Conan the Destroyer (1984)

They destroyed the barbarian

Conan The Barbarian stands as one of the best epic movies of all time. Conan The Destroyer is what Batman and Robin is to the Batman series. The whole dark atmosphere and seriousness of the first movie is traded for a children-friendly approach that ruined the whole appeal of Conan.

The Plot: The wicked Queen Taramis(played by Sarah Douglas) dupes Conan to escort her princess niece (played by Olivia D'Aba) on a quest for some sacred horn in exchange to bring back Conan's lost love, Valeria, from the dead. Conan embarks on the trip with the princess accompanied by Bombaata(Wilt Chamberlain) who is secretly ordered to kill Conan. On the way they befriend a fierce captive Zula(played by Grace Jones) and trouble ensues.

Opinion: Conan The Destroyer is laughably bad. The actions scenes are hilarious and you know it's a problem when someone getting decapitated provokes laughter. Each head that gets lopped off and each sword in the gut seem so cartoonish plus you have to deal with the third rate acting. Sarah Douglas and Olivia D'Aba are both wooden and Wilt Chamberlain(RIP) and Grace Jones both seem out of place in this picture. Arnold is his usual self so dont expect much. Not only is the plot weak but the score is redundant also. Conan The Barbarian had a great score to accompany every scene. Here the score is monotonous and weak. I can only reccomend this to you if you want to complete you collection other than that skip it. June 24, 2008

Mirror smashing satisfaction

Conan the Destroyer has aged quite well. At times many of us just want to see Arnie mash things up and here he does just that... getting to say a few more lines than usual and even manages to pull off a hilarious drunk sequence. However, seeing a monster swinging Arnie around and around by his ankles is really why we want to watch it.

While Conan the Barbarian tried to be a serious take on the Conan character, producing a brutal feel, its adult themes and nature meant that younger fans would have to miss out on a live action movie of their favourite book and comic character. Conan the Destroyer was produced to rectify that and is aimed at a younger teenage audience.

In Conan the Barbarian, Arnie was in his days of just looking big and saying very little, while Conan the Destroyer actually lets him act outside of flexing muscles. It has a somewhat interest plot involving Conan trying to retrieve a sacred horn along with picking up interesting members for his gang along the way. Cue lots of swordplay, bullying, wizards, ice castles, mirror magic and monster gods.

Conan the Destroyer is just plain old good fun and doesn't take itself too seriously, which is a good thing. The set designs are well above expectations and even the action sequences are entertaining although a bit slow in parts as the muscle mass seems to delay any kind of Matrix swiftness, however who can argue that seeing Arnie riding on the back of the creature from the black lagoon while trying to rip out bits of its head isn't just the best way to spend your Saturday afternoon?

It might not be university, but when it comes to enjoying a good monster mash, Conan is always worth revisiting. You can't complain that the film doesn't move at a quick pace, but maybe you can make a case that this is not the way Conan should be done. Fans of Conan the Barbarian may be disappointed and yes Conan does deserve better production values, but all the same there is masses of fun to be had here... and that is what its all about. March 3, 2008

Conan the Disgrace

Pretty much everything that was good about the first movie was ignored. This movie killed the franchise. January 21, 2008

CROM

Conan The Destroyer DVD


Based on a Robert E. Howard book, the movie is a reasonably well done representation. I think Howard would have enjoyed it.

This was a fun fantasy-action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a powerful warrior. Arnold is so dang big with all that muscle showing, sword-fighting ....And yes, the movie is visually interesting, too, even though, the special effects are obsolete and a little goofy...but that's ok...its an old movie now... A movie I love seeing over and over again...a movie that is a must have for any Arnold -Fan!

Recommended for Arnold fans, fans of the Conan books, and fantasy, action adventure movies


Gunner January, 2007
January 17, 2008

Conan the Pretender

Conan the Destroyer is a painless but brainless and bland sequel to Milius' not-that-good-in-the-first-place pagan epic. The violence has gone, along with the ambition and pretension, leaving something that might as well have been shot in Italy in the early 60s with Victor Mature. Tracey Walter's comic relief is especially painful and it's a shame that Basil Poledouris, whose score was the real star of the first film, has to struggle with an audibly smaller orchestra this time, but there's some genuine fascination in Ahnoldt's drunk scene, at once inept and frighteningly convincing. And this man now has power of life and death in California...

There's not much to get excited by way ofextras: none of the deleted scenes (the film was trimmed down substantially to get a PG) and only a trailer and none-too-exciting commentary, though at least the film is in 2.35:1 widescreen. the MGM/UA French and German issues have two audio commentaries and a featurette about Basil Poledouris' score and the pulp novel roots of the films, however.
December 16, 2007

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