It would never occur to one to compare the great medieval tale "Beowulf" with the Common Era horror films Alien and Aliens, but in doing so you uncover some very striking similarities. Beowulf is the story of a Geat who upon hearing of the horrific doings of this monster figure named Grendle, sails to Hrothgars land and prepares to do battle with the Grendle. Alien is the tale of a group of navigators on a space craft who receive an unknown signal from what is thought to be a possible wrecked ship, but what they find is much more horrific. In a way, the two stories start off rather similar, there is a distress signal from a distant place and the two "crews" (Beowulf's men and the crew from Alien) go off to investigate and find a solution if necessary. The alien crew goes down to analyze and bring back with them a face eater. This creature implants the alien into the crewman and the alien is born. Aliens, the sequel to Alien is also comparable to the tale of Beowulf dealing with hunting down the Aliens, or in Beowulf's case, Grendles mother.

Looking at the way the Aliens and Grendle are introduced, you don't get a real sense of what either of

The use of a camera in film is very helpful but the same tactics are used in Beowulf. Switching back and forth between characters to show multiple things happening at once is a commonly used trick in film. Showing the aliens coming toward the room then the people in the room preparing for them, then back to the aliens and back to the room etc... In Beowulf the writing is formatted like this, it goes from Grendles mother to the people in Herot, and back and forth as she grows closer to them.

Beowulf goes after Grendles mother and hunts her down which is also the case in Aliens, but it is not Ripley who wants to go after them, she is extremely hesitant. Who in there right mind would go back to encounter that when they barely escaped the first time. But as the story goes she gets in a ship and goes back.

There is a difference in the way the two "crews" carry themselves, knowing that there is no way they can match up to the alien after repeated attempts to kill it which all failed, decide to run. They decide to blow up the ship; of coarse Ripley is the only survivor. Beowulf on the other hand has some supernatural strength and would never run from a challenge. In this case the stories are different.

them looks like until right before they are terminated. In Beowulf only details of Grendles actions are given at first and for the most part a deep description is never given forcing the reader to use his or her imagination, having only the details of his wrath over Hrothgars men. But in Aliens the use of the camera offers a different perspective, you are not shown what the creature actually looks like until the baby pops from the commanders chest, which is towards the late mid sectio

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