Conan - Man of War

TMBTM may be my favorite Faneditor. And this edit is no exception. I had never even heard of Manowar before this edit, and i have to thank TMBTM for introducing me to this band. I can't believe what i have been missing out on all this time. Not only is their music grand and epic, it blends with Conan perfectly. It's a match made in Valhalla.

I just love this edit so much. While other edits he has done like War of the Stars may be technically superior, i find myself watching this more often.

This edit is a hell of a lot of fun. That is all.

FANEDIT RATING – 9
Audio/Video Quality – 10
Visual Editing – 10
Audio Editing – 8
Degree of Editing – 10

(NOTE: “Degree of Editing” is a 100% arbitrary rating that I keep in mind when reviewing edits. This is not meant to insinuate that a faneditor is lazy or not. Some fanedits require a lot more work than others and I take this into account.)

MOVIE RATING –9
Narrative – Who cares?
Enjoyment –10

Conan The Barbarian - the original film - can't seem to decide whether it wants to be smart or stupid. And I don't mean the later in a bad way, either. It just awkwardly juggles philosophical themes with more mindless fantasy action that don't seem to directly serve the points its trying to make. This edit forgoes much of the contemplation of the nature of the power of belief versus disbelief, and instead focuses on the adventure, the revenge, the self-mastery of Conan himself. It's a modern viking saga, a rock opera. Manowar and Conan were meant to be together. The original Poledouris score was magnificent, but the expertly selected power metal songs work even better, as far as I'm concerned. The tempo of songs match the re-edited sequences masterfully, and the lyrics are always appropriate, either literally or thematically. There's a sense of humor for the choices used to accompany the sex scenes, but I won't spoil any specifics. There's also a few very impressive visual effects - the included making of pointed out a few that I didn't realize weren't part of the original film! There's one minor technical flub - for a very short stretch early in the edit (19:13 - 21-03), there's some vertical pillarboxing on the left side of the screen. This may be something left over from the source material, but it could easily have been cropped out. Of course, if overscan isn't disabled, it may not be visible on some TVs anyway. An extremely minor nitpick, of course. The movie is much better paced in this edit, with only the bare minimum of dialogue present to give us needed exposition or character development. The wild blueberries scene was a pleasant surprise for me - that scene is absent in the North American version of the film, and it's inclusion works very well as a calm before the storm. My only gripe is that most, if not all of Thulsa Doom's dialogue has been removed (or, in one clever instance, replaced). I think, at the very least, his discussion with Conan about the merits of the power of flesh versus the power of steel should have been retained. The opening discussion about the power of steel and Crom is also missing. Considering how incredibly often the word "steel" appears in Manowar lyrics, these scenes' absence are wasted potential. Could even have used "The Secret of Steel" for those. Also, there's a tiny continuity flub. Valeria mentions having promised the wizard to pay a price for Conan's resurrection, but the scene in which she had done so is absent. I suppose she and Akiro could have had some sort of off-screen discussion, but it's odd that the callback wasn't cut as well.

Again, my nitpicks are few and of the most minimal nature. I had an absolutely wonderful time watching this edit. Music combines with imagery to produce an incredibly entertaining fantasy epic. Or, if you will, the most elaborate music video of all time. I prefer it to the original film, and would recommend it strongly to everyone but the most adamant detesters of the power metal genre. TMBTM, you just keep on impressing me. I'd love to see a followup to this some day. Not The Destroyer, per se. Considering how much of Manowar's music revolves around Norse mythology, I think there's some serious potential in Marvel's Thor movies...

Oh yes, very nice. Knowing Manowar I knew that this would work just great. So many great moments here. And the imagery of the movie is so strong, really carrying the story along even without all that dialouge. Great great edit. I didn’t care for the viking funeral, but hey.

This review is based on my opinions and my viewing experience. Nothing is meant as an attack. Spoiler warning.

AUDIO: Everything sounded great except when Conan and Subotai walk into the first city we see, the audio got distorted when the bass notes hit. It may have been my setup, but i have NEVER had this happen before.
8 out of 10

VIDEO: Image quality was superb on my tv, and it seemed a bit better crisper and clearer than the retail dvd.
10 out of 10

EDITING: Very well done. Hardly anything stood out as being off, except for one or two audio fades that did not seem as smooth as they could have been. The footage from other films blended in very good all things considered and did not seem jarring at all. The new effects were beautiful, and half of them i did not notice until i watched the special feature. Love the snake eyes!!! So Cool.
9 out of 10

ENTERTAINMENT: This one is [exploitive deleted] awesome. So much fun. I was blown away. Loved how you managed the counterpoints between the film and the music. It was kind of like the ultimate sync (remember those?). Absolutely nothing to complain about here.
10 out of 10

OVERALL:
9 out of 10

SIDE NOTES: This fanedit is miraculous. Astounding. Beautiful. You have opened a new door in the fanediting world TMBTM, and you did it briliantly. I cannot wait to see more edits like these. You have earned a place in Valhalla TMBTM, congrats.

Sincerely. Rogue.