The common interests shared by my wife and I vastly outnumber our differences, but Beowulf shines a harsh spotlight on almost every aspect of cinema upon which we disagree.

It's an old school fantasy that involves sea serpents, demons, dragons, and monsters, which is one-hundred per cent my bag, and zero per cent hers (inexplicably, real world believability factors large in her enjoyment of most films).

It's also a computer animated film that uses the same motion-capture methods employed by the video game industry to create CGI cut scenes in games -- a huge plus for a regular gamer like me, and an enormous bummer for a regular game avoider like her. The male characters are testosterone driven, egotistical thugs whose primary goal in life is to be remembered for their utterly manly and heroic deeds.

Bring on the battles, I say (with no small amount of bloodlust), as my wife buries her head in the latest issue of Vanity Fair.

Simply put, Beowulf is my greatest guilty pleasure of the year, and I plan to watch it several more times in the months to come. I'll just have to schedule those viewings during her girls' nights out.

One of Paramount's final HD DVD releases, Beowulf is also one of the studio's finest. All of the many supplementary documentaries and featurettes are presented in 1080p high definition, and several of them are exclusive to the HD DVD edition, including a candid conversation with director Robert Zemeckis and an interactive pop-up-trivia documentary.

Plus, there is a terrific picture-in-picture track that shows how Beowulf was shot entirely in a tiny room called the Volume before being sent off to the animators for digital enhancement.

The DVD version is packed with a greater than average selection of features as well, though none of them are exclusive.
 

Got a Question?

Type your question here.

 letters left