Conan - Man of War

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9.3 (21)
5996 1 1 0 4
Conan - Man of War
Original Movie Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1982
Original Running Time:
129
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
96
Time Cut:
35
Time Added:
2
Brief Synopsis:
This is Conan the Barbarian, shortened and with the original (amazing) music replaced by Manowar’s songs and intrumentals.
90% of the time the new music is playing without voices nor sound effect, so it looks like a big music video with some dialogue parts from time to time.
Intention:
Conan the Barbarian is one of my all time favorit movies.
To me it’s a “complete movie”. Both action packed and contemplative, serious but fun to watch, 80′s cheese but shot with such a sens of realism that even the now outdated special effects still look great IMO (can’t say the same about the Destroyer sequel that, well, destroyed the franchise somehow).
But one of the most memorable things about Conan is the amazing music by Basil Poldouris. Perhaps my favorit score ever recorded for a movie.
Now, my goal with this edit is trying to remove that amazing score and replace it by music by heavy metal band Manowar. This band is a strange phenomenon. It’s a band I found quite silly and ridiculous the first time I heard their songs but, in the end, they have some great catchy songs and very nice feeling for anything sounding “bigger than life”. Simple and direct lyrics about heroes, gods, courage, swords blood and fight. Some of their lastest albums have symphony music that blend nicely with the sound of the guitare and amazing vocal performance by Eric Adams.
Other Sources:
Conan The Destroyer, The Vikings (1958)
Release Information:
DVD
Special Features
SL NTSC DVD:
Subtitles for songs
Little Making of about the edit’s special effects (5 minutes)
Manowar Live (one song)
Teaser trailer
Setlist of the edit
Editing Details:
The new music is playing 90% of the time without voices nor sound effect, so it looks like a big music video with some dialogue parts from time to time.
Cuts and Additions:
Too much cuts to list. See the overall description.
Some new special effects are added here and there.
Cover art by The Man Behind The Mask (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Cover art by Rogue-theX (DOWNLOAD HERE)
image

Conan Man of War from TMBTM on Vimeo.

[Teaser]

User reviews

21 reviews
 
86%
 
10%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
 
5%
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.6(12)
Audio Editing
 
9.6(12)
Visual Editing
 
9.6(12)
Narrative
 
8.8(11)
Enjoyment
 
8.9(21)
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Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
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.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
This ruled exactly as hard as you want it to. Can't think of anything else to say. Possibly the most metal movie ever made with an actual metal soundtrack and tightened to the pace of a killer grindhouse movie, all in a perfectly designed package with cool BTS extras. An all-timer; I can only hope that John Milius gets to see this.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
R
Top 10 Reviewer 156 reviews
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Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Just as wide-eyed Spinal Tap acolytes rever Valhalla for the mere existence of Manowar, so too the burgeoning ranks of fanedit viewers ought to worship TMBTM for this sonic swash through the Hyborian Age. I needlessly feared I would not like this “silent” Conan. Too loud or too dumb. Turns out, this nicely trimmed version is well thought out and well executed. What you hear is what you see. Or as one might say - Behold!

Video - MPEG 720 X 480p. I foolishly dropped a lower rez file, then got the DVD. Wise choice. There are several cuts - probably more than I suspect - and though I noticed a missing sequence here and there, I never noticed from sloppy or abrupt cutting.

Audio - 2 Channel stereo, AC3. No subs, not that it matters. As indicated fully in title and notes, this is primarily a “silent” version of Conan, with music by metal group Manowar replacing most of the dialogue and all of the Poldoris score. The syncing of music to onscreen action is outstanding. Riffs roar during mayhem, caress melodic during pensive or thoughtful moments. The dialogue is not fully absent, though some of the transitions out of dialogue back to Manowar are a bit steep. One that comes to mind is just before Conan and Subotai reflect on the wind that blows through all mens’ soul. Not a complaint.

Narrative - Several scenes were deleted. While I noticed them, their ommission did not affect the story. Dialogue is at an absolute minimum in this, such as when King Osric hires the trio for a mission. This edit bore up well, and TMBTM selected wisely. You don’t have to know the underlying story to follow along, although additional spoken bits would have helped. I can see where sections of this might head scratching. R E Howard fans, you should have no trouble tracking the story and understanding character motivations.

Enjoyment - Midway through the film, Conan and Valeria surrender to romantic urges. While watching I detected the opening strains of the music and thought, “That sounds like Nessun Dorma.” Sure enough, the opening strains of Puccini’s Turandot swelled. Even though I knew that TMBTM had replaced all music with MOW, I asked myself, “Michael Bolton?” (the ex-shaghead once released a disc of personal opera faves.) Of course not, it was Manowar attempting a number completely beyond them.

What an audacious choice, however! It capsized the mood in a manner that was seriously wrong yet so totally fitting. I was laughing out loud, shaking my head, and clapping. Such an unexpected selection.

The DVD has several nice gems, by the way, including an entertaining menu that affords tender-foots a glimpse into the Manowar world. Will this replace my Conan? No. Will I replay this again? Yes! Will I play it during the next house bash. Absolutely!! Get those relatives outta my home permanently.

User Review

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Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
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...

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
M
Top 100 Reviewer 40 reviews
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(Updated: January 10, 2014)
Overall rating
 
8.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
8.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
6.0
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.

User Review

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Yes
Format Watched?
DVD
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