Beowulf

"A fortress at the edge of darkness. An enemy within that only one man can conquer!"

1999 1h 33m EN

💀

4.4

SKIP

★4.4TMDB · 264

AdventureFantasyActionHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Beowulf is a wanderer who learns about a man-eating creature called Grendel, which comes in the night to devour warriors trapped at the Outpost. The Outpost is ruled by Hrothgar. He has a daughter, whose husband may have been murdered by the Outpost's master of arms.

“A fortress at the edge of darkness. An enemy within that only one man can conquer!”

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Cast

Christopher Lambert
Beowulf
Rhona Mitra
Kyra
Oliver Cotton
Hrothgar
Götz Otto
Roland
Vincent Hammond
Grendel
Charles Robinson
Weaponsmaster
Brent Jefferson Lowe
Will
Roger Sloman
Karl

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Graham Baker
Writers: David Chappe, Mark Leahy
Languages: English
Countries: France, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 8% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

27 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Graham Baker, shot by Christopher Faloona. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Ben Watkins. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Roy Watts shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Christopher Lambert and Rhona Mitra and Oliver Cotton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "A fortress at the edge of darkness. An enemy within that only one man can conquer!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Graham Baker directs. Christopher Faloona behind the camera. Ben Watkins scores. Roy Watts cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in France, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 8% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
227 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3International production across 2 countries: France, United States of America.
4Directed by Graham Baker, shot by Christopher Faloona. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Ben Watkins. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Roy Watts shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Christopher Lambert and Rhona Mitra and Oliver Cotton carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "A fortress at the edge of darkness. An enemy within that only one man can conquer!".
9IMDB entry: tt0120604 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "martial arts", "monster", "sword fight", "dragon".

The technical file

Cinematography: Christopher Faloona
Original score: Ben Watkins
Editing: Roy Watts
Production design: Jonathan A. Carlson
Costume design: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Makeup / hair: Didier Lavergne
Sound: Ann Scibelli
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $1,531,251
Return: 8% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Beowulf (1999)

Also by

Graham Baker

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-08-28
★ 4/10
What could have possessed the "Highlander" himself to participate in this nonsense? Based (very) loosely on the old poem, this tries to modernise the story (it even features tannoy speakers) and give it a contemporary feel - though still using the costumes and weapons of the original time. Our eponymous hero rescues a maiden then takes refuge with Oliver Cotton's "Hrothgar" in his fortress - only for them all to be attacked and brutally picked off by the shape-shifting "Grendel" - a sort of "Puff" the magic dragon type effect with a gravelly voice.... The production and visuals aren't the worst, but the very heavily made-up Lambert - sporting a peroxide coiffure, and the terribly wooden Rhona Mitra ("Kyra") ensure that this film positively groans as it lumbers along. The soundtrack appears to have found a mind of it's own - and what dialogue there is adds virtually nothing to the "we all do what we have to do" style storyline. Whatever you do, stick around for the end - it's hilarious! This film is a shocking waste of good source material that really isn't anyone's finest work.

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