Conan the Barbarian was created by author Robert E. Howard (who also wrote Solomon Kane, now a feature film out this year). It started out as a short story in Weird Tales magazine, then gradually expanded to anthologies and then its own book series, and it grew from there. Conan is a Cimmerian (roughly based on Celtic barbarians) who roams the land; fighting, pillaging, helping others (when it suits him) and commanding armies. He often has to battle evil wizards and monsters as well as entire opposing armed forces. He is often a dark and brooding character, but Howard injected a dark sense of humour into the character as well.
The first exposure I had to the world of Conan was the 1984 movie adaptaion Conan the Destroyer, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (it's now very dated and also cheesy, but it's a fun film to watch nonetheless). I've since watched the other Schwarzenegger Conan movie, and I've read a few of the comics and some episodes of the animated TV show. What I like about it is that he's very much the fantasy equivalent of the lone gunman. This may seem strange because he's usually surrounded by people with various abilities that are vital to his current quest, but whether he has these people or not he will march on regardless.
P.S. I'm sorry if any of you just got a blank post earlier. For some reason it published my post before I'd even started!
Update: I've just found the best scene from Conan the Destroyer: Arnie drunk! YouTube won't let me embed the video, so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUNmWa_rJtg (best line: "If you're going to learn how to fight, then learn with a real weapon. Not with a toothpick!")
Conan the Barbarian was a great movie - saw it in the theater. I think the remake will be equally good.
ReplyDeleteSaw the trailer for Solomon Kane and hope to see it as well.
So how do you feel about Jason Momoa being Conan in the upcoming new movie? I've just published a story over at my blog about Megan Fox being chosen for Red Sonja :)
ReplyDeleteDezmond - I've not seen Momoa in any of the things he's done (but I'll keep an eye out for him in the Game of Thrones TV show as well as in Conan). He could certainly look the part, I just hope his performance is on par.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd prefer the original choice of Rose McGowan as Red Sonja. Megan Fox doesn't seem to be anything other than eye candy to me. I'll be sure to check out your post about it though :)
Jason Momoa isn't a bad actor. He can pull it off, especially since he has the looks. When he was young he acted in BAYWATCH :)
ReplyDeleteOh, I can't wait for GAME OF THRONE to finally start, or at least to see first pics and videos of the upcoming series.