Fallen Hero

First of all, this is a huge accomplishment-- to meld two films so flawlessly to create a unique narrative detailing the decline and redemption of a damaged man, none other than Clint Eastwood, is definitely as hard as it looks. Wraith has continued in his tradition of brilliantly mashing up thematically connected films (much like his Matrix edit) to come up with a deeper and more insightful version of Gran Torino, if such a thing were possible.

Here we have the story of ageing Clint, living out his last days in suburbia while reflecting on his tough militaristic past (courtesy of Heartbreak Ridge), and how his spirit of encouraging and training potential marines is resurrected in his old age as he trains a young Hmong boy. How Wraith concocted this perfect brew is a testament to his skill, all I can say is, narrative-wise, this movie blew me away, and top marks for story/ enjoyment.

I gave 10s on A/V because I did not notice any problems at all. Everything flowed smoothly, with no rough cuts.

All in all, an edit I will definitely watch again, and is part of my collection.
A Must-Watch for any Clint fan!

Kudos Wraith. You did it man.
K

I enjoyed this edit very much. It is a must watch for any Clint Eastwood fan. The flashbacks from Heartbreak Ridge were seamless and for the most part did an excellent job of serving the narrative in the movie, especially near the end. The scenes that were cut from Gran Torino (mostly family background stuff) were not missed and the story had a good pacing and flow to it which doesn't happen in all fanedits. Lastly, I loved how you opened the movie. It was an excellent choice.

The reason why I gave enjoyment an "8" instead of a "10" is that, at times, it did still feel like two separate movies (which of course they originally were). Nevertheless, I appreciate the experiment to meld these two movies and I will be keeping this one on my hard drive :)