Ray Winstone
Beowulf
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Nov 16, 2007 · Beowulf: Directed by Robert Zemeckis. With Robin Wright, Anthony Hopkins, Paul Baker, John Bilezikjian. The warrior Beowulf must fight and defeat the monster Grendel, who is terrorizing Denmark, then Grendel's Mother, who begins killing out of revenge.
- (174K)
- Animation, Action, Adventure
- Robert Zemeckis
- 2007-11-16
- Overview
- Biography
- Description
Grendel is one of the three main antagonists (alongside his mother and the dragon) of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. He is a vicious, aggressive, bloodthirsty, and dangerous monster who lives in a subterranean cave with his mother, rampaging through the kingdom of Hrothgar.
Poem
Grendel is described as a 'fiend from Hell', enraged from the laughter and merry-making coming from the Hrothgar's meadhall, and goes on a terrible and destructive rampage, slaughtering and eating 30 of the king's warriors on the first night. His bloody reign of terror goes on for twelve long years, with nobody being able to stop Grendel. Eventually, King Hrothgar tires of this, so he sends for a champion to final rid him of the monster. The mighty Thane warrior Beowulf and his men are eventually called upon and sent to the kingdom. Once they arrive, they make merry in the meadhall to get Grendel's attention. Later in the night, Grendel sneaks in and begins slaughtering Beowulf's men. Unfortunately for him, Beowulf had been waiting for him and when Grendel tries to eat him, Beowulf grabs him by the wrist and they begin to fight. A horrific battle ensues, climaxing with Beowulf ripping off Grendel's arm at the shoulder socket. Grendel retreats to his cave where he bleeds to death in his mother's arms, having just enough life left in him to tell his mother the name of the man who killed him. His mother tries to avenge him, but she too is killed by Beowulf.
2007 film
His most famous media portrayal was in the rendered 3D motion capture film directed by Robert Zemeckis, where he was played by Crispin Glover, who also portrayed Thin Man in the Charlie's Angels film series, Willy Wonka in Epic Movie, Fifi in Open Season, and the Knave of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. He is portrayed as King Hrothgar's illegitimate son after an affair with his mother. Essentially in this version, he is a very thoughtful and sympathetic villain because he is an outcast. When not attacking the Danes, he is shown as a timid and quiet creature that speaks in Old English around his mother. The reasons for his attacks are due to having hyper-sensitive hearing from an exposed eardrum, and the racket from the meadhall was causing him physical pain. Despite being more sympathetic, his fate is still the same as in the poem. Beowulf slams the door into his arm with enough force to take it off and hangs it over the meadhall door.
Grendel, Grendel, Grendel
The Australian animated film Grendel, Grendel, Grendel, is based on John Gardner's the story, told from Grendel's point of view. The film shows how the events weren't his fault, and were mostly to blame on the greed and aggression of the humans. He is voiced by the late Peter Ustinov. He was a highly intelligent being, possibly smarter than the humans living in his time period. He questioned the purpose of his existence, and was very philosophical, reflecting on the humans and hating them, but secretly wishing he was one of them.
Grendel's personality varies in each interpretation. In the original poem, he was the descendant of the biblical Cain and found Hrothgar's Christian celebrations personally offensive. An obvious sociopath, he murdered the party-goers and brought them back to his lair to share their corpses with his even more dangerous mother. Little is known about what exactly he is, but is described as vaguely man-shaped, warped, unnatural, and coated In both scales and barbs. He also has thick claws made of an almost indestructible material.
In the 2007 film, he appeared as an enormous troll-like being with a very lean, lanky, almost emaciated appearance and to top it off, appeared to suffer numerous physical deformities. His skeletal structure made him appear to suffer from neurofibromatosis (A condition Joseph Merrick, also known as the elephant man, was afflicted by), and horribly tight-fitting skin that appeared to be ripped and have massive patches missing from it. Understandably, this incarnation was as pitiable as horrific, and he would often scream during his rampages and appeared to have a chest infection and suffer labored breathing. He had golden scales, but had shed most of them either due to disease or stress from his torment. He also had in place of his ear an enormous eardrum which meant loud noises caused him agony. His face also resembles the famously inbred King Charles the II of Spain, with an enormous forehead, long nose, and underbite, and his hairstyle resembles George Mcfly's from the Back to the Future series. But his most horrifying trait is his monstrously disfigured left hand, which has both index and middle fingers conjoined together, a non-existent ring finger and a small pinky finger. His personality was a timid recluse who attacked as revenge for the pain the warriors inadvertently inflicted on him and despite his torment, he genuinely enjoyed maiming, devouring, and even drinking the blood of his victims. As he falls asleep he whispers "killing" repeatedly, suggesting he is indeed genuinely evil. Despite this, he is also a coward and tries to shrink in size and flee if attacked by a more powerful foe. His powers are stealth which helps him travel silently to his victims due to his hypersensitive hearing, teleportation via a blue flame, and agility, as he can leap incredibly high and run relatively fast. Despite his strength being sufficient to rip people apart, it has limits. He struggled slightly to rip an armored soldier in half, and sprained his wrist when he smashed the mead hall doors down.
The men celebrate in Heorot to lure Grendel out while Beowulf strips naked and relaxes before Grendel arrives to ensure a fair and equal fight. During the fight, Beowulf discovers that Grendel has hypersensitive hearing and ruptures the creature's eardrum. Grendel shrinks in size and manages to escape only after Beowulf severs his arm, mortally ...
Mar 14, 2019 · Grendel's old English | Beowulf (2007) Movie Clip. LBS Cinema. 78 subscribers. Subscribed. 1.3K. 166K views 5 years ago. Grendel's old English | Beowulf (2007) Movie Clip ...more.
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Nov 28, 2011 · Beowulf (1/10) Movie CLIP - The Demon Grendel (2007) HD - YouTube. Movieclips. 61.4M subscribers. Subscribed. 15K. 3.3M views 12 years ago. Beowulf movie clips: http://j.mp/1BcPI1v BUY...
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Nov 16, 2007 · In the age of heroes, a mighty warrior named Beowulf (Ray Winstone) arrives at the court of King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) and offers to rid the kingdom of a vicious demon called Grendel.
- (194)
- Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Animation
- PG-13
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Mar 21, 2023 · Binge Society. 8.43M subscribers. Subscribed. 4K. 414K views 1 year ago #BingeSociety #Beowulf #Action. Beowulf (Ray Winstone) fights against Grendel. He injures the troll and severs his...
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