Conan the Barbarian/Conan the Destroyer (Double Feature)
Please note that "Conan the Destroyer" is the only movie on this disc that includes a French-language option.
The action adventures of the legendary warrior Conan come together in the epic collection, Conan: The Complete Quest.
Bursting with raw energy and tremendous star power (Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain and James Earl Jones), this collection traces the saga of Conan's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) search for vengeance as he battles the armies of darkness in his unforgettable quest to save mankind!
Contains:
Conan: The Barbarian (1981, 131 mins)
Cimmerian Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is captured as a child after his parents' savage murder by raiding Vanir led by Thulsa Doom, head also of the malignant snake-cult of Set. Fifteen years' agony, first chained to the Wheel of Pain grinding grain and then enslaved as a Pit Fighter, forge a magnificent body and indomitable spirit. Freed miraculously one day by his owner, Conan, with his companions Subotai the Mongol (Gerry Lopez) and Valeria, Queen of Thieves (Sandahl Bergman), sets forth upon his quest to learn "the riddle of steel" which, his father has prophesied, will confer ultimate power, and to kill the arch-villain Thulsa Doom.
Conan: The Destroyer (1984, 102 mins)
In this second Conan epic, he is asked by the evil Queen Taramis to accomany a beautiful young princess to find a magic treasure. If he returns with the treasure and the virgin, the Queen promises to bring his beloved Valeria back from teh dead. But little does he know that she plans to kill them both, or that the return of the treasure will mean the extinction of mankind.
Critiques des membres
Under-appreciated classic, and its sequel. - Superdave
When Conan came out in 1981, critics griped about its elephantine pacing and ponderous dialogue, and long stretches in which nothing much happened, giving evidence that they expected traditional action-adventure in the vein of, say, Sinbad. But director John Milius had set out to create something very different: an epic Aryan myth which translated the qualities of Wagnerian opera to cinema, and in large part he succeeded.
Conan has a sweeping epic feel, and is heavily dependent upon and driven by its setting and music to a degree that is very rare. As important as the deeds of the legendary hero, which are shown in brief and violent spurts of action, are the place and the culture that shaped that legend. The journey that created the myth, in short, is equal to the myth itself, and this is the logic and justification for the setting-heavy approach taken by Milius. And Basil Poledouris' wonderful music, which starts out Wagnerian and brassy, but adds middle Eastern touches as Conan's journey takes him in that direction, tracks along with Conan to show up the breadth of his epic journey while celebrating his heroic achievements.
Ultimately the story that gets told is somewhat less worthy of Milius' Wagnerian ambitions than are the music and the visuals, but the overall results more than justify the effort, especially when compared to the Italian sword and sandal knock-offs which followed this much copied but never equaled classic of the fantasy genre.
The sequel (Destroyer) plays like a live action Savage Sword of Conan comic, complete with a half-dressed princess (cute Olivia D'Abo), a palace of crystal and mirrors rising out of a lake, and the attempted resurrection of a demon god. Silly stuff, but moderately entertaining and no worse than Krull.
A third Arnold as Conan movie (Conan, King of Thieves) was supposed to go into production around 1984, but De Laurentius' bankruptcy threw it into turnaround for years, winding up as Kull.Great Film - kav2001c
The first two Conan films (starring Arnold in his first major film role)
The Barbarian is the better of the two
Barbarian shows Conans growth from childhood and his desire for revenge against the evil snake cult that years ago murdered his parents
Destroyer has him on a quest to recover a key that could destroy humanityWhat is best in life? - Opinheimer
Conan The Barbarian is the film that made Arnie a superstar, and it's easy to see why - he's perfectly cast as the ruthless hero of the title, oozing both the charisma and overpowering presence demanded by the character. Expertly directed with plenty of exciting action scenes, incredible visuals, stunning, exotic location photography and a highly memorable, pounding orchestral score, this is quite possibly the best fantasy film made thus far, made even more impressive by not shying away from including a great deal of brutality and nudity, two aspects guaranteed to greatly diminish mass audience appeal.
The sequel, Conan The Destroyer, while not nearly the abomination that its reputation would have you believe it is, is noticeably weaker. It has the feel of a lower budget 80's fantasy film more along the lines of Krull than the first Conan film, which comes as no surprise considering the director of the original did not return. It is also considerably less violent and edgy overall, but nonetheless entertaining enough on a whole, and Schwazenegger's physical frame is at its peak in this film.
As an added note, that other 80's muscle man, He-Man, was born out of Conan. Apparently Mattel was planning on releasing a line of action figures based on the Conan film but upon seeing it decided they wanted nothing to do with such a violent picture and thus renamed their toy line He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, and watching these Conan films I certainly got the sense that this is almost exactly how a live action He-Man film should have turned out, not like the bastardization released later.
Critiques des membres
Lire tous...
Under-appreciated classic, and its sequel. - Superdave
When Conan came out in 1981, critics griped about its elephantine pacing and ponderous dialogue, and long stretches in which nothing much happened, giving evidence that they expected traditional action-adventure in the vein of, say, Sinbad. But director John ...Great Film - kav2001c
The first two Conan films (starring Arnold in his first major film role)
The Barbarian is the better of the two
Barbarian shows Conans growth from childhood and his desire for revenge against the evil snake cult that years ago murdered his parents
Destroyer ...What is best in life? - Opinheimer
Conan The Barbarian is the film that made Arnie a superstar, and it's easy to see why - he's perfectly cast as the ruthless hero of the title, oozing both the charisma and overpowering presence demanded by the character. Expertly directed with plenty of exciting ...