FormCritic wrote:I think you have to separate the two Conan movies.The first was a mash-up of Howard-esque storylines. At least it made sense as a story...even if it didn't follow any particular Howard story. Also, I like the final scene where Conan sits on the stairs, considering the essential truth of what Thulsa Doom said to him. And, the soundtrack was/is awesome.(When you think of how good or bad the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack was/could have been, pick up and listen to a copy of the sountrack for Ladyhawk. Same era of film, totally different result.)The second Conan film, Conan and the Battle for More Money, was just sad...sad. It was what the Conan saga would have read like if it had been written by an idiot...Robert Jordan, for instance. It did for Conan what the second Highlander film did for for my brain cells.The LOTR movies got so many things right that the writers can be forgiven for the stupid parts......which includes essentially everything Gimli said or Legolas did. (Although...you must admit...the first battle in which Legolas went medieval on the orcs was cool. It was stunt #3 or #4 that got tedious...like the second endless swordfight in a Pirates of the Caribean movie.)
FormCritic wrote:(When you think of how good or bad the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack was/could have been, pick up and listen to a copy of the sountrack for Ladyhawk. Same era of film, totally different result.)
It did for Conan what the second Highlander film did for for my brain cells.
Badmike wrote:Paul, this is Hollywood. Imagine:Keanu Reeves as Aragorn, Tom Cruise as Boromir, Anthony Hopkins as Gandalf, kid actors playing the hobbits, Penelope Cruz as a horned in love interest for Aragorn, Jeremy Irons as Sauron (see, cause he takes human form as an audience wouldn't understand him as a giant Eye), oh, and Johnny Depp as Gollum. And a butchering of the story that makes the present film look like canon. Jackson deserves a friggin medal. Mike B.
JohnGaunt wrote:For those who do not own the Ladyhawke soundtrack, I will describe it: lots of 80s synthesizers. When I listen to the soundtrack, I just roll with it. I have listened to the entire soundtrack, ummm, twice.
FormCritic wrote:It was what the Conan saga would have read like if it had been written by an idiot...Robert Jordan, for instance.
Kingofpain89 wrote:I just love you Jordan haters.
Kingofpain89 wrote:Speaking of "too expensive", this has to be a glitch:http://www.trolllord.com/catalog/produc ... ucts_id=38I purchased Tainted Lands for less than $20 when it came out a couple of years ago.
Kingofpain89 wrote:I have always thought of this as a darn good representation of Goldberry (thanks to Angela Imrie):
Kingofpain89 wrote:New random thought:It's been awhile since I bought anything from Troll Lord Games. For the most part, I've been pretty happy with my past purchases but I wonder just how much longer that will last? I was reading through a few blogs today and happened upon this:http://www.stargazersworld.com/2011/05/ ... -unboxing/I dont recall ever having a problem with anything getting damaged in transit from them. Nor have they ever sent me a damaged or "used" book like this guy.I wonder though, just how well TLG is currently doing business wise? They are doing their printing in-house now, but is that really a good thing in the long run? This guy was none too happy with the quality of the books. I wonder does this possibly hurt them down the road? From what I have read, their sales figures for the CKG was better than expected, but there has been some complaining that their books and pdf's are too expensive. And as the blogger mentions, a lot of other publishers offer free electronic copies with the purchase of a hardcopy, which TLG doesnt do.Speaking of "too expensive", this has to be a glitch:http://www.trolllord.com/catalog/produc ... ucts_id=38I purchased Tainted Lands for less than $20 when it came out a couple of years ago. Oh, and I havent seen a TLG product in a game store since The Upper Works was released. I ask a few store employees why they dont carry their product and I either get "I dunno" or "it doesnt sell".
FormCritic wrote:The second Conan film, Conan and the Battle for More Money...
Badmike wrote:Well, I'll give you the soundtrack, it is epic.My problems with Conan movies start with Arnie. Nowhere in Howard's stories does he describe Conan as a muscle bound moron. Quite the opposite.The story is bits and pieces from every S&S story of the last 40 years. Why not just start with an established Howard classic and work from there? And if you are going to use the iconic "Conan on the Cross" scene, why not just adapt "A Witch Shall Be Born"? If you have Valeria in the story why not adapt "Red Nails"? But Valeria in the story is actually more like Belit anyway, so why not adapt "Black Coast"? And on and on. If you have Thulsa Doom in the story...oh wait that's a Kull villain, never mind.And whoever thought up the stupid ass "Conan tied to the wheel" origin should be shot.The casting was atrocius, except for James Earl Jones, who looked most of the time like he strolled in from another movie. I could go on and on. But let's just say I can only wish that a movie as good as LoTR was made from a Howard story sometime in my lifetime.Mike B.
clangador wrote:The thing about movies is that the movie business is about compromise. It's not just a single author cranking out a story. It involves writers, producers, director(s) and the studio that is backing the film. With all the considered, I stand by my statement that Conan the Barbarian is a pretty damn good S&S film. And how ell it was made is only highlighted by how poorly Conan the Destroyer was made. (I also enjoyed Conan the Librarian.)
Badmike wrote:BTW I don't have a problem with Conan the Barbarian as a straight fantasy movie. It just should have been called "The Barbarian" or something similar and dropped all references to Howard's characters or world.Mike B.
