Gets out of Here Alive
• Gravity Kills - Guilty (Juno Reactor remix)
• Juno Reactor - God is God
• Fear Factory - Cyberdyne
• Laughing US - Universe
• KMFDM - Witness
• Lunatic Calm - The Sound
• Junkie XL - Def Beat
• Urban Voodoo - Ego Box
• 2wo - Stutter Kiss
• Spirit Feel - Unfolding Towards the Light
• Mindfeel - Cranium Heads Out
• Frontside - Dammerling
• Praga Khan - Luv u Still
• Anthrax - Giving the Horns
• Monster Magnet - Lord 13

External links

• Beowulf at the Internet Movie Database