Conan : The Complete Quest

[Ash]

I hadn't seen any of the Conan films in quite some time so I figured I'd drop the $15 and pick up both movies in one shot.

It was a pretty good buy!



The original Conan the Barbarian has a really good featurette and great commentary with Ah-nold himself & director John Milius.
(you'll definitely laugh at their amusing comments)

Flip the disc over and you get:
The second film, Conan the Destroyer which has absolutely no extras except for the theatrical trailer.

I had the pleasure of showing a Saturday Night Double Feature of both films to four aquaintences from my work I invited over who had never seen either of them.
I provided the kickass Sony surround sound home theater, popcorn, soda, and a tub of gummi worms.
My new friends were totally blown away!

After they were both over I asked them, "Which movie did you like best?"
Every one of them unanimously agreed that they liked the second one, Conan the Destroyer the best.

I like them both equally.
They are very similar but very different.

I consider Conan the Barbarian as an introduction to Conan and Conan the Destroyer as a seperate side adventure.
I only wished they'd provided more extra stuff for the second film.
Either way, theyr'e both damn good!

(the camel scenes are my favorites!)

What do you think?

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

I really like the Conan movies.  They are quite true to the spirit of the books and are really good fun.   I prefer the first one, with the Archer.  The whiny thief fella just gets on my nerves.  
"Crom laughs at you from his mountain"  Great stuff!
-Ed

[Ash]

I so wished Subotai was in the second film and the people I watched this movie with asked the same thing.
"What happened to Subotai?"
I stated that I figured he'd decided to move on.

Yes, Malak was annoying and seemed cowardly...but he did show bravery.
He killed 2-3 guys in Conan the Destroyer with his daggers and was always right there next to Conan when the s**t hit the fan.
(except for Conan's fight with the wizard Toth Amon)

One thing that my friends from my work noticed and loved was whenever Conan saw something he had never seen before or was just generally suprised, he'd say, "Crom!

Those particular scenes have become some of my all-time favorites.

[akiratubo]

I can't really pick a favorite between them.  They are so different it would be silly to try.  I like them both.

Everybody hates Malek, but he didn't get on my nerves.  Rather, I hate the fact that the screenwriters seem to have crossed out "Subotai" and written in "Malek" when they found out Gerry Lopez was too busy surfing that week to be in the movie.

****Possible Spoiler****














I have mixed feelings about the cut of Conan the Barbarian that comes with this set.  I like the fact that some extra dialogue scenes have been restored, particularly the "no rest, no sleep" scene.  However, I don't like the rather stupid ending in Princess Whatshername helps Conan infiltrate the Mountain of Power and then he carries her off into the sunset.  I prefer the ending on the VHS copy I watched throughout my youth, which has the Princess edited out of the climax altogether.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Malek and Subotai!  Thanks.  I could not remember the names to save my life.

[trekgeezer]

I always like the second one, it was a much more "fun" movie. Plus, it has one of the scariest chicks ever to walk down a runway, Grace Jones.

[Scott]

The original CONAN THE BARBARIAN is far superior to CONAN THE DESTROYER. The second film was nothing more than an action film. I remember watching the original at the theater 3 times and then being very disappointed in the second film. The first movie had many deep philosophical moments.

The two films simply have nothing in common except Conan, the Wizard, and the music.

[Yaddo 42]

The first embodies the spirit of the original stories to me. Grim, almost too serious for its own good but not willing to laugh at itself or go for too many laughs and destroy that mood. Life in the Hyborian Age of the first film is like the saying nasty, brutal and short for the most part.

The second film reminds me more of those inferior stories by Lin Carter and L. Sprague DeCamp (their original to fill in the gaps in his life, the fleshing out and finishing of fragments, and those wholesale rewrites/retrofits of non-Conan fantasy and action stories into Conan tales). Just felt like a pale shadow of the first film, milder in tone and designed to appeal to a younger audience.

However considering the wandering nature of Conan, and how rarely companions or women stuck with him from adventure to adventure even if they live to the end of the stories, it makes sense for Subotai to not be with him. But I would have prefered him in another film to the crew Conan wound up with in the second film. Tracy Walter and Grace Jones just seemed too contemporary for a fantasy film, and Wilt Chamberlain did OK but knowing what we know about him now wonder how many of the cast and crew he slept with. I have nothing bad to say about Mako ever, beside he'd probably kill me with that patented evil eye stare of his if I did.

[Ash]

How many years do you think Conan pushed the Wheel of Pain in the first film?
I can think of no other horrid torture that could possibly be worse.

While watching those scenes, I wonder how many people died on that wheel while Conan kept pushing on.

[dean]

Ah, Conan, gotta love it.

A friend was reciting the commentary from 'Barbarian' [which is still my favourite] to me the other day.

It sounded hilarious [puts on mock Arnie voice] "this scene was fantastic, I got to break this guys arm'' etc

Have you listened to it yet Ash?

[BeyondTheGrave]

Scott Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The original CONAN THE BARBARIAN is far superior
> to CONAN THE DESTROYER. The second film was
> nothing more than an action film. I remember
> watching the original at the theater 3 times and
> then being very disappointed in the second film.
> The first movie had many deep philosophical
> moments.
>

Yeah I felt the same way. I must have seen the first one a bunch of times over the years. I have the second a few times and thought it was ok but didn't come up to standard of the first one.

on a side note: I remember when I was little I always thought they made Conan the king movie. because at the end of Barabarin they have him becoming king and they said that was a story for another time. I used to go the video store and always be looking for it.

[Yaddo 42]

It used to get talked about every few years, when Arnold was in the throes of sequelitis especially. But unfortunately it never amounted to anything. I remember reading the Wachowski Bros were rumored to be interested a few years ago, around the time that Arnold's last few films were like "The Sixth Day" and "Collateral Damage" were not doing well. But all that talk ended once he ran for governor. Considered how mixed his term in office has been received, he might have been better off making those sequels.

He's the right age for King Conan, getting kind of past it actually. Plus with any kind of decent budget they could do wonders with evoking the landscape and grandour of Aquilonia and hopefully some of the other realms of the Hyborian Age. Just as long at they wouldn't base it on that awful "Conan of the Isles" mess.

[Shadowphile]

I picked this set up a few years ago and added Red Sonja to it.  They just seemed to fit together.  Kull the Conqueror is just too modernized to fit in with it properly.  


I agree that Arnie is now the perfect age to play an old Conan.  The special features in this set explain about how the series of movies was supposed to go and why they stopped at two, as I recall.

Personally, I found the scene where Conan was talking about his father and blueberries was especially jarring.  It wasn't in character for Conan to open up like that.

[Neville]

"Conan The Barbarian" is my favourite sword and sorcery film. I still have to see any other one remotely as good as that. Sure some people think it drags, but it sohws how great the genre could have been if done with a decent budget and the right attitude. I have my share of problems with John Milius, but he was the right man for the adaptation, as he can deliver the whole "muscles are better than brains" without laughing. He may even believe it, considering his curriculum.

I wish I could like "Conan the destroyer" as much as the first Conan film, but I can't. I can see why your friends prefer it to the original, Ash. It sure is a lot lighter and colourful, but the whole thing seems to me poorly executed, and not very exciting.

I even prefer "Red Sonja" over the second Conan. For some reason the camp level doesn't ring that false to me, and the production design seems better.