Amleth's Saga

I am sure glad I got a hold of this edit. The theatrical edition was really good, but this edit elevated the movie to its maximum potential. I will also reiterate that I agree word for word with the prior reviews from kobeskywalker and dirtycop1036. In summary, like they said:

- The color correction really improved the visual quality.
- The reordering of the scenes helped the narrative structure and flow of the movie.
- The chapters provided along with the maps give the movie an older play type of feel, which was an excellent touch.
- I loved the deleted footage enhancing and elevating the movie into having a more mythological feel.

I would like to thank Fran Garcia for sharing this edit and allowing me to enjoy this. I would recommend others watch this as well as I feel it should replace the theatrical edition. Excellent work here.

This blistering and brutal film felt even more focused with this subtle and seamless reconfiguration. Top marks for being able to deliver a weightier experience with a fresh colour balance.

Quite a treat here! I saw this on the big screen and was quite blown away by the picturesque shooting and sound engineering, and these I hazard to say were hinged upon the emotional opening and flowing story. This being true, it also works really well like this. One does love the interlude screens. For the sake of argument, Im going to say this is best version for home viewing, and the theatrical cut best for cinema audiences. I rate down the audio and visual editing as really it was already perfect and just feel like these scores are somewhat irrelevant on the whole. Its a great contribution that offers a novel experience and a good excuse to watch this film again!!!

Let me start by saying I LOVED The Northman. I had small quibbles with it here and there, but nothing major. Well I think Fran Garcia was reading my mind because he made some small adjustments that perfectly adjusted everything I thought about!!!

The reordering of a few parts, such as starting with Amleth on his journey then showing his youth as a flashback, worked great! As did the Chapters formatting, making it more like a play! I mean, great stuff there alone.

Oh and let's not forget FIXING THE COLORING!! I thought the original movie looked amazed but always a bit muted. Well Fran cleaned that up with a more lush color setting throughout. Less of the dull green tint. Dark when it needs to be dark. Bright when it needs to be bright.

THIS is my definitive version of The Northman now!

A truly fascinating watch.

While I enjoyed the theatrical version, I must be honest, even though I never could quite put my finger on it, I found it somewhat plodding at times.

And yet, Fran's fan edit, which does not trim a lot. In fact, Fran adds even more to the film, played far more engaging for me. Perhaps it is the purposeful Hamlet 5 act structure -- which I really appreciated -- or the rearranging of scenes, making the connection to the character and story much more visceral. Or perhaps, it is because where trims are made, they are artistically done in a way that reinforces the mythological underpinnings of the story. Again, I can not quite put into words why this version connected with me on a much stronger level, only that it does. And it does it masterfully.

I watched the smaller 9G MKV file, and the picture quality was excellent. The new soundtrack additions and cues are all pitch perfect. And the deleted scenes are seamlessly integrated.

This is the type of film and fan edit that stirs a lot of dark emotions, and so I can not claim "I love it" or would be eager to re-watch it in the immediate future, but I can acknowledge it as a fantastic piece of fan editing and storytelling.

Thumbs Up!