Conan the Barbarian (Schwarzenegger version) - not bad...

Joelist

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
A couple of days ago I watched a somewhat older chestnut - Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian. And you know what - it wasn't half bad (in contrast to the abomination starring Jason Momoa we got a couple of years ago). Things that stood out were:

- The tone of the film was perfect. Conan the Barbarian falls on its face when presented like conventional "D&D" style fantasy (like the Momoa film). The Hyborean setting in the books had a different feel to it - with distinct Nietzschean undertones - and this film captures that tone perfectly.

- The musical score is outstanding. Again it is not typical fantasy music but it fits the theme perfectly.

- Schwarzenegger does his job well here, but the show is stolen by James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom. His performance is fantastic and he was a real foe worthy of the hero (another issue with the Momoa Conan film). Also turning in a good performance was Sandahl Bergman as Valeria.

- The story was also very "Hyborean" with the origin of Conan and his war against the Snake cult. The amount of humor was appropriate and the underlying mythos that was built was consistent with the books also.

- Fight choreography. It was superbly done with just enough "style" added to the basic hacking and slashing to create the proper feel of warriors in combat.

All in all. Not bad.
 
Overmind One

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
Joelist said:
A couple of days ago I watched a somewhat older chestnut - Arnold Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian. And you know what - it wasn't half bad (in contrast to the abomination starring Jason Momoa we got a couple of years ago). Things that stood out were:

- The tone of the film was perfect. Conan the Barbarian falls on its face when presented like conventional "D&D" style fantasy (like the Momoa film). The Hyborean setting in the books had a different feel to it - with distinct Nietzschean undertones - and this film captures that tone perfectly.

- The musical score is outstanding. Again it is not typical fantasy music but it fits the theme perfectly.

- Schwarzenegger does his job well here, but the show is stolen by James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom. His performance is fantastic and he was a real foe worthy of the hero (another issue with the Momoa Conan film). Also turning in a good performance was Sandahl Bergman as Valeria.

- The story was also very "Hyborean" with the origin of Conan and his war against the Snake cult. The amount of humor was appropriate and the underlying mythos that was built was consistent with the books also.

- Fight choreography. It was superbly done with just enough "style" added to the basic hacking and slashing to create the proper feel of warriors in combat.

All in all. Not bad.
Click to expand...

I LOVED the original Conan with Arnie and James Earl Jones. Momoa's Conan was dull and two dimensional to me. Watched it once and I was done.
 
Tripler

Tripler

Well Known GateFan
James Earls Jone changing into big snakey monster freaked me out but I sure enjoyed the movie just the same . It was silly fun to watch . I also enjoyed the second one which had a ton of humour and of course the lovely Olivia D'abo ...
:) :) :)
 
shavedape

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
Tripler said:
James Earls Jone changing into big snakey monster freaked me out but I sure enjoyed the movie just the same . It was silly fun to watch . I also enjoyed the second one which had a ton of humour and of course the lovely Olivia D'abo ...
:) :) :)
Click to expand...

Did you see Red Sonja? Conan is in that one too.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089893/
 
Tripler

Tripler

Well Known GateFan
Yup . Another good chuckle movie and dualing austrian accents . At least I think she is Austrian . My old boss went to shool with Arnold in Austria . He said Arnold would come to school and go straight to the gym . Then leave school and go straight to the gym ...
Arnold had his goal set at a young age ...

:) :) :)
 
Joelist

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Actually he isn't playing Conan in Red Sonja.

As to the second Arnold Conan film (Conan the Destroyer), it was okay but had serious problems too. The biggest was the entire tone of the film was wrong, as the new producers deliberately tried to make it feel like Dungeons and Dragons. As a result it lost the elements that made the first one unique. Add to that the problem that the Princess' Mother was not that good of a villain.
 
Joelist

Joelist

What ship is this?
Staff member
Overmind One said:
I LOVED the original Conan with Arnie and James Earl Jones. Momoa's Conan was dull and two dimensional to me. Watched it once and I was done.
Click to expand...

What does it say that Arnold Schwarzenegger played Conan better than Momoa? Maybe that the original Conan was better scripted, acted, scored and set mood and tone much better. Having John Milius for a director and writer was a huge advantage too.

I always laughed at the reviews when it came out that criticized the film for its Nietzschean undertones. What were they expecting from a film based in Hyborean fantasy? Of course after a few years passed the "critics" came to view it more favorably.
 
Overmind One

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
shavedape

shavedape

Well Known GateFan
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top