[Robert Harris]

There is an obvious linear path from Gertie to Oswald and Snow White to the wonders of Pixar.

Paramount's Beowulf takes animation, and specifically digital animation to the next level in the artistry of animated cinema.

Capturing live action and digitizing it for effect has been around for a number of years, but Beowulf is something else, and those who have seen it screened in 3-D, or as the new DVD exists, in 2-D will attest to that.

I doubt that anyone needs background here, so I'll stick to a very few words.

More aren't necessary.

When one considers those rare High definition discs that are acknowledged as "reference" quality, Beowulf takes a place as what can be justifiably considered a "standard" against which others must now be judged.

A single word about the visual and sonic quality of Paramount's new HD DVD of Beowulf?

Perfect!

Simply Perfect.

And Very Highly Recommended.

This is a disc that must be a part of any serious home video library.

RAH

[FrankT]

I am really looking forward to seeing this.

[RickER]

And here is hoping it will be on Blu-ray soon! Thanks for the thoughts, as always Mr. Harris. This will be a DVD rental for now, until it comes out on Blu!

[PaulDA]

I saw this in 3-D (though I was a bit sceptical before it started). If the 2-D version is even half as impressive, I will be adding this to my collection.

[Neil Joseph]

I just finished watching this just a few minutes ago. Some of the facial closeups were very real looking indeed. Great audio too.

[Robert Harris]

I neglected to mention that the disc of extras is a worthy addition, and not just filler.

RAH

[Yumbo]

Anyone else notice the new web enabled % status download progress?

Letting it load (slow though) before I watch the movie.
Well, cancelled and witnessed an unusually entertaining production.

Picture is nice.
Sound was decent.

Score was curiously cool. Interesting use of songs.
The PIP was astounding to see.

I tried resuming the web download, but the usual error came up. I then re-inserted and the % indicator did not show again.

I am guessing the unrated bits etc. was the seemingly adult content at the beginning party. Amusing to say the least.

The 3-D aspects were obvious, with the covering angles, lol.

Recommended!

[Jim_K]

Well I had the HD DVD in my Netflix queue but I was sent the SD DVD instead. I guess this missed the cutoff of when Netflix officially dropped new HD DVD releases.

Even upconverted this looked pretty good, it must really be amazing in HD. As for the story even though it severely deviates from the classic source material (which I'm very familiar with) I enjoyed it much better than I expected too. As soon as it ended I wanted to watch it again but in HD.

I haven't bought a title in the format since December but if I can find it for the right price I'm very tempted to make this my last HD DVD purchase instead of waiting for a BD version.

[Ric Easton]

I managed to pick this up (previously viewed... but not) at a Hollywood Video with a 2 for 1 coupon. Total cost of the HD-DVD... 7.50!

Watched it last night and enjoyed it immensely. The visuals were stunning and at times I'd forget I was watching CGI.

Wish there was a shot of Angelina Jollie with them sensors stuck on her though. That must have been one tight body suit!

[PerryD]

I know this movie was an unrated cut of a violent PG-13 movie, but holy-cow this was much much more violent and bloody than any R rated movie I've seen this past year, including several horror films. Definitely do not allow young kids to watch this one.

[Stephen_J_H]

Yeah, it's kind of the ultimate ironic example of "you can get away with a lot more in animation than you can in live action."