Conan - Man of War

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...

I waited in anticipation to watch this when this was first announced and I must say TMBTM did not disappoint. It amazes me that you can take a movie like Conan and turn it basically into a musical. Just shows the creative genius, that Boon mentioned also, that TMBTM posesses. A totally unique and original piece of fan-editing from a very gifted fan-editor. As I mentioned in Jorge’s Blue Skies on Mars, this edit will definitely not be for everyone, but I was thoroughly entertained to say the least..

Video: The video quality was very good, not the best, but pleasing. Some of the footage used from the other films was a tad bit rough. Overall it was fine.
8 out of 10 stars

Audio: The audio on the other hand was superb. The minimal dialogue that was there was crisp and clear. Also, the music tracks selected were perfect and sounded fantastic. No hiccups whatsoever.
10 out of 10 stars

Editing: No real flaws here. Everything flowed and very concise as in the story TMBTM was trying to tell. Amazing how the music fit pretty seamlessly to what was happening in the movie. Very well edited, can’t complain.
10 out of 10 stars

Presentation: Very simple but effective menu screens. I really liked the intro leading into the main menu. The extras were a real nice touch, especially the making of featurette. Liked how you showed some of the effects you seamlessly put into the film. Great!
9 out of 10 stars

Entertainment: Now this will not replace my DVD copy of this movie, but at least it gives me a very satisfying alternate take on this film. Good Job.
9 out of 10 stars

FINAL SCORE: 9 out of 10 stars.

Your creativity astounds me and can’t wait to see what you come up with next. Keep up the good work!

I really liked this - it gave me vibes watching the Wizard of Oz to Dark Side of the Moon or the the last battle at the end of Narnia whilst listening to Shine on you crazy diamond.... but done a bit more precisely.

The music is a great choice and the plot really flows- this doesn't drag at all and kept me interested all the way through.

Really small but perhaps keeping some of the boy and his father's chat at the beginning and the final conversation between Thulsa Doom and Conan is really badass,. Would add to the impact (perhaps) .

Very good edit.

out of all the classic arnold films for some reason conan is a film i haven't re-watched to often, the last time i saw it was around 5 years ago and i felt it was a little ponderous at best. this version quickens the pace moving the film along while never feeling as if anything major had been removed that spoils the narrative.

the new soundtrack works really well in telling the story without any dialogue at the start of the film. having not read too much info regarding the edit i thought maybe the hole film would be like this. luckily there is dialogue that breaks the music throughout the edit.

i guess to really enjoy the edit you have to be a fan of the music and to be honest it's not my cup of tea. i also feel that the edit could have included sound effects during these music parts. for me the muted sound with the music playing over would have benefited with some sound effects because when the song finishes we then return to the conan film in which there isn't any music so we hear all the background noises (if that makes sense)

overall i enjoyed conan a lot more this time time around but it still isn't an arnie film that i see myself returning to soon.

**OVERVIEW**

TECHNICAL ASPECTS

VIDEO:
Crisp image, absolutely amazing cuts.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

AUDIO:
Everything falls into place. It’s Manowar! The music guides the images perfectly.
Obviously, a lot of work was put into finding just the right song for every scene.

Overall:
5 out of 5 stars

PRESENTATION:
Nice basic menu. Nothing fancy, just right.

Overall:
4 out of 5 stars

IMPROVEMENT OVER THE ORIGINAL:
This was obviously not meant as an improvement, but a different take on the film.
It takes some getting used to, watching one hour and a half of Conan with almost no dialogue, but it’s a definite must see.

Overall:
5 out of 5 stars

FINAL SCORE: 4,5 out of 5 stars

Adds up to a fanedit score of:
9 out of 10 stars