Underworld Temptation

November 17, 2011 @ 11:31 pm

This is a hard one for me. The editing is perfect and overall the story is much improved. But man did I not have a fun time watching this one. Sorry Mask.

TMBTM has managed to do a difficult thing: rescore a movie. The lyrics by Within Temptation often match the on-screen action/emotions surprisingly well. I can appreciate the amount of work it took to lay down the new score, but the new music itself didn't work for me, simply because I've never been partial to operatic metal unless it's by Spinal Tap. I would have preferred to listen to an atmospheric soundtrack with little or no singing, or maybe even some loungey death metal or Bollywood booty shakers, but, hey—if you, my fellow viewer, groove to this particular band or style of music, then this edit just might float your supernatural boat.

I found both theatrical releases a bit goofy and unintentionally so, but TMBTM did an admirable job of paring them down, removing some of the goofier elements (e.g., Kraven's infantile brooding—you'd think a long-lived vampire might sport a tad more equanimity), and combining them chronologically to create something more epic and definitely more watchable, even if the second half feels a bit disjointed. But that's the fault of the originals, as Movie #1 had the hotter chick, but Movie #3 the more coherent story.

August 29, 2011 @ 6:31 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

September 5, 2011 @ 11:35 pm

*This rating was given before reviews were required*

August 22, 2011 @ 2:29 am

For a while now, TMBTM has been creating alternate takes rather than fixes to movies we love. What he does is he creates an alternate watching experience rather than try to fix broken movies; a way for us to appreciate movies we already knew in an entirely different light.

With Underworld Temptation, TMBTM achieves this on two levels: first by rescoring the movie – what he had already attempted with his Conan: Manowar fanedit – and second by combining two movies: Underworld 1 and 3. And he does it with a master’s hand.

The first part of the fanedit is based on Underworld 3 and the story of Lucien and Viktor, all newly scored with music from the band “Within Temptation”. Everything flowed beautifully and I was blown away more than once by how well the new score married what was seen on the screen, right down to the lyrics. It was almost as if that combination was meant to be and I couldn’t help but be moved by the romantiscism of it all, often forgetting that I was watching a fanedit.

The second part jumps to the modern age and is mostly based on the first Underworld movie which continues the tale begun in the first part but a couple of centuries later. Although done with skill, it didn’t work as well for me as it couldn’t match the romantiscism of the first part. I found the music didn’t go as well with the modern technology shown and perhaps, as well, the directing style which was much more in your face. I felt Within Temptation’s style clashed with the editing style as well (the original – not TMBTM’s) and didn’t provide as satisfying an experience as in the first part.

But overall this was a great movie experience. Of course some dialog is a little muffled by the music; some of the sound effects are sometimes a little low… This is all nitpicking as I don’t think it could possibly have been done better considering the source material. All in all, I was very entertained and that is the essence of why we watch movies.

I give this fanedit an 8/10.

Great job, TMBTM!