Beowulf & Aliens II

Abby Brockfeld
November 11, 2003
ENGL 118/318 01


Throughout English literature, there have been countless epics greatly admired and in one way or another, transformed into movies. Beowulf is a particularly interesting illustration of this, because there are not only a number of writers who have translated the same story, but several filmmakers who have successfully captured an audience with this great epic. This is the case with Aliens II. It had such an interesting twist to Beowulf, that while it fostered many similarities, the filmmaker faced the challenge of converting a well-known epic to fit a modern storyline while keeping it parallel enough for the audience to recognize and enjoy. Instead of doing a direct translation of Beowulf, the filmmaker used his own creativity and originality to fabricate a new twist on the epic by altering specific aspects of the book to make it thrilling for a live audience. To illustrate this for a viewing instead of a reading, the aspects i...