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Outlander (film)
''Outlander'' is a 2008 science fiction fantasy action horror film written and directed by Howard McCain, and starring Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt, and Ron Perlman. The plot is loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem ''Beowulf'', adapted to a science-fiction backstory involving a spaceship crashing in Iron Age Norway. The film grossed US$7 million compared to a budget estimated at $47 million. Plot A spacecraft crashes in a lake in Vendel-era Scandinavia (550–790). The only surviving occupant – a humanoid alien – retrieves a distress beacon and a computer which explains that he is on Earth, a "seed" colony that his people have abandoned. The computer downloads the local Norse language and culture directly into his brain. The spaceman soon finds a freshly destroyed village, where he is captured by Wulfric (Jack Huston), a warrior from another village. Wulfric takes him to the fortified village of King Hrothgar ( John Hurt), fath ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Roberts (game Developer)
Chris Roberts (born May 27, 1968) is a British-American video game designer, programmer, film producer and film director. He created the '' Wing Commander'' series while at Origin Systems and as of 2011 has been working on the crowdfunded space simulator '' Star Citizen''. Early life Roberts was born in Redwood City, California to a British father and an American mother, and grew up in Manchester, England. He attended Parrs Wood High School, the same school as computer music composer Martin Galway. As a teenager, he created several video games for the BBC Micro, including ''Stryker's Run'', '' Wizadore'', and ''King Kong''. Career Origin Systems Roberts returned to the United States in 1986 to visit his parents, who had settled in Austin, Texas. He found a job at Origin Systems, where he created ''Times of Lore'', published in 1988. The game's interface had a strong influence on other Origin products such as the popular '' Ultima'' series. A similar game system was used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Action Film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life-threatening situations, a dangerous villain, or a pursuit which usually concludes in victory for the hero. Advancements in computer-generated imagery (CGI) have made it cheaper and easier to create action sequences and other visual effects that required the efforts of professional stunt crews in the past. However, reactions to action films containing significant amounts of CGI have been mixed, as some films use CGI to create unrealistic, highly unbelievable events. While action has long been a recurring component in films, the "action film" genre began to develop in the 1970s along with the increase of stunts and special effects. This genre is closely associated with the thriller and adventure genres and may also contain elements ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country by area, covering . New Zealand is about east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and south of the islands of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. The country's varied topography and sharp mountain peaks, including the Southern Alps, owe much to tectonic uplift and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, and its most populous city is Auckland. The islands of New Zealand were the last large habitable land to be settled by humans. Between about 1280 and 1350, Polynesians began to settle in the islands and then developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight and record New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Island
The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers , making it the world's 12th-largest island. At low altitude, it has an oceanic climate. The South Island is shaped by the Southern Alps which run along it from north to south. They include New Zealand's highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook at . The high Kaikōura Ranges lie to the northeast. The east side of the island is home to the Canterbury Plains while the West Coast is famous for its rough coastlines such as Fiordland, a very high proportion of native bush and national parks, and the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The main centres are Christchurch and Dunedin. The economy relies on agriculture and fishing, tourism, and general manufacturing and servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renny Harlin
Renny Harlin (born 15 March 1959) is a Finnish film director, producer, and screenwriter who has made his career in Hollywood and China. His best-known films include '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master'', ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'', ''Die Hard 2'', '' Cliffhanger'', '' The Long Kiss Goodnight'', and '' Deep Blue Sea''. Harlin's films have grossed over $520 million in the United States and over $1.2 billion in the worldwide aggregate box office, making him the 151st highest-grossing director in the global film market , and the most internationally successful Finnish filmmaker in terms of revenue. His 1993 film ''Cliffhanger'' is in the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' for the costliest aerial stunt ever performed. His 1995 film '' Cutthroat Island'' held the Guinness World Record for the former category "Largest box office loss". Early life, family and education Harlin was born Renny Lauri Mauritz Harjola in Riihimäki, Finland. His father was Oiva Harjol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aidan Devine
Aidan Devine is an English–Canadian film actor. He was born in England and immigrated with his family to Canada at the age of 15. He studied at Dawson College's Dome Theatre in Montreal, Quebec and began his acting career in Montreal. He would later relocate to Toronto, Ontario. His 1993 breakout role came in Denys Arcand's, ''Love and Human Remains''. Since then he has worked steadily in Canadian and American television and cinema capturing two Gemini Awards; a best actor award in 1997 for his performance as Ted Lindsay in ''Net Worth'' and in 1998, a best supporting actor Gemini for his performance as airframe engineer, Jim Chamberlin in '' The Arrow''. He has been nominated three other times. Filmography Feature films * 1985 '' Night Magic'' * 1986 '' The Boy in Blue'' * 1986 ''And Then You Die'' * 1988 ''The Jeweller's Shop'' * 1988 '' Criminal Law'' * 1990 ''A Touch of Murder'' * 1990 ''Falling Over Backwards'' * 1993 '' Love & Human Remains'' * 1997 ''Joe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asgard
In Nordic mythology, Asgard (Old Norse: ''Ásgarðr'' ; "enclosure of the Æsir") is a location associated with the gods. It appears in a multitude of Old Norse sagas and mythological texts. It is described as the fortified home of the Æsir gods, often associated with gold imagery. Many of the best-known Nordic gods are Æsir or live in Asgard such as Odin, Thor, Loki, and Baldr. Etymology The word ''Ásgarðr'' is a compound formed from non, āss ("god") and non, garðr ("enclosure"). Possible anglicisations include: Ásgarthr, Ásgard, Ásegard, Ásgardr, Asgardr, Ásgarth, Asgarth, Esageard, and Ásgardhr. Attestations The Poetic Edda Asgard is named twice in Eddic poetry. The first case is in '' Hymiskviða'', when Thor and Týr journey from Asgard to Hymir's hall to obtain a cauldron large enough to brew beer for a feast for Ægir and the gods. The second instance is in '' Þrymskviða'' when Loki is attempting to convince Thor to dress up as Freyja in order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hrothgar
Hrothgar ( ang, Hrōðgār ; on, Hróarr) was a semi-legendary Danish king living around the early sixth century AD. Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', in Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a Scylding, the son of Halfdan, the brother of Halga, and the uncle of Hrólfr Kraki. Moreover, in both traditions, the mentioned characters were the contemporaries of the Swedish king Eadgils; and both traditions also mention a feud with men named Fróði and Ingeld. The consensus view is that Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian traditions describe the same person. Names Hrothgar, also rendered ''Hrōðgār'', is an Old English form attested in ''Beowulf'' and ''Widsith'', the earliest sources to mention the character. In non-English sources, the name appears in more or less corresponding Old Icelandic, Old Danish, and Latinized versions. He appears as ''Hróarr'', ''Hroar'', etc. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Norse Language
Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic, Ancient Scandinavian, Ancient Norse, Primitive Norse, Proto-Nordic, Proto-Scandinavian and Proto-North Germanic) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a characteristically North Germanic language, and the language attested in the oldest Scandinavian Elder Futhark inscriptions, spoken from around the 2nd to the 8th centuries CE (corresponding to the late Roman Iron Age and the Germanic Iron Age). It evolved into the dialects of Old Norse at the beginning of the Viking Age around 800 CE, which later themselves evolved into the modern North Germanic languages ( Faroese, Icelandic, the three Continental Scandinavian languages, and their dialects). Phonology Proto-Norse phonology probably did not differ substantially from that of Proto-Germanic. Although the phonetic realisation of several phonem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also refer more narrowly to the Scandinavian Peninsula (which excludes Denmark but includes part of Finland), or more broadly to include all of Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. The geography of the region is varied, from the Norwegian fjords in the west and Scandinavian mountains covering parts of Norway and Sweden, to the low and flat areas of Denmark in the south, as well as archipelagos and lakes in the east. Most of the population in the region live in the more temperate southern regions, with the northern parts having long, cold, winters. The region became notable during the Viking Age, when Scandinavian peoples participated in large scale raiding, conquest, colonization and trading mostly throughou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vendel Period
In Swedish prehistory, the Vendel Period ( sv, Vendeltiden; 540–790 AD) appears between the Migration Period and the Viking Age. The name is taken from the rich boat inhumation cemetery at Vendel parish church, Uppland. This is a period with very little precious metal and few runic inscriptions, crammed between periods with abundant precious metal and inscriptions. Instead, the Vendel Period is extremely rich in animal art on copper-alloy objects. It is also known for ''guldgubbar'', tiny embossed gold foil images, and elaborate helmets with embossed decoration similar to the one found at Sutton Hoo in England. During the period, the Elder Futhark writing system was abandoned in favor of the Younger Futhark, virtually simultaneously over the whole of Scandinavia. There are some runestones from the period, most notably those at Rök and Sparlösa, both from c. 800. Other written sources about the period are few and hard to interpret: a few Icelandic sagas, the tale of Beowu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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