Customer Reviews

Conan the Destroyer (Widescreen)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

The masterul epic quality of "Conan the Barbarian" demanded an epic sequel. Instead, what we were given was a parody.

In the first movie Conan's character was well developed, you saw what happened to him over the course of his life, what created him, and what his motivations were.

In this movie, Conan is reduced to a bodybuilder in a fur diaper.

Conan's companions in the first movie were formidible accomplices who Conan respected. In this movie, Conan's companions, especially the annoyingly sniveling cretin Malak, (played by Tracey Walter) have no redeeming qualities at all. I kept hoping Conan would impale him and put us out of our misery. I was constantly lead to wonder "Why is Conan hanging around with this guy?"

Sandahl Bergman in the original movie was a Valkyrie. She was amazingly beautiful, but also amazingly powerful and dangerous.

In the second movie we were given Grace Jones. Please. Not only is she unattractive, her character was essentially unbelievable, crude and repulsive. The notion that she could portray any kind of a warrior was laughable.

The villains in the first movie are fearful. James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom, Sven Ole Thorsen as Thorgrim and Ben Davidson as Rexor come across as men who could perhaps beat Conan. It made the outcome uncertain and Conan's eventual victory that much more powerful.

In this movie the villain is a guy in a monster suit, and a rhino horn with poorly done special effects. It is so ridiculously, lame that Conan must drop his sword and arm wrestle the monster for a fair fight. Wilt Chamberlain, while a creditable athlete, simply did not have the screen prescence necessary. One look at him and it was obvious that Conan could take him. Chamberlain didn't do the role justice.

In the first movie, magic was just that. Magic. It was dangerous, expensive in terms of life and used only in dire circumstances. In this movie magic is reduced to the level of a bad "Dungeons and Dragons" game. I halfway expected The wizard (Mako) to pull out some oddly shaped dice and roll them in his battle with the Man Ape/Toth-Amon.

In the original movie, Conan ponders The riddle of steel, he's a thinker and a man of action. He speaks little. In this movie, talks toomuch, Conan rescues a blonde girl and is betrayed by the evil stepmother. It was a variation of Snow White, Cimmerian style. At least there weren't seven dwarves.

Finally, Conan movies should be R rated. The world of Conan is violent, brutal, lusty and grim. Solutuions ot problems are found with the edge of a blade, not with talk. This watered-down milquetoast version of a Conan adventure was designed to pander to a family friendly audience and D&D geeks. There's plenty of family entertainment out there, and to bring adapt Conan to that environment is wrong.

It's too bad that John Milius was not in charge of this movie. The suits in Hollywood had their way and this movie stinks as a result. The fans lost, because instead three movies we only get one good one, one bad one, and if a third is ever made, it likely won't star Arnold in the title role. What a missed opportunity. It could have been SO much better.

If you like the Conan stories, ignore this film, and stick to the one and only Conan movie.

I purchased the Bluray version of both Conan movies to replace my DVD package "Conan, the complete quest". The Bluray versions are a substantial upgrade over the DVD. The picture is a beautiful transfer, with rich color and sharp details that are a pleasure to see. The sound is upgraded from mono in the center chanel to full surround that rocks the room, particularly the Conan theme. The special features on "Barbarian" are similar to the old DVD features. There are no special features on "Destroyer", and this is fine with me. It's a popcorn movie that I enjoy just for the pleasure of the adventure, the sets, and the costume characters. It's worth seeing them in the richness of Bluray. The actors seem to be enjoying their roles, knowing they are playing out your childhood fantasy adventure. Roger Ebert gives this 3 stars out of 4, and I agree with his comments.

this sequel to "Conan The Barbarian" is a pretty decent movie,in my
mind.it has as much action as the first one,but the story is better in
my opinion.it is a bit hard to follow.at least i thought it was.the
tone of the movie seems lighter than the first,and there is more
humour.i also liked the fact the Conan was shown as being human,and
not invincible.i thought his main adversary was a great choice for the
strength of Conan and he could not beat it by brawn alone.there are
also some great characters for Conan's traveling companions,who
actually were very helpful to Conan.the one thing i did not like is
Grace Jones.i thought her character added nothing to the movie and was
pointless.however,i thought the movie was good enough to overcome that
detail.in fact,in spite of that fact,in my opinion "Conan The
Destroyer" manages to be a better movie than the first Conan movie.this
is just my opinion of course.For me,Conan The Destroyer is a 4.2/5

Great film. I thought the effects/plot/acting were excellent. Not that it really matters. This movie is a classic, and quite frankly many so called classics suck. Being a fan of Arnold and a fan of this type of epic/fairy tale style, I enjoyed this movie. Better than the first and as good as I remember when I saw it first as a kid. The princess is pretty cute too.

this is the best one cuz this one has more speical Affects and it has monster like the other one didn't and this had more fighting and more wizards now this was the best one of all thats what i think get this,it's a really great movie Arnold kicks @$$ on this movie but i think he should just get about valeria.but this is a great and powerful movie

Among Arnold's early movies, this one stands out for the eclectic supporting cast. His early movies were remarkedly free of any acting on his part; I suspect he was still learning English then. But one way to make him look better is to hire nonactors, or miscast semiactors. Enter Wilt and Grace. (Later, Richard Dawson). This is as much a collectible as Terminator 2.

I wasn't too impressed with Conan the Barbarian but people told me that Conan the Destroyer was better so I decided to give it a chance. Though there were some good scenes, the overall movie leaves more to be desired same as the first Conan. While the plot was not so drawn out, the lack of action hurt the movie to some degree. The returning characters are Conan (of course) along with his side kick Malleck from the first movie. And speaking of the first movie, Conan became king at the very end but in Conan the Destroyer he sets off on a quest all over again to find his destiny. (What's up with that?) Anyway, the fights are not as brutal this time around and the characters are a little more likeable than those in the first Conan. The last part of the movie was pretty good but it just wasn't enough to make an overall good movie. Not only that, Conan's wife from the first movie was supposed to get ressurected but it never happened (Can we say "plot hole"?) Again, the Conan films don't deliver very much and leave more to be desired.

With this film, the epic grace of the original Conan itself sinks to the level of all the B movies that followed it. An utterly pathetic sequel that Schwarzenegger should have shunned. The movie is stripped of its epic theme as sinks to a slapstick adventure motif. The only time I saw this film is when it was originally released on the big screen: I don't care to ever watch it again.

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!!

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.