PROPHET OF DESTRUCTION by Last Survivor

Original title: No Country for Old Men

Fanedit title: PROPHET OF DESTRUCTION

Studio: Paramount Vantage/Miramax Films
Faneditor: Last Survivor
Originally released: November 2007
Fanedit released: October 2011
Original running time: 122 minutes approx
New running time: 100 minutes approx
Cut time: 22 minutes
Started Edit: May 2011
Completed Edit: September 2011


Purpose of Edit:

No Country for Old Men is not a movie which really needs a fanedit – at least, for all its oscar wins and 5 star reviews, one would think that would be the case. However, despite some brilliant sequences involving the cat and mouse games between the hitman Anton Chigurh and his prey Llewlyn Moss, the monologues and voice-overs from Sheriff Tom Bell which hammer home the fact that literally, this is no longer a country for old men, seem to drag the movie out needlessly. This culminates in an ending which seems to split opinions everywhere you go.

Prophet of Destruction is an attempt to present an alternative take on what the Coen Brothers laid bare at the cinema. By moving the focus of the movie a little more in favour of Chigurh, the hope is that the movie becomes more about exploring this almost unstoppable force of nature than it is about Sheriff Tom Bell's retirement and how uncomfortable he feels in this country which is no place for old men.

By no means is this intended as a "fix" or a "replacement" edit. I have too much respect for the Coen brothers to even suggest such a thing! After all, my goal here was not to overhaul the movie, more to pay tribute to it really. I do hope that Prophet represents a version which both they and perhaps the author Cormac McCarthy may have made had they decided to go down a slightly different path.

So, grab your lucky quarter, close the curtains, turn out the lights as you discover the most unpredictable and dangerous hitman in history - Anton Chigurh: the prophet of destruction.

Cutlist:


Technical Details:

16:9 Anamorphic. NTSC Single Layer DVD.

Dolby AC3 Stereo.

Software used: Sony Vegas Pro 9.0, DVD Architect Pro 5.0, HC Encoder, Audacity, PgC Dmux, VirtualDub, Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6

Looking good!

By no means is this intended as a "fix" or a "replacement" edit. I have too much respect for the Coen brothers to even suggest such a thing!

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Not meaning to flog a dead horse (as I've been vocal of my utter hatred of this movie before), but a replacement edit is exactly what I'm looking for. I like extreme cynicism, but extreme cynicism is the opposite of poetry, and NCFOM tries to have it both ways with Tommy Lee Jones's character. Ultimately, this rips the movie apart. (Also: what happened to subtlety?) Furthermore, having acts of stupidity be the foundation of the plot (not checking if the case carries a tracer before it's too late) is rarely a good idea, especially when the character isn't portrayed as all that stupid. It reeks of plot device. What's annoying is that there's a good chase film buried underneath. I hope your edit brings out this, although I'm pretty sure some of the biggest problems of this film can't be remedied, no matter what.

Hey there theslime...

Well, I'm not too sure that this maybe the edit which fixes all the problems you mention, but it certainly does lessen the impact of Jones' character in an attempt to refocus the balance in the favour of Bardem and Brolin. I do hope you get something from the edit if you choose to watch it

I will! And I'm happy someone (several people, even!) is doing this, because the story's practically crying out for help. The really annoying thing for me was that the cat and mouse game was really well done - apart from a couple of sizable story holes (which I can usually forgive). But the film's main problem is that it collapses from the crushing weight of pretense and meandering soliloquies. It was said that the Tommy Lee Jones gave the film depth. In actual fact the opposite is true: a "prophet of destruction" (nice title, btw) is a more potent symbol if you don't use a redundant character just for commenting the action so we won't have to imagine the implications of the story ourselves. (Also: Woody Harrelson sucks. He's a fine actor, just completely miscast/wasted in this film.)

It was said that the Tommy Lee Jones gave the film depth. In actual fact the opposite is true

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That indeed is one thing which I agree on and hopefully Prophet does go some way into addressing this. I feel now that his character works better, in that by actually not being in it as much, he actually then does contribute more to the depth of the end product!

Btw, it's all up and available to download now, so get to it people

Reply to a review posted on the main page for the fanedit.

Video/Audio: Video looked great. Audio was great. 10/10


Editing: Overall really good editing here. No hard cuts. Good transitions. The only edit that seemed off for me was removing the fade out between Josh Brolin at the pool and the aftermath. The way you cut it seems a little bit jumpy and it’s not clear that time has passed. Otherwise, I couldn’t notice any editing flaws. 9/10


Entertainment: I’m a huge fan of the Coens. Other than “Intolerable Cruelty” and “The Ladykillers” all their films are perfect to me. I was really skeptical of this edit when I first read about it, but you did an excellent job.


Positives: I absolutely loved what you did with the ending. The last shot of the edit is beautiful! Likewise, the way that Chigurh is introduced now is fantastic. The majority of cuts were not missed at all.


Negatives: The final scene with Sheriff Bell and Uncle Ellis seems a little out of place in this edit. I would have been satisfied with the Sheriff’s last scene in the motel room, or at least trimming down the Uncle Ellis scene a lot more. Next, removing the scene of Carson finding the hidden money creates a bit of a plot hole.

After Lleweyln throws the money into the brush it becomes very unclear (at least to me) what happened to it.


Overall entertainment: 7/10 (original is 10/10)
Presentation: Really nice looking menus and enjoyed the trailer. 10/10
Overall rating: 8/10

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Hey Neglify. Thanks for taking the time to write a review and I’m glad that you enjoyed Prophet of Destruction. I’m quite relieved that someone who absolutely loves the original managed to get a lot of enjoyment out of the edit


I know what you mean about the removal of the fade out and in hindsight I should at least have put in a defocus and refocus effect to show some time had indeed passed. I suppose it’s because I never liked the fade out in the original movie, so I just wanted to get rid of it. But yeah, it certainly is not obvious that some time has passed, so apologies for that.


Very pleased you liked the ending. It’s not surprisingly the part I deliberated the most over.
I still like the way the final scene with the Sheriff and Uncle Ellis leads up to the finale itself, especially with Ellis saying “you can’t stop what’s coming”, which is really what sums up the point I was trying to make with my edit. But I take your point. I cut it down as much as I felt I could.


As for removing the scene where Carson finds the money? It’s actually intended that he actually doesn’t find the money and that he’s actually bluffing when he says to Chigurh that he knows where the money is. I still left the scene in where Moss then goes back to get the money, so hopefully it’s not too much of a plot hole.


Anyways, thanks again for your comments

LastSurvivor said:

I still like the way the final scene with the Sheriff and Uncle Ellis leads up to the finale itself, especially with Ellis saying “you can’t stop what’s coming”, which is really what sums up the point I was trying to make with my edit. But I take your point. I cut it down as much as I felt I could.

As for removing the scene where Carson finds the money? It’s actually intended that he actually doesn’t find the money and that he’s actually bluffing when he says to Chigurh that he knows where the money is. I still left the scene in where Moss then goes back to get the money, so hopefully it’s not too much of a plot hole.

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True on the Ellis line. I felt that was a really good line to end Bell's story.

And on the money scene, I guess that was the part where my dad walked in and asked what I was watching and I explained to him what FanEdits were. I should have paused it (or least rewound it).

And on the money scene, I guess that was the part where my dad walked in and asked what I was watching and I explained to him what FanEdits were. I should have paused it (or least rewound it).

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Ah, explaining what fanedits are can often be quite interesting. I've had some people look at me and it's like.... "ummmm, okay". Hope your Dad enjoyed it anyways

DISCLAIMER: This review is not meant as a personal attack on the editor. It is simply my opinions on the edit.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!

Well I should start off by saying a read the novel of No Country for Old Men about a year before they made a movie of it. I enjoyed the book and I enjoyed the movie. I know the ending was something that some people really liked and some people really hated (i.e. "wtf? the ending is Tommy Lee Jones talking about his dream?!"). I guess I am kind of indifferent to the ending. I don't love the ending but I don't hate it either.

On to the review: per my usual fanedit viewing policy, i avoided looking at the detailed cutlist (all I knew before watching is that the sheriff was getting scaled back), ive avoided reading any other reviews of the edit too (and as I type this, I still haven't looked). I rewatched No Country for Old Men last night and just finished watching Prophet of Destruction about 5 minutes ago.

I liked the opening, I liked the music that was used here which if I remember correctly was a music cue that was used in the theatrical trailer for No Country. I liked the custom opening credits and title credits they looked very good.

Chigurh's new introduction into the movie was good. I was a bit torn about this as I watched it. Part of me says it is less suspenseful and less scary to have Chigurh and the gas station owner interaction presented to us without the previous scenes of Chigurh killing the cop and shooting the cattle air gun at the man on the side of the road. Having this knowledge, of the brutality that Chigurh is capable of (and the pleasure he takes in it), ahead of time gives you context to the gas station scene. Right away you know that Chigurh is an evil man and you can infer the implications of the coin toss. The way LS has introduced Chigurh in this edit, I will say in my opinion it adds to the mystery and makes it suspenseful in a different way than the original movie. The viewer does not yet know who Chigurh is, if he's good or bad etc. And you don't know what he's gonna do to this gas station owner whereas in the original you've already seen Chigurh commit murder two times. Anyway, im probably over analyzing.

On to the ending. I was really not sure what to expect. After I heard the rescoring as Chigurh leaves Carla Jean's mother's house and saw Tommy Lee Jones truck driving through the desert it left me curious. I really wasn't sure where LastSurvivor was taking it. But after Tommy Lee Jones conversation is over and seeing the last scenes I really liked it. As LastSurvivor says himself in his "About this Edit" section of the DVD, Chigurh is an unstoppable force. So the way the last scene plays out: you think Chigurh has been caught and stopped...but nope. Nothing is going to stop this guy, he will keep killing. Initially I was a bit undecied about the inclusion of the Tommy Lee Jones scene where he is saying he's quitting. Part of me thought, "that could have been cut out". But in retrospect I think it is an important scene for two reasons: 1) I'm not sure there would be a good way to transition between Chigurh leaving Carla Jean's house and him being arrested on the side of the road. So if nothing else the scene with the sheriff serves as a good transition 2) The last thing the man says to the sheriff is important "you can't stop what's coming" So after mulling it over I actually like the inclusion of that scene. And I definitely like the ending.

I liked the custom end credits (very professional looking IMO)

As always Last Survivor's DVD Menus are great. Simple yet professional looking. I need to get my menus looking like those!

VIDEO EDITING: Looked great. No harsh cuts. I was watching on a huge HD tv and it looked quite good.

AUDIO EDiTING: Again, nothing jarring, sounded good. The rescoring was nice. Although in my personal opinion there were one or two spots where it didnt seem necessary but it didnt detract from the edit in anyway and this is just a matter of personal preference.

ENTERTAINMENT: This was enjoyable to watch. I can't say this is better than No Country for Old Men and I'd put this edit even with the original. Both are enjoyable movies.

OVERALL RATING: 9/10

Great work LastSurvivor, looking forward to your next project!

Hey Gatos... Sorry for late reply, but I wanted to thank you for taking the time out to write a review for Prophet. Really glad you enjoyed it. I must say that your decision to "not" read the cutlist before watching a fanedit is an interesting one and I may well do that in the future. More surprises that way

I liked the opening, I liked the music that was used here which if I remember correctly was a music cue that was used in the theatrical trailer for No Country

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I'm not sure if it was the music used in the trailer, but it's certainly featured over the end credits of the theatrical version. It seemed to fit nicely for my purposes of using it at the start along with new title credits.

The way LS has introduced Chigurh in this edit, I will say in my opinion it adds to the mystery and makes it suspenseful in a different way than the original movie. The viewer does not yet know who Chigurh is, if he's good or bad etc.

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Yep, that was the intention, to add to the mystery of his character. By introducing him at the gas station, I'm hoping that the viewer is kind of thinking "who the hell is this weirdo". I love the scene itself, as you get the feeling he might do something really random and it's brilliantly played and edited (not by me I mean - the original editors!!!).

And I definitely like the ending.

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The ending seems to have gone down better than I could have expected, even if the sheriff scene directly beforehand seems to have split people down the middle. As you say though Gatos, I needed a scene in between Chirgurh leaving Carla Jean's house and the being arrested to make it work, and what's more the last words of "you can't stop what's coming" are so vital to what I was trying to do with my edit that I didn't feel I could excise the scene anyways.

So, thanks again my friend. Glad you enjoyed it