Barbarian Brothers -- David & Peter Paul

[Jesse West]

you want to talk about bad movies! how about Peter Paul and David Paul...the Barbarian Brothers. They made a bunch of bad movies together in the 80s. This is a really funny article about their career

http://www.robbloom.com/creative/barbarian.htm

[Menard]

They were, however, entertaining.

[AndyC]

They were like a huge, steroidal Mary-Kate and Ashley.

[BoyScoutKevin]

Actually, I've seen a couple of their films. Not good particularly, but not unenjoyable. My favorite of their films is "Twin Sitters." Usual story, children think their father doesn't love them, but he does, he is just incapable of showing his love for them, until the hero or heroes show the children their father really loves them.

Here the heroes are the Paul Brothers, who are are protecting the title characters from the villain, until the father can testify against the villain in court.

The conceit of this film is not only are the Paul Brothers and the title characters twins, but so are many of the other actors in the film, who appear in the film with their twin.

This film also contains one of the great questions of "bad' movies? How is it possible that the villain or villains can defeat any number of good guys, but when the heroes show up, the villain or villains suddenly become inept and are easily defeat by the hero or heroes?

As a side note, like Jackie Earle Haley, after a number of years, the Paul Brothers are back to making movies. Both of them are in "Souled Out," which should be out sometime this year or next.

[Ash]

Check out the Special Edition DVD of "Natural Born Killers."
There's a scene that Oliver Stone cut from the film in which Micky & Mallory break into the Barbarian Brothers' house and proceed to tie them up and saw their legs off with chainsaws.
Micky & Mallory realize who they are after they cut their legs off and then apologize to them saying that they're the brothers' biggest fans.
It's actually a pretty bloody & gory scene!

Then it cuts to a scene of the two brothers in a gym sitting in wheelchairs with nothing but stumps for legs.
They praise Micky & Mallory for doing what they did, saying that because of them, they have to work even harder to acheive greatness.

(The IMDB says they're the Hun Brothers...are they the same two guys?)



Post Edited (03-13-05 15:51)

[Scott]

I remember going to the theater to see the barbarian brothers in some barbarian movie in the mid-80's and almost walked out of the theater. It was a true test of endurance.

Being a big CONAN THE BARBARIAN fan having seen the film 6 times at the theater in 1982 I was dissappointed with the sequel CONAN THE DESTROYER and was looking for a movie that had anything to do with Barbarians. Well, I went to see that film starring the Barbarian Brothers. All things Barbarian continued to head downward. : ) Downright prehistoric acting talents.



Post Edited (03-13-05 19:47)

[Menard]

I actually enjoyed THE BARBARIANS, although I can see where somebody may be put off by it because of its comedy/adventure approach to the genre.

I agree that CONAN THE BARBARIAN was well made, although it had quite a tendency to drag (I nearly fell asleep in the theatre). My main problem with CONAN THE BARBARIAN is that it barely has any more relationship to the stories than LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN does. Of course, this is what happens when Oliver Stone is involved with a film, not one ounce of respect is given to the source. Of course, it is leaps and bounds ahead of that attempt at a TV series  based on ????????? (still trying to figure out what it was based on).

The attempt to actually find a good movie, or even entertaining, in the fantasy genre is pretty disparate. The only good one that comes to mind, for me, is LADYHAWKE. Of course, for those not familiar with the Conan stories, they may find CONAN THE BARBARIAN to be an enjoyable film. And, if not, they can always watch LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN. (:

BTW, I also did find BEASTMASTER to be enjoyable.

[Yaddo 42]

"Barbarians" was a hoot, it was one of the few times I can remember my dad, my sister, and myself enjoying a bad movie together. We loved how they were the only slaves who grew big, tanned, and muscular from eating gruel while all the other slaves seemed to waste away over the years. All that combined with the beatings by masked torturers just to condition them for only one gladitorial fight years later.

I've seen "Think Big" (the one where they were truckers), didn't like it.

They were frequent judges on the 80s syndicated revival of "The Gong Show", and counted as one judge on the show. I like AndyC's Olsen twins comparison, no one would pay any attention to them with out the other. Alone each one of them is just a steroid addled gym rat.

[Fearless Freep]

We loved how they were the only slaves who grew big, tanned, and muscular from eating gruel while all the other slaves seemed to waste away over the years.

Maybe they ate the other slave's food

Maybe they ate the other slaves

[Menard]

Fearless Freep wrote:
 
> Maybe they ate the other slaves


They got a start with Richard Lynch's fingers (:

[AndyC]

The Olsen comparison is very apt, when you consider both sets of twins appeared in a string of crappy, mostly straight-to-video movies where they just played twins in different goofy situations.

Loved The Barbarians, though. The whole idea was if they couldn't be twice as good as Conan, they could be twice as many. I think Michael Berryman, as the mugging, maniacal horn-on-the-head guy, had to be my favourite part of the movie. He's always distinctive, although this time he got competition from the guy who looked like the love child of Queen Amidala and Emo Philips. But the real fun came from the Paul brothers' really clumsy, overly playful performances. I laughed any time one of them said or did something that was supposed to reinforce a personality, or any time they engaged in humourous bickering.

I was especially intrigued with the way these two characters, separated since childhood and trained to kill each other, teamed up so quickly. That, and their amazement that they looked just like each other. They have mirrors in that dungeon?



Post Edited (03-14-05 12:48)

[Sam]

My mom used to loved those guys, I had the hardest time talking her out of buying a big ass poster of them a few years back.

[Lawrence Sams]

Awesome. Just awesome. Rob Bloom. captured the essence that is David Paul and Peter Paul. What fine journalism.

No seriously. that article is really funny. i didn't know they were in natural born killers. sucks that their scene got cut.

[AndyC]

OK, this is starting to look fishy. At least three "first-time posters" have given a plug to this Bloom article. Smells like spam to me.

[odinn7]

You know the saying:

If it looks like spam and smells like spam...

It also fits for trolls.