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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 23, 2011 20:48:36 GMT -6
I'm watching the Conan movie now. (Paused the DVD in order to do some chores and thought I'd check the boards while I had a moment.)
I'll confess that I went into this with very low expectations, but it's been at least decent so far. Seems more dark and gritty than the Ah-nold version of the 1980's.
I thought they spent a lot of time introducing the character, which is ironic since Howard never really did any of that -- he just jumped right into the action. Also interesting that they are trying to give Conan a wide-sweeping motivation instead of a bunch of little adventures.
I'll post more when I finish the movie.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2011 21:10:18 GMT -6
I enjoyed the film. Momoa did a creditable job as Conan, I found his take on the character rather interesting.
(an opinion, and offered as such, in no wise intended to be a statement of fact or a challenge to Conan enthusiasts)
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Post by zarathustra on Dec 23, 2011 21:36:28 GMT -6
I found it pretty enjoyable but not great. It had a sense of humour without being silly, sorcery was freaky & Momoa was an ok Conan (although I feel they overdid the glowering).
The story was a bit vague & the final battle they fell for the fault of trying to make it exciting by location, rather than because of energy between the characters. If they had explored the weird father/daughter conflict with Conan as a third force in that final battle it could have been interesting on another level.
Overall it is a 6/7 out of 10 for me. I am not one who will rage about it not being strictly true to Howard, I'll just take it for what it is. Although I am sure there is a great Conan movie yet to be made somehow.
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Post by foxroe on Dec 24, 2011 10:05:09 GMT -6
I'm in the same camp as Marv. I finally got around to watching it last week, and my expectations were set so low by all of the "reviews" on RPG boards and blogs, that I ended up enjoying it. The plot was "Conan-ish" in the sense that it reminded me of a Conan story, though it certainly didn't hew close to any of them, and Momoa made a "truer" Conan, IMO, than AS (from another adaptation of Conan I will shamefully admit that I enjoyed also  ). |
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 24, 2011 15:06:32 GMT -6
Well, I did finish the movie last night and it wasn't as bad as expected. I'm a little puzzled by the semi-bald chick with talon fingernails. A bit over-the-top for me. I kind of wish they had made a few more references to places in Conan's world. I had a hard time understanding some of the place names they spoke of, but I get used to hearing about Aquilonia and Stygia and other places like that. I kind of expected a giant python to battle, but perhaps the director thought it would be too much like the Schwartzenegger version. Overall, the guy who played Conan seemed to act well and played the part well. The girl they picked to be the chosen one didn't just stand around looking helpless, which was a nice change. There were some decent Lovecraft-Howard-Smith kinds of elements. Damsel tied to an alter. Weird tentacle things to be fought. Stuff like that. Overall I rate it above average.  |
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 24, 2011 15:08:06 GMT -6
AS (from another adaptation of Conan I will shamefully admit that I enjoyed also ). Don't be ashamed of this. I enjoyed the other Conan movies as well. They were a little campy and slapstick at times, but overall a decent pair of movies. |
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Post by doc on Dec 24, 2011 15:31:19 GMT -6
I thought it was pretty decent fantasy fare. The plot was nothing new, but the effects were good and the landscapes looked Hyborean. I think Jason Momoa looked a LOT more like the way Howard described Conan than Arnold did. Sleek, pantherish physique? Check. Bronzed skin? Check. Scarred torso? Check. Slightly sinister features? Check.
While not a brilliant film by any measure, it hit the right sword and sorcery vibe with me and I enjoyed it for what it was.
Now if only they could get the Solomon Kane film released in America.
Doc
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2011 19:57:58 GMT -6
I liked them, too.
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Post by Finarvyn on Dec 24, 2011 20:16:50 GMT -6
Now if only they could get the Solomon Kane film released in America. Agreed. I want to see it pretty badly, even if it didn't get the best reviews either on some of the gaming threads. |
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 2, 2012 21:01:45 GMT -6
I did a review over at wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/ . My take was Mamoa was a great Conan, but the world was awful, the pronunciations horrific, and the macguffin awful. But for all that, Mamoa carries it well and I enjoyed it. I have the blu-ray. |
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Aplus
Level 6 Magician
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Post by Aplus on Jan 6, 2012 19:55:51 GMT -6
I thought it was a fun movie.
Not near as good as the Solomon Kane film, but a fun movie.
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Post by warrioroffrobozz on Jan 7, 2012 12:45:31 GMT -6
It was pretty average. Momoa made a great Conan, in my opinion, but the plot was really vague and boring.
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Post by darkling on Jan 7, 2012 19:10:50 GMT -6
I thought it was extremely well acted but quite poorly written. I will never understand why they don't just adapt a Howard story instead of writing their own...
Still, much better than the AS Destroyer and a little better than the AS Barbarian. And I will continue owning all three.
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Post by warrioroffrobozz on Jan 8, 2012 12:27:13 GMT -6
I thought it was extremely well acted but quite poorly written. I will never understand why they don't just adapt a Howard story instead of writing their own... Still, much better than the AS Destroyer and a little better than the AS Barbarian. And I will continue owning all three. Actually, there's supposed to be an animated one based on Red Nails with Ron Perlman voicing Conan, but it's been in development hell for some time now. . . |
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 8, 2012 16:09:59 GMT -6
I thought it was extremely well acted but quite poorly written. I will never understand why they don't just adapt a Howard story instead of writing their own... Still, much better than the AS Destroyer and a little better than the AS Barbarian. And I will continue owning all three. The ONLY thing I've heard from Mamoa that made me doubt he was the right guy for the part: he said that he feels the real fans of Conan don't want an adaptation because "they've already read those stories. They want something new, like something that focuses on all the supernatural creatures in Conan's world." I read that in an interview and thought, "...BWUH?" |
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Post by waysoftheearth on Jan 8, 2012 20:29:07 GMT -6
It was pretty average. Momoa made a great Conan, in my opinion, but the plot was really vague and boring. I agree -- what could have been a great movie was instead merely average. The problem, in my opinion, was that they tried to touch on way too much of the original material, rather than focusing on one story: the one the film should have been about. The result was that most of what was touched on was done so superficially. It lacked the necessary depth to impress. And was therefore just another shallow, B grade fantasy movie. A great pity. |
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Post by foxroe on Jan 8, 2012 21:15:33 GMT -6
Actually, there's supposed to be an animated one based on Red Nails with Ron Perlman voicing Conan, but it's been in development hell for some time now. . . Wait... whaaAAAAAAAATT???!?  |
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Post by thegreyelf on Jan 11, 2012 19:18:46 GMT -6
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Post by foxroe on Jan 11, 2012 22:02:39 GMT -6
Holy Hand Grenade, Batman! Those character portrayals are almost exactly how I pictured them in my head when I read the story ('though a bit more Frazetta-like). I hope this movie comes to fruition. |
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Post by MilkManX on May 16, 2012 12:26:17 GMT -6
Unfortunately that Red Nails is never coming out.
I enjoyed the Conan 2011 movie. It was good,not great. Momoa was very good and had the script been more based on REH and not some shoehorned origin story it would have been better.
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Aug 6, 2015 14:01:45 GMT -6
I just downloaded the movie and watched a little bit. I hadn't expected much but so far its fun and I am enjoying it.
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Post by kesher on Aug 6, 2015 16:31:13 GMT -6
For me, it was certainly enjoyable, but not really Conan.
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Post by Porphyre on Aug 7, 2015 11:09:30 GMT -6
Reading the thread and following the links, I found some likeness between the Weird tales cover and the one of Eldritch Wizardry .
Has anyone heard of a direct influence , or am I just rediscovering warm water ?
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Post by Otto Harkaman on Aug 7, 2015 11:21:54 GMT -6
I think the Conan movies (new and old) whether conscious or not are really a continuation of Hercules movies or better described as the Peplum film genre. Peplum film genre wiki link |
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Post by cadriel on Aug 7, 2015 11:40:50 GMT -6
The recent Conan movie was a watchable fantasy flick, but by not living up to its famous character name or its predecessor to the name, it doomed itself. I enjoyed it for its merits and didn't care too much that they pretended this was Conan. Unfortunately not enough people agreed.
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Todd
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Post by Todd on Aug 7, 2015 15:33:58 GMT -6
Haven't seen the recent one yet. Love Conan the Barbarian and dislike Conan the Destroyer pretty strongly.
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