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Thread: With the Beowulf film out,what other epic poems do you want to see get film adapted ?

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    With the Beowulf film out,what other epic poems do you want to see get film adapted ?

    With the new Beowulf film (out next week in North America) apparently making even more innovative use of state of the art technology than the mediocre 300 film did (having also been all filmed in a studio), what other epic poems you admire (whether in English, or written in a foreign language and translated into English) would you like seeing film adapted (in either live
    action or 3D animation) and please say why, for anything named.

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    Vincit Qui Se Vincit Virgil's Avatar
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    I would love to see Virgil's Aeneid or Dante's Devine Comedy. Why? I have seen other classics made into film but not those. Would be interesting. At least to me.
    LET THERE BE LIGHT

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    deus ex machina Shalot's Avatar
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    i don't know. I wish Angelina Jolie wasn't in it for starters. It's a major literary work, and I don't think she's worthy of the part. Maybe some think that because it's a major literary work, a high profile actress deserves the part. A J is high profile but I don't like her at all... I'll check it out for sure but I will hate her going in and her performance probably won't change my opinion. In fact, I will be so distracted by her presence that little else will register. I hate AJ
    "...if you weren't smart enough to get a pedophile in a dress to put a small amount of water on the child’s forehead, then what the eff did you think was going to happen?

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    shortstuff higley's Avatar
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    I heard the Beowulf film is actually based off a book by Neil Gaiman and some other dude, and not really the epic itself. I'm trying to think of epic poems, and don't know many I'd want to adapt that haven't been done already.
    '...A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull.' --Dr. Mortimer, The Hound of the Baskervilles

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    Vincit Qui Se Vincit Virgil's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by higley View Post
    I heard the Beowulf film is actually based off a book by Neil Gaiman and some other dude, and not really the epic itself. I'm trying to think of epic poems, and don't know many I'd want to adapt that haven't been done already.
    I wonder if Paradise Lost would make a good movie.
    LET THERE BE LIGHT

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    My literature blog: http://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/

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    in angulo cum libro Petrarch's Love's Avatar
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    I heard the Beowulf film is actually based off a book by Neil Gaiman and some other dude, and not really the epic itself. I'm trying to think of epic poems, and don't know many I'd want to adapt that haven't been done already.
    That would make sense, since a lot of the previews make it look like a pretty liberal adaptation of the storyline. For one thing, I can't for the life of me figure out what the Angelina Jolie character is. There seem to be advertisements with what look like steamy scenes with her and Beowulf and there are no such scenes in the epic. There are hardly any women at all in fact. I think the film looks like it's going to be pretty awful--like a highly polished version of Conan the Barbarian with the name Beowulf slapped on--but I hope I'm wrong about that. I'll have to see it because its something I teach, but I may wait for netflix unless my friends give it really good reviews.

    I think epics seem like they would make good films, because there's a lot of action, but are really very hard to do well, which is why I would be hesitant to nominate any of my favorite epics. I'm afraid they'd come out looking really cheesy. I thought Peter Jackson did an unusually good job with The Lord of the Rings, and I think it's partly because he cast the people he thought would do well in the parts rather than necessarily big names (like Angelina Jolie), and he used that spectacular landscape in New Zealand with animated effects only where necessary instead of going for gimmicky graphics throughout. The reality of that larger than life landscape was exactly what a fantasy/epic needed. I've always thought some sort of adaptation of the Prose Edda and Volsunga tales would be neat to film in Yosemite with Wagner's Ring music as the background. I'd like to see a really good adaptation of the Odyssey, too, with filming on location along the actual journey through the Mediterranean. I like Virg.'s idea of Paradise Lost as a film too, but again I think the right casting and the right locations would be a must. It would be amazing to do the hell scenes near an actual lava flow, or to do Satan's journey to earth with actual footage of the earth as seen from space. Though there's the problem of your ratings being triple X because of all the nudity that would necessarily be involved during large parts of the film.

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    now then ;)
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    I am getting to the stage where I hope they dont make any other stories I like into films. They never get it right & I then get annoyed & walk out of the cinema halfway through. I dont hold any hope for this production either.
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    Paradise Lost could be amazing but would most likely disappoint

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    Pièce de Résistance Scheherazade's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by kilted exile View Post
    I am getting to the stage where I hope they dont make any other stories I like into films.
    Aye.




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    malkavian manolia's Avatar
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    I always look for an adaptation after finishing a book. Most of them are disappointing, with a few exceptions. The most briliant example of an excellent adaptation is "Hellraiser" . But this was because Clive Barker (the author) directed the movie himself . So if each time a good director (preferably a fan of the novel ) and a big budget is provided the outcome can be good. I'd like to see "Weavenworld" by Clive Barker or a good Lovecraft adaptation ("Mountains of Madness" for example). They are not epic but certainly "poems" in a sense .
    Last edited by manolia; 11-10-2007 at 05:25 PM.
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    Will Dance for Books
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    "Rape of the Lock," totally!! Bring a mock-epic to the screen already!

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    shortstuff higley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Virgil View Post
    I wonder if Paradise Lost would make a good movie.
    Do you know, I was considering that one, and figured Hollywood wouldn't be up to it.
    '...A cast of your skull, sir, until the original is available, would be an ornament to any anthropological museum. It is not my intention to be fulsome, but I confess that I covet your skull.' --Dr. Mortimer, The Hound of the Baskervilles

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    Yes! crazefest456's Avatar
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    Paradise Lost would be awesome..I imagine beautiful graphics (lord of the rings-esque) and fun action scenes.

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    Ditsy Pixie Niamh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by higley View Post
    I heard the Beowulf film is actually based off a book by Neil Gaiman and some other dude, and not really the epic itself. I'm trying to think of epic poems, and don't know many I'd want to adapt that haven't been done already.
    Beowulf is based on the epic. Niel Gaiman helped write the script which posed some problems, and the felt like there were a few gaps in the actual story.
    Quote Originally Posted by kilted exile View Post
    I am getting to the stage where I hope they dont make any other stories I like into films. They never get it right & I then get annoyed & walk out of the cinema halfway through. I dont hold any hope for this production either.
    I agree but i'd still love to see (its not a poem but is an epic) An Tain Bo Cuailnge( The TAin/ Brown Bull of Cooley) done.
    "Come away O human child!To the waters of the wild, With a faery hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand."
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    Bibliophile JBI's Avatar
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    I would love to see the Song of Roland or The Poem of the Cid on video.

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