Beowulf: A beast in 3D

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Ancient literature meets the future of filmmaking in "Beowulf," a 3D spectacle using the latest technology.

Director Robert Zemeckis brings the oldest surviving epic poem in the English language to life with the help of a stellar cast including Oscar-winners Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie and Crispin Glover.

British heavyweight Ray Winstone -- almost unrecognisable as the monster slayer -- leads the cast of this groundbreaking cinema venture.

Zemeckis, whose previous films include "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "Forrest Gump" and "Back to the Future," created the fantasy world by merging live action and animation.

Filming with "performance-capture" technology allows the actors to appear as "synthespians" -- computer-animated versions of their characters.

Anthony Hopkins, who plays cursed King Hrothgar, likens it to rehearsing a theatre play.

"On this film, you do five pages and once you've done them and the director's happy with them, you don't have to go back and do it again and do close ups or medium shots," he told CNN.

"It's already done by these millions of cameras that are in the roof. You're covered in all these peculiar little pointers and buttons and reference points for the computer," he continued.

Set in 6th century Denmark, Beowulf is the bloody tale of an Anglo-Saxon warrior who slays the beast, Grendel.

But in destroying the beast, Ray Winstone's character almost destroys himself:

"He's a brave guy and starts to believe his own publicity," Winstone explained. "It eats you away and that's where ambition and greed come in. You want what's not yours. A kingdom, a queen that's not yours and you become the monster," he added.

The tale was adapted for the screen by co-writers Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) and Neil Gaiman (Stardust).

"It's a sacred text in its own very strange way, because we only have one version set down by monks in the 11th century from the oral tradition hundreds of years earlier," Gaiman said.

Combining an age-old story with cutting-edge digital technology was a bold move, but one screenwriter Roger Avery thinks was necessary. "It's the duty of the storyteller to shape the story for your audience and your time," he said.

And it seems Beowulf is in the vanguard of films being made in 3D.

Today's 3D is streets ahead of its 50s predecessor, which was trashy, headache-inducing and ultimately unsuccessful. The new technology is flawless and so convincing that some people say its arrival could be as significant for cinema as the invention of sound or colour.

DreamWorks Animation -- the Hollywood giant behind films like Shrek, Antz and Madagascar -- CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is so convinced it is the future of film-making that from 2009 all films coming out of the studio will be made in 3D.

Meanwhile George Lucas is remastering the original Star Wars movies in 3D.

"I think with the advent of new technology both in the digital format and with IMAX, the 3D that we are experiencing is clearly not what I experienced when I was a young boy," said Beowulf co-producer Steve Starkey.

"All of a sudden this is real three-dimensional presentation. One that makes you feel like you're right in the scene with the performers," Starkey continued.

Screenwriter Avary is similarly evangelical. "All these technologies are supporting performance and subtlety of performance. When you see Angelina Jolie lift her head, that's Angelina Jolie doing it, not the puppeteering of an animator," he said.

Jolie, who plays Grendel's mother, is positive about the future of the medium her performance is pushing forward: "I haven't seen it since I was a kid and we all sat there with out glasses on. It reminds me of why we have so many things we can watch on video and go to the movies to have a big experience. 3D just feels like something we are gonna want more of," she said. E-mail to a friend