Ive been following production of this film for quite some time and was dissapointed to find it didnt get a UK screening. Fortunately my copy of the DVD arrived from Canada this morning and Ive just finished watching it.

http://www.beowulfandgrendel.com/

I cant wax lyrical enough about it. It really strips the period down to the nitty gritty and steps away from the Lord of the Rings/13th Warrior costume drama feel, and while it follows the fundamentals of the poem (with some nice little pieces of reflexive humour thrown in for good measure) it presents the tale in a very different light. The casting is excellent, and although some have complained at the lack of voice acting I personally dont mind hearing a mixture of Scottish/Icelandic/Scandinavian/English/Canadian accents, Id rather those than poorly coached accents. The humanisation of Grendel is something Im particuarly fond of; I feel it works rather well within the context of the film and keeps the audiences sympathies shifting from the Danes to the Geats and to Grendel and his mother, and ad-hoc "family" (something new and quite throughly explored in the film). The addition of Selma was also something I didnt mind too much, she portrayed a strong female lead as demonstrated in other anglo-saxon poetry quite well.

All in all Id say its by far the best fantasy film Ive seen so far, and for me the focus on the charachters and storyline rather than the set pieces makes it far more enjoyable than Lord of the Rings and the 13th Warrior.

If youre interested in either the period of this type of film Id highly recommend it.