DVD : Conan the Destroyer

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Rating:

- An ABSOLUTE EMBARRASEMENT!!!
This movie was a waste of time and money! As a huge fantasy fan I am completely embarrased. An absolute POS. Avoid purchasing this AT ALL COST!!

Rating:

- Not as good as the first
Conan the Destroyer picks up where Conan the Barbarian left off at. We are once again with the hero Conan(Arnold Schwarzenegger) and he has a new quest. He is hired by a queen to take a virgin princess to a floating island to retreave a crystal. He is made to believe that the queen can bring back his love Valeria. In reality the queen wants to kill the princes and use the crystal to rule the world.

Conan the Destroyer isn't at nearly as violent and bloody as the first. The first movie is a lot more barbaric. The sword play is slower and more brutal. You also don't see a whole lot of magic in the first film. Granted you see some, but not like you see in Destroyer. The sword play isn't nearly as bloody. It's more high paced and you see a bigger variety of weapons in the movie. You also see a diffrent kind of cast.

Mako is the only returning member besides Conan to the movie. He continues his role as the wizard and once again is a comedic charm. Grace Jones as a role as Zulu warrior. She is excellent in the movie. I was surprised to see her in the movie. Wilt Chambelin is also in the movie. He plays a warrior that is suppose kill Conan once the crystal is retreaved. He is in great shape for a 50 something year old man. I was impressed.

I liked Conan the Destroyer. It's PG and is something the whole family can watch. I don't think it's as good as Barbarian, but I do love it. It's a must for Arnold and fantasy fans. Get the DVD and enjoy.

Rating:

- An entertaining adventure/fantasy with a fun cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as Conan in this fun and entertaining sequel. I have to watch the first again and then I'll write a fair review for it because as of now it did nothing for me. The sequel though I find a real treat, it's funny, has good fantasy and action and the cast works good together. Don't get me wrong the movie isn't fantastic. Arnold literly does 80's WWE style wrestling with a monster with bear hugs and bodyslams with a really bad action scene. It's the only bad action scene of the movie though I think.

Although the film has some bad 80's effects the actors are charming in there roles and are a lot of fun and make you forget it's not a perfect film. When Grace Jones tells the young Princess you get a man "by GRABBING HIM!!" is very funny. Arnold's small fight with a camel gets some laughs as well. It's nothing compared to recent Fantasies like Lord of the Rings but it's still entertaining and is better than a lot of Arnie's recent films.

Rating:

- The more 'family friendly' Conan
First of all, let me just say I've read probably 45 to 50 of the Conan novels put out by the now defunct Tor Publishing company, read quite a few of the comic books when I was younger, and so, while not the most knowing in Conan lore, I do have some ideas of what a Conan movie should be like. And this wasn't really it. Conan the Destroyer was close, but didn't quite make it. The first movie was excellent, even with the few minor liberties that were taken with the character, but this movie just seemed more goofy and silly, and rated PG? How in the world can you have a Conan movie rated PG? Whatever....

In this movie, we find Conan lured into a mission to retrieve the sacred horn of whatever, with the promise that he will get his Valeria back, who died in the first movie. He's inconviently saddled with a fairly lame group including a greasy little thief/comic relief (Tracey Walter), a somewhat over enthusiatic Amazon type warrior (Grace Jones), the Asian wizard from the first movie (Mako), a princess (Olivia d'Abo), and her protector (Wilt 'the Stilt' Chamberlain). Now the set up and such is fairly standard with the Conan stories, a quest frought with all kinds of peril an such, but the movie is lacking a lot of what was in the first movie, violence. I am not a gorehound by any means, but to lighten up on this aspect, most likely to get the PG rating is really a rub the wrong way to the fans and anyone who loved the first movie. I am not saying you have to have entrails and such flying about, but the amount of blood letting was extremely toned down. The same could be said for sexual content. In the first movie, Conan had three encounters with women, which is par for the books, but in this one there is none of that. I thought for sure they were going to throw in a liason between Conan and the princess, as such a big deal was made in the beginning of the movie that she remain pure (a virgin), but she was kinda young, so I am glad that didn't come about, as it would have been creepy. If it were a story from a book, Conan would have shagged her rotten and that would have set up for the whole ceremonial sacrifice to be [messed] up. They did have the princess show her attractions to Conan, but that never led anywhere. Well, they finally complete the quest, and Conan and most of his group find out they've been had, and decide to go and rescue the princess. This sets up a climatic battle between a funky lizard god-man.

While they took out or lightened up on the sex and violence, they added in more comedic elements, which isn't all that bad, but got to the point of being ridiculous at some points. Too much levity in this type of movie is not a good thing. I would have rather seen a smaller group and more action than what we got. I liked Mako from the first movie, but what was the deal with him and anytime he performed magics in this movie he had to make grunting noises? That got really annoying...can't he perform magic without making all those silly noises? The first movie did have Conan join with a small group, but all the main action focused around him, and the rest was secondary. Not so in this movie. I felt like this was more like Conan Lite than a real, honest to goodness sequel. Something else this movie lacked was a really strong villian type. In the first we get Thulsa Doom, played wonderfully by James Earl Jones, but in this movie we have no real villian until the end of the movie. You could count Bombatta, but they didn't really mix it up until the end. You could count the evil Queen Taramis, played by Sara Douglas, but she's only in like 10 or 15 minutes of the movie.

Well, anyway, that's my rant. I did enjoy this movie somewhat, but I was disappointed in what it could have been. Instead of using what made the first so good and popular, they changed the formula and missed the boat. I really felt if this one had done well, we could have seen a couple more Conan movies. I have heard rumors about a third Conan movie, so who knows...and anyone seen the Conan television series from 1998 with Ralf Moeller? Probably not, as it didn't last too long. I think I saw one or two episodes and thought it was too goofy and riduculous, as I think did many other viewers and it died a quiet, yet thankful death.

Rating:

- Conan returns in this second story to help a virgin princess
This review is for the VHS version. The sequel to Conan the Barbarian (1982). The story continues with Arnold Schwarzenegger back as "Conan". He is almost captured by a net, but wins the fight. Then Queen Taramis (played by Sarah Douglas, whom you may recall from Superman (1978) and Superman II [1980]) makes her presence known. She makes Conan show her the deepest desire in his heart. His thought appears on the rock. It is Sandahl Bergan who's character died in the first film. Queen Taramis says she will bring her back, but Conan must first take Princess Jehnna (Olivia D'Abo) on a journey to find a key only she can touch. Queen Taramis wants her to come back still a virgin. The key is in a castle guarded by a wizard. Also in the cast: former basketball player champion Wilt Chamberlain and Grace Jones. Mako continues his character "Akiro" from the first film. After this film, Grace Jones went on to film the "James Bond" film A VIEW TO A KILL (1985). The film KULL THE CONQUEROR (1997) was meant to be a third "Conan" film, but when Arnold S. refused to reprise the "Conan" role, the script was rewritten as "Kull" for Kevin Sorbo.

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