Beowulf (Blu-ray)

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Here's the biggest problem: The story contains plenty of action and great-looking graphics, but it hasn't much heart. Blame that, I suppose, on the original source material. Beyond the spectacle and the fighting, there isn't much in the way of human interaction we can latch onto.

It's only in the movie's second half, the part of the original story that is fuzzy in my memory, that it seems to come to life, that it begins to show any depth of feeling or elicits any sympathy for the main character. Nevertheless, it is also in the second half that the filmmakers begin to take greater liberties with their interpretation of events because what goes on here doesn't add up to my vague memories of the story. I guess the filmmakers concluded that there simply wasn't enough material in the old epic to justify an entire movie, so they added some elements of their own. Fair enough.

Therefore, what we get in "Beowulf" is visually fascinating yet emotionally frustrating, action-filled yet oddly dull, colorful yet flat. Thank heaven for high definition picture and sound because they are the factors that save the day, depending on how long the movie can entertain you with its eye and ear candy alone.

Video:
As I said earlier, this transfer looks about the same as the studio's previous high-def release on HD DVD, which was already plenty good. We have come to depend upon excellent high-definition transfers of CGI animated creations, and "Beowulf" doesn't disappoint. It's terrific. Paramount's MPEG4/AVC, BD50, 1080p, Blu-ray reproduction (in the movie's original 2.35:1 aspect ratio) comes across with all the exacting detail and astonishing colors one might expect--rich, deep, and luxuriant, even in the darker, interior scenes. If you liked the look, feel, and sound of "The Polar Express," you'll like everything you see and hear in "Beowulf." The movie is among the most opulent, luxuriant, plushly textured, and minutely detailed animated films you'll find.

Audio:
Critics like me questioned Paramount for offering only a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio track on the HD DVD, and this time they provide lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1. Again, it might be the extra disc space. The sound is a trifle smoother now, and it continues to display good clarity, a wide dynamic range, strong impact, and formidable deep bass. What's more, it has some fine surround effects in its combat sequences, with its longboats, with its thunder, and with its rain all around. If anything, though, the soundtrack is still too rambunctious, too loud, too dynamic, and, at least in a few places, too overbearing for its own good. Nevertheless, with TrueHD's polished response, it all goes down pleasantly enough.

Extras:
This Blu-ray Director's Cut edition contains about the same bonus items found on the studio's two-disc HD DVD edition. The first item, "Beowulf in the Volume," is a picture-in-picture affair that offers behind-the-scenes information via small screen inserts while the regular movie is playing. The inserts contain mainly shots of the actors and storyboards before the studio artists applied the CGI and motion-capture animation. I found that it got old fast.

Next up is a whole passel of extra material, all of it in high definition. Things here begin with a documentary, "A Hero's Journey: The Making of Beowulf," twenty-four minutes, with an optional interactive feature that allows for additional trivia captions and short featurettes. Next up is "The Journey Continues," twenty-one minutes of the behind-the-scenes featurettes included as an option on the previous documentary, with somewhat technical titles: "The Volume," "T Pose," "What is the E.O.G.?," "Lay of the Land," "Givin' Props," "Scanners," "Stunts and Rigs," "Plan of Attack," "Fight Me," and "Baby It's Cold Inside." Next up are featurettes with more descriptive and self-explanatory titles: "Beasts of Burden: Designing the Creatures of Beowulf," seven minutes; "The Origins of Beowulf," five minutes; "Creating the Ultimate Beowulf," two minutes; and "The Art of Beowulf," five minutes. Then, there are "A Conversation with Robert Zemeckis," about ten minutes with the director taking questions from USC students; eleven deleted scenes in rough, unfinished form; and a theatrical trailer. There's a lot of stuff here, but a lot of repetition, too.

Things conclude with fifteen scene selections but no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles; English captions for the hearing impaired; pop-up menus; bookmarks; and a guideline of elapsed time.

Parting Shots:
Beyond the movie's admittedly glorious CGI visuals and Blu-ray's excellent audiovisual reproduction, the story of "Beowulf" itself seems rather empty, bereft of much humanity, excitement, tension, romance, or thrills. Still, you may find the glossy surface of the tale worth a look, especially in high def. Moreover, Zemeckis wants to make the story into more of a psychological allegory than the old bards probably intended. But who knows. Beowulf, after all, as "a man, fallible and flawed" might be what many viewers want.

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