MovieChat Forums > The 13th Warrior (1999) Discussion > Beowulf anyone?

Beowulf anyone?

posted 10 years ago by hroswitha10
2 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one who recognized that this is a retelling of Beowulf? The great warrior from outside the clan, the monster that eats the dead. The battle on the first night inside the long house, the witch who lives underground. Even the fire worm is from Beowulf. They slightly changed the name of the central hero, but it's still recognizable. For those of you bemoaning the incomprehensible plot, the unlikely army of bear-like characters, you need to look to the classics to see the references.

[–] joegerardi-1 10 years ago

No. Everyone pretty much knows this. It's a new take on the story by Crichton, who did the book as a challenge to a college professor friend, who claimed the story was too boring for his students to read, and Crichton said he could write it so they would read it.

..Joe

[–] clavain99 10 years ago

What Joe said. I do remember seeing it when it first came out on video and thinking it seemed a lot like the Beowulf story as well. We had recently read that in one of my early high school classes so it was fresh in my mind. Only later did I look further into it and find out about the Chrichton novel. Kind of an underrated film in my opinion.