Conan the Destroyer

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Olivia d'Abo, Wilt Chamberlain, Mako, Tracey Walter
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
1984

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads a group of adventurers on a quest to find a mythical horn.

Review:

Tim: I was a big fan of Conan the Barbarian, so I was genuinely looking forward to this film. While it's still an enjoyable fantasy adventure film, it has dropped in quality quite a bit. There's a number of reasons for this, but chief among them has to be the change in rating. The first film was rated R, and used that to show a good deal of gory violence. This movie scales back to a PG, and we lose that gritty realism. This movie feels much more cartoonish and like a comic book. That isn't a fatal mistake, but it does hurt the movie.

The adventure at the heart of Conan the Destroyer is a pretty good one. Conan reluctantly teams with a palace guard and a princess to track down a mythical horn. In return, he's promised that his love (from the first film) will be resurrected from the dead. He allows his sidekick, a wizard, and a thief to join their quest. Along the way, there's some good action sequences and a nice blend of the supernatural, magical elements as well. Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger punches a horse in the first 10 minutes of the movie (which is awesome). He also soon after punches a camel. Man, the 80s were a crazy time.

Schwarzenegger is good as Conan. His acting still isn't all that good, but I felt he was much more comfortable in the role the second time around. He certainly looks the part and it's fun to see a massive warrior going toe-to-toe with a wide range of foes, both normal and fantastical. It's fun to watch him and his team move across a sweeping landscape, searching for treasure. It all feels quite big and epic, and I enjoyed that aspect of the movie.

I loved the casting of Wilt Chamberlain in his only movie role. He's not much of an actor, but his 7 foot plus presence is a great one. I marveled at how he towered over the other actors, including Schwarzenegger. Grace Jones quite frankly scared me. I didn't like her much in this film, although I appreciate the strength she shows in the role. Mako and Tracey Walter both add some levity to the cast, although they're both prone to overacting, which detracted from the film. I really liked Olivia d'Abo. Her performance hit all the right notes you'd expect from a princess- quiet strength yet naive innocence. She was good.

Conan the Destroyer isn't nearly as good as the original, but it's not a worthless sequel, either. It's certainly flawed, but those flaws don't prevent us from still enjoying the journey. I wish the movie had been rated R like the first one, but we don't miss the blood and gore all that much. I think this is an okay movie. It certainly should have been better, but I've seen much worse sequels, too.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja