boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) (07/12/84)
I'm afraid I have to disagree with you about CONAN THE DESTROYER, Jeff. In my
opinion, CTD sucked dead and diseased rodents. First of all, Roy Thomas and
Gerry Conway's story was like a bad issue of the comic book. I don't understand
why they have to trivialize all the great Howard villains. The first Conan film
made mincemeat out of Thulsa Doom, and the second does an even worse hatchet job
on Thoth-Amon.
Secondly, the acting, with three exceptions, was awful. I liked Mako
(he'd make a great Chiun in a [Remo the] Destroyer movie, even if he isn't Kor-
ean). And Sarah Douglas was as beautiful and nasty as she was in SUPERMAN II.
How you can utter Wilt Chamberlain in the same breath as those two is beyond me;
as an actor, he makes a great basketball player. The third goody was Grace Jones
--- a truly endearingly demented performance.
Thirdly, the sfx were ghastly! The Thoth-Amon man-ape had the hokiest-
looking make-up I've seen this side of ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE. And as for
the Lovecraftian monster at the end, I find it hard to believe that Carlo Ram-
baldi was willing to take the blame for that.
And lastly, the PG rating didn't help matters any. Going to a Conan
movie, I expect to see hacking-and-slashing, blood-and-guts, and naked women.
Not that I have a predisposition for such things, but they are part and parcel
of the Conan ambience. The first film had it just right; the second was too
wimpy. Oh, sure, there was some swordplay and a touch of blood, but nothing like
the first movie. I want and expect Conan the Eviscerator, not Conan the Somewhat
Nice Guy.
I liked the first Conan film quite a bit. not that it was earth-shaking,
but it had a lot to recommend it. CONAN THE DESTROYER, though? Naahhhhh.
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA)
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ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPAmoriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (07/14/84)
I find it interesting to note that however crappy the special effects, a
Dino De Laurentis film always have GREAT set design. This movie, through
much of its length, looks better done and more elaborately made than INDIANA
JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM. Oh, but you want to know whether to see it or
not. Well, let me put it this way: if there is no way you would go to see a
Swords & Sorcery film, skip it. But if you're on the borderline, go see it.
I would not object to a third in the series if it was done like this. Two
reasons: the pace never plods, and the added humor is excellent. Arnold S.
has a really funny hold on the role this time around. He's still a
barbarian, and a reluctant hero, but he's also rather... simple. This makes
some of the more incredible scenes enjoyable on two levels, fantasy and
tongue-in-cheek humor. In fact, this is the first movie in a long time that
seems to have been able to balance the two without getting either primal or
campy. Also, Grace Jones is in this movie, and she looked like she was
having almost as much fun as the Saturday Matinee audience I saw it with.
She is the other good reason to see it. The other actors range from
standard (Wilt Chamberlain, Sarah Douglas, Mako) to suck (whoever plays the
virgin princess... should be virgin actress). Anyway, I'm saying that if
you enjoy fantasy movies at all, I think you'll find something to like in
Conan the Destroyer (a good $3-$3.50 film)
SPOILER TIME: proceed at your own risk....
1) Fantastic settings... as I said, put Spielberg to shame. Dino always
goes first class on that side of things. Some of the early Matte work was
beautiful too... only way I could tell that matte paintings were used is the
ideat that even Dino would have a problem affording to build a castle on a
hillock ("...No, No, the little hillock over there..."). Other Matte work
sucked, and the island looked like they rebuilt it from Superman. The
monster/god at the end was a really original concept, but just not quite
convincing enough at the end (reminded me of something out of H.P.
Lovecraft). Basil Pulderais (sp?) who did the music from the previous movie
(very good music) added some good stuff to this movie, but basically
rehashed his old score.
2) Really enjoyed Conan's drinking binge, and the time it takes him to
realize "... We'd better get out of here!".
3) I'm very surprised that the timid thief wasn't PLAYED by Roy Thomas...
4) I was hoping that Grace would show up in the next film, but it looks like
they're trying to write Mako out of the next sequel (I imagine there'll be
one). If he is in the next one, it's plausible Grace could be, too.
"Mongo feel like a pawn of fate...."
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.
UUCP:
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fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAslag@charm.UUCP (Peter Rosenthal) (08/16/84)
Things that go bump in the night lives on. Conan the barbarian was a better movie than, conan the destroyer, I agree with Jeff and I disagree. While its true that Thulsa doom was a hack job of Howards villains, James Earl Jones did manage to do an incredible job creating one of the best all around bad guys I've seen on the screen. I couldn't help picturing him saying Give in to the dark side of the force young barbarian! I guess J. E. Jones is destined to be a great villain whatever he does. Conan the destroyer, lacked the immense presence of an awesomely powerful evil, and it suffered because of it. Conan shines the most as he hacks his way through hords of creeps who deserve violent slapstick gore; and he lives for the moments when he can crush his most mortal enemies, and take their women. Conan the destroyer did not really give him the chance. One thing I give the movie credit for, It really developed conans sense of humor. I guess all those days that Arnold sat in on Howard Sterns rush hour NBC show paid off.
emjej@uokvax.UUCP (08/21/84)
#R:charm:-43800:uokvax:3900061:000:231 uokvax!emjej Aug 20 16:08:00 1984 /***** uokvax:net.movies / charm!slag / 10:41 pm Aug 16, 1984 */ I guess J. E. Jones is destined to be a great villain whatever he does. /* ---------- */ Why, thank you! :->>>>>>> ...!ctvax!uokvax!emjej James E. Jones
terryl@tekchips.UUCP (Terry Laskodi) (08/24/84)
Well, this doesn't have anything to do with either of the Conan movies, but last weekend when I went to see Clint Eastwood's new filck "Tightrope" (bad flick, but that's another story.....) one of the previews was for a movie called "The Exterminator" (or Terminator, if I can remember correctly). Anyways, this movie stars good ol` Arnold Schwartz-what-his-name, showing about as much emotional range as he does in the Conan movies. It was the first preview that I've seen where the entire audience is practicaly rolling on the floor in laughter, at scenes that were intended to be very dramatic. All in all it sounds like a first-rate movie!!!(Now let's see, how does this work?? -): )