Conan the Barbarian

What is the strength of steel compared to the hand that weilds it. Flesh is the answer.

And I loved the Wheel of Pain very much. A great way to condense Conan's history, but still not what his creator had in mind.

 

I found this show to be...eyebrow raising, if nothing else.

 

"Flesh" being literal and metaphor. The metaphor is the human heart and desire, and drive, ambition etc.

"What good is the sword compared to the hand that wields it?! Look at the strength of your body, the desire in your heart, I gave these to you!"

 

I think Thulsa Doom got it wrong. I think he focused on flesh because people were like puppets to him. He could use the strength of their bodies for his own means, but their wills didn't matter to him. Conan was the only one he couldn't control and he ended up dying because of that. So I think strength of will trumps flesh in this case. What is flesh compared to the will driving it? Anyway, I just think it would be cool if Thulsa Doom was wrong all along and he ended up getting thrown out of Valhala by Crom (edit) or realized at the very end just how wrong he was.

Edit: Haha, too slow for VadersLaMent.

 

Ah, but Thulsa Doom was right. Conan knows this as hinted at when he looks at his hand after a little sword practice later on. Thulsa Doom suffered from Palpatine-Syndrome, he was killed by his own creation, a creation he gave purpose to.

Non-related quote: "They shall all drwon in lakes of blood. Now they will know why they are afraid of the dark. Now they will learn why they fear the knight."

That whole sequence plays all three of the main pieces of theme music and erupts into a battle that gets my blood pumping.

 

Ah ok. I'll buy into it this time. But you got lucky.

In general I think the use of visuals and music alone without any dialog were one of the things that made this movie so great.

 

My favorite quote from this is "Crom laughs at your four winds!" Since then whenever someone takes something too seriously we tell them Crom laughs at it.

Also, my favorite part is where he punches the camel.

M. Scott

 

I got my start on Conan many decades agone, in a previous millenium, when the Lancer and Ace books were all that were to be had. That's what got me into lifting and swordswinging. The comics kept me interested, and a fanzine, Amra, was mine to read as well.

Soon came news of a movie, and I bought every magazine that had previews and interviews. When the movie finally came out, I saw it as soon as I could; I bought the soundtrack and played that tape until it was shredded.

Now, in the fullness of time, I am beginning to see how much richer and more complex was the original character of Conan and the Hyborian world. Milius captured only a small sample of what there was to be enjoyed. If you are at all interested in the movie, do yourself a favor and pick up the original stories by REH. What a wild ride they are!

Fortunately, the property is being picked up for not only reprints of the stories, but new comics and games. There's word of a new live-action Conan movie in the offing. Meanwhile, an animated feature film is due out this summer:
http://conanrednails.com

 

Red Nails just might be my favorite Conan story. This better not be a kid's cartoon film or else alot might be lost. I notice they put Conan as 6'4" and 265lbs. I don't get this since I've never read anything about Howard stating Conan's height and weight. Steve Jackson's GURPS game put him at 6'3" and 200lbs, and Arnold was 220lbs for the film at 6'2".

 

It's awesome that someone is going to actually base this film on Howard's original work.

 

Wow, the artwork for Red Nails looks really good. I too hope they don't try to make it a kids' cartoon, but the picture of Conan with a guy's head in his arm is a good sign I think.

 

I don't think this techinique is used in movies often anymore. Peter jackson had scenes that focused on visuals and music instead of dialog in LOTR, which I think made those movies so great as well. Like the Argonath and the halls of the dwarf city. But they were short. But John Millius really gave those scenes a lot of time, like the ending of the movie which was just amazing.

 

I think "the Barbarian" is a good movie, and really gets across the "barbarian" role, but "The Destroyer" suffered from the sequel hype that happened a lot in the 80's.

 

I think "the Barbarian" is a good movie, and really gets across the "barbarian" role, but "The Destroyer" suffered from the sequel hype that happened a lot in the 80's.

 

I think "the Barbarian" is a good movie, and really gets across the "barbarian" role, but "The Destroyer" suffered from the sequel hype that happened a lot in the 80's.

 

Oops, triple post.

 

The problem was the you go down from an R rating to secure a PG rating. Barbarian is the better film. It's a real journey of a hero. Destroyer is just...just another adventure.

 

The story that the second film is based upon is A Witch Shall Be born. If I recall correctly, Queen Taramis was actually a good ruler, or at least not evil, and she had a twin sister who came in one night and took over. One of them, or maybe both, has the special mark. I really don't remember how it went but there was no "Dreaming God" reborn after some quest.

 

"A Witch Reborn" had absolutely nothing to do with the crapfest that was Conan the Destroyer.

In that story a good, beautiful queen is knocked off her throne by an unknown twin sister who had been born with the mark of a witch and left for dead. Conan at this time was her General, in charge of her armies. He was dragged out into the desert and left crucified to a tree (as portrayed in Barbarian).

 

Crapfest or not you have the name Taramis and a releative born with a special mark, that's exactly where the basis of the movie comes from. The first film is a hodgepodge of many RH stories as well. Thulsa Doom wasn't even a Conan villain, he comes out of Kull which RH created before Conan.

 

Neither John Millius now Oliver Stone came back to write the script or direct it, did they? If they did I'm sure they'd make a much better film.

 

I forget who the writers were for Destroyer but it was not Milius and Stone.

A little trivia I didn't know about until today:

Despite what is supposed to be a great love between Conan and Valeria, Conan only speaks a total of 5 words to her in the whole movie. "You're not a guard," and "No."

"Suffer no guilt, ye who wield this in the name of Crom."--Translated runes on the sword of Conan's father.

Apparently Oliver Stone had written a script where the story is set in a post-apocalyptic future.

Andre the Giant was the Horned God Dagoth.

Quick question if anyone knows this. Conan is taken to "The East" where he is taught by the warmasters. Is that supposed to be Kitai or Hyrkania? I'm leaning towards Kitai myself but I don't know for certain.

 

I'm guessing Kitai as well, since Barbarian shows samurai type swordplay.

I love Conan the Barbarian. It's surprisingly how few big pictures have attempted to emulate its style. Not until Braveheart would a similar type of brutal realism be evident. But that's not the only benchmark it set - the use of historical and functional design, and the placement of a fantasy story into a historical setting. I've often been talking to friends and in an attempt to describe what a new film is like, Conan the Barbarian is the inevitable comparison. LOTR benefitted enormously from the same concept at its heart - make it real.

That's why Destroyer is far inferior. The design became more fantastical, falling into the trap that all the Barbarian knock offs did.

 

Was the King Conan project shelved once Arnie became our Governator?