Thanks to "300", and its star Gerard Butler, an earlier film of his "Beowulf & Grendel" (2005) has slipped onto cable here. Had this movie made today, he be shirtless, shouting his lines at the top of his lungs: "Tonight we dine in Valhalla!".
At least they play it in widescreen.
This retelling of the Anglosaxon poem is like a rep company from historical epic movies. Besides Mr. Butler from "300", there's Tony Curran (from the classic "The 13th Warrior", itself a variation on Beowulf) and Stellan Skarsgård (from the even more classic "King Arthur", here wearing the same makeup).
Other than the less than stellar acting skills of Sarah Polley, the film is about as good as you can get basing your material on an 8th century poem, if only the first half. There is an attempt to style the dialog so that characters speak as people of that time *might* of. Even Grendel is sympathetic.
Fav line: "Come on Beowulf, he's a fucking troll."
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