by Gladiator007

Created on: March 31, 2009   Last Updated: April 01, 2009

Beowulf' is one of the most prominent and legendary English poems about the epic saga of a powerful and admired hero and tells us the journey of his life. It is written in Anglo-Saxon or old English. Beowulf, the protagonist of the poem, has fought and won several battles and created history and later become King of the Geatland (the southern part of Sweden on a modern map).

The movie "Beowulf" is strongly based on this epic poem. Famous English Author Neil Gaiman and Canadian Born Oscar-winning screenwriter and film producer Roger Avery wrote the movie script based on this poem in 1997. Due to insufficient funds and some other related problems, it could not be transformed to movie format at that time. Later, at the end of 2005, the legendary Director and producer Robert Zemeckis, who is widely notable for using special effects in movies, showed an interest in the "Beowulf" transcript and planned to direct this movie.

Director Robert Zemerckis is the pioneer of motion-capture technology in modern age movies. Motion capture or MOCAP is an extreme animation technology that translates the recorded movements of real actor/actresses to digital format and characterizes them. It was first invented in Scotland, and later it became a popular concept in military force, entertainment, sports and also in medical related fields.

Robert Zemerckis rose to fame in the 1980s for his popular movie series named "Back to the Future" - a comedic science fiction movie trilogy written and directed by Robert Zemerckis. It was widely praised and positively received by the movie critics and viewers for its unique storyline and brilliant on-screen special effects. Robert Zemerckis also won an Oscar for directing the famous movie Forest Gump.

He directed the first 3D movie with Motion Capture Technology, named "The Polar Express", in 2004. It was the first movie that used motion capture technology. It was an instant hit and was well received by the viewers. Being inspired from this movie's success, later he decided upon and directed "Beowulf".

The main characters are Ray Winstone, who plays the character of Beowulf (the protagonist and legendary hero of the movie), Angelina Jolie plays the character of Grendel's Mother (an evil, vindictive, cunning and hideous lady), Anthony Hopkins plays the character of King Hrothgar(the old, lazy and drunk King of Geatland, once famous for his power and nobility), John Malkovich plays the character of Unferth (the honest and obedient advisor of King Hother)

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