Conan the Barbarian Storyline and Short Reviews

I wanted to see Conan the Barbarian when I was a kid. The big problem was that my parents didn’t want me to watch it because they thought it was too violent. That’s a great example of someone telling me what is or isn’t cool and why I should do it or not do it! But the truth is, my parents were right about one thing: some of the stuff in the movie is pretty violent. In this article, we will be sharing the story of Conan the Barbarian and its adaptations. You can use this as a great reference source to enhance your character-building skills.

Main Plot Of The Movie

A blacksmith shows his son Conan his newly formed sword and informs him about the “Riddle of Steel,” a Cimmerian proverb on the value of metal. Hounds slay Conan’s father, and Doom takes his sword to decapitate Conan’s mother. The youngsters are sold into slavery and shackled to the Wheel of Pain.

Wild dogs follow him into an Atlantean colonist warrior’s tomb, where he finds an old weapon. Conan travels the globe, meeting a prophesied witch and Subotai, a Hyrkanian robber and archer.

Conan and Subotai follow the witch’s counsel and journey to Zamora to find Doom. They encounter Valeria, a female robber. They raid the Tower of the Serpent, seizing jewels and other goods from a shrine and slaughtering a monstrous snake in the process.

Conan infiltrates the temple as a priest but is detected, kidnapped, and tortured. Doom hypnotically entices a girl to jump to her death, demonstrating the power of the flesh. He then crucified Conan on the Tree of Woe.

They agree to assist Conan in finishing Osric’s mission and penetrating the Temple of Set. The thieves’ assault and leave with the princess, but Conan cannot face Doom, who has miraculously turned into a gigantic serpent.

They slaughter Doom’s troops (including Thorgrim) using booby traps and terrain exploits. When Doom’s lieutenant, Rexor, is ready to kill Conan, Valeria arrives as a Valkyrie to rescue him. Desperate, Doom fires a snake-arrow at the princess, but Subotai stops it with his shield, and Doom retreats to his temple.

Production Of The Movie

Licensing issues have hampered the production of film adaptations of the Conan stories since the 1970s.

Lancer Books, which had purchased the rights in 1966, fell into receivership, and legal arguments arose regarding their disposal of the publishing rights, which eventually resulted in an injunction freezing them. In 1975, executive producer Edward R. Pressman was recommended Conan by Edward Summer, and after seeing the comics and Frazetta’s artwork, Pressman was convinced. The film rights took two years to secure.

Conan Properties Incorporated was founded by the two primary parties in the dispute, Glenn Lord and de Camp, to manage all licensing of Conan-related content, and Pressman has given the picture rights soon after.

He paid more than $100,000 in legal expenses to assist in settlement of the case, and the rights cost him another $7,500. Following the success of Star Wars in 1977, Hollywood became more interested in making films about “heroic journeys in otherworldly worlds of legends.”

The success of Conan among young male Americans drew the attention of the film industry, who were purchasing reprints of the tales with Frazetta’s art and Marvel Comics adaptations.

The Climax Of The Movie

Conan the Barbarian is a fictional character created by author Robert E. Howard in 1932. He was a warrior and adventurer who also had a keen intellect. Conan’s story goes like this: Conan is born into a Cimmerian tribe of barbarians.

His father, King Aquilonia, wants him to be the heir to the throne of Aquilonia, but Conan’s father dies when he is young. In response, Conan takes up the title of king of Aquilonia.

The story of Conan the Barbarian is an epic tale of adventure, love, revenge and redemption. The movie is based on the novel by Robert E. Howard, who also wrote the famous stories about Conan.

It is a story of a fictional character raised by wolves who become great warriors. The movie was directed by John Milius and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian.

By creating and developing complex and interesting characters, John Milius created a great movie about a legend. The movie is neither dumb nor stupid, but something in-between – which makes it very exciting for Dana Carvey fans!

The Storyline Of The Movie

The storyline of the movie is very interesting. The movie is based on the novel The Sword of Conan by Robert E. Howard. The book was written in 1932 and was published in February 1933. It was first published in Weird Tales, a pulp magazine that published short stories, poetry, and fiction.

The story follows Conan, a barbarian who has just been released from a slave pit where he has been held for ten years.

Conan is a strong warrior and lives in a village in the wilds of a faraway land. He is trained to be a warrior by his father, his teacher. In his early days, he makes friends with Subotai, who becomes his best friend.

One day, a great war breaks out between the three races of men: The Cimmerians, the Turanians and the Aquilonians.

Conan and his friends are summoned to help out in the war against their enemies by Sigurd, who wants to conquer all of the civilized lands he has never seen before.

The movie was photographed in Romania and Iceland. Conan the Barbarian was filmed in Peru and Romania when Arnold became famous.

Ending Of The Movie

Conan grows up to be a huge, strong guy. Conan is released after numerous bouts and training in the East, becoming a gladiator. Conan recovers his father’s sword from his adversaries, shattered by his hand in combat.

Conan and Princess Yasmina sneak back to the temple where Doom addresses his cult followers. As Doom tries to hypnotize Conan, the Barbarian refuses and uses his father’s shattered sword to behead him. Conan destroys the temple and restores the princess to King Osric.

Cast And Characters Of The Movie

Conan and Hyboria were based on 1930s pulp novelist Robert E. Howard’s ideas. With gore and gruesome slayings, his barbarian serial in Weird Tales suited the reader’s fantasy of becoming a “strong giant who lives by no laws but his own.”

In the 1960s, L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter released books about Conan in Howard’s manner. Conan’s image as a “virile, ax-wielding, fur-bearing, cranium-smashing barbarian” was solidified by Frank Frazetta.

The film’s director, John Milius, wanted Conan to represent “a Northern European epic figure.” “Muscular, grandiose, brainy, but with ambiguous scruples,” said Danny Peary. Don Herron, an expert on Howard and his works, disagreed, stating that the film’s Conan is far different from the books.

Conan would have violently opposed slavery in the novel, but Conan accepts his destiny and must be liberated in the film. “This Conan is less forceful, less chatty, and less educated than Howard’s,” writes Robert Garcia in American Fantasy.

Valeria is inspired by two powerful female characters from Howard’s Conan novels. Her demeanor and destiny were inspired by Bêlit, the pirate queen in “Queen of the Black Coast.”

According to Kristina Passman, a strong yet tamed female warrior, Valeria is the “good” Amazon heroine, an assistant professor of ancient languages and literature. Film historian Rikke Schubart says Valeria is a “good” Amazon since she is tamed by love and not altruism.

Critics compared the film’s Doom to Jim Jones, a cult leader who ordered hundreds of followers to commit themselves. Milius stated Doom’s snake cult was inspired by his studies on ancient Hashishim and Thuggee groups.

Overall Review

Modern audiences and critics ranked Conan the Barbarian among all “Conan” films released; however, some have criticized it for its exotic look and weak acting.

Audience

The 1988 film was the highest-grossing North America based on per capita payments.

It opened and closed at #1, behind only “Doctor Dolittle” (1967), which had topped North American box office charts for 12 straight weeks before being overtaken by Conan as it topped for 12 weeks.

On its opening weekend, the film grossed $21 million (a record in August) on 473 screens, including a massive 2,442 theater per-screen average of $9,127; rentals were recorded at an estimated 125 locations and 70 theaters across the U.S.

Critics

At the time of Conan’s premiere, the media criticized Hollywood’s violent depictions of heroes achieving their aims by murdering all opponents.

Conan was dubbed “cheerless and styleless” for its brutal scenes” by Newsweek’s Jack Kroll. Stu Schreiberg identified 50 victims slain in separate sites for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Others criticized the film’s depiction of violence. In his New York magazine review, David Denby praised the film’s action sequences but criticized the decapitation of Conan’s mother as inane.

The film’s speed and Howard’s tales promised more graphic content, but the film’s presented violence failed to fulfill their expectations. Paul Sammon said Milius’ trims to calm fears of violence rendered the images “cartoon-like.”

Critics’ opinions of the original material varied. Milius’ insertion of Nietzschean elements and philosophy did not sit well with Danny Peary and Schickel. However, James Wolcott criticized Milius’s ideas, and Kroll claimed the material lacked depth.

The idea of a warrior who depends only on his strength and resolves to overcome hurdles appealed to many young guys in the crowd. For Wolcott, these themes appeal to “98-pound weaklings who desire to kick sand in bullies’ faces and gain a well-oiled beach bunny’s panting affection.”

Box Office

According to Rentrak Theatrical, a media research organization, Conan topped the U.S. box office with $9,479,373. Conan earned $38,513,085 at the box office in the United States over the 8 weeks covered by Rentrak’s statistics. After subtracting the theater owners’ dues, Universal Pictures collected $22.5 million.

The rental exceeded Universal’s investment in the picture, making Conan a financial success; any additional revenue from the film was pure profit for the corporation.

According to Boston Globe interviewer Marian Christy, the film was also a hit in Europe and Japan. Conan the Barbarian made between $68.9 and $79.1 million worldwide.

According to Emory University Film Studies Professor David A. Cook, Conan’s North American performance fell short of blockbuster returns, expected to be at least $50 million.

Conan’s 1982 rental, together with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (the year’s most successful picture with a $187 million rental), On Golden Pond, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (all released by Universal Pictures), accounted for 30% of the year’s total film rental.

Ratings

Conan’s reception in the media was split. Professor Gunden claims that “for every favorable review the film got, it received two bad reviews.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Richard Schickel of Time have opposing viewpoints, as do their colleagues.

Conan the Barbarian was described by Ebert as “a great dream for the alienated preadolescent,” while Schickel saw it as “a kind of psychopathic Star Wars, dumb and stupefying.”

Despite mixed reviews at the time of its debut, current genre reviewers have given the picture a higher rating, with a total score of 66 percent from 38 reviews on the film review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes.

Based on ten reviews, the film has a Metacritic score of 43 out of 100, indicating “Mixed or mediocre” reviews.

Conclusion

The story of Conan the Barbarian is a very popular one, but few people know that it is based on a work of fiction. Even fewer people realize that writer Robert E created the character. Howard has been in existence for over half a century. It’s also not as well-known that there are several movies based on the character, some of which are much better than others. If you’re interested in learning more about Conan, we have written an article with links to some of our favorite movie adaptations so you can get started!

FAQs

What Is The Appeal Of Conan The Barbarian?

Conan The Barbarian was a box office success but still might be considered on the lower end of more popular fantasy stories. Conan can leave the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, which might be more similar than many people realize.

How Does Conan Differ From Other Fantasy Stories?

You will see action, but you also get a chance to learn about himself as he travels around to discover the meaning of what he is doing. Compare all this to something like Lord of The Rings. Don’t forget as you watch Conan throughout his life and adventures, and you will see him interact with other characters on various journeys or quests in an epic story that can only be described as “Lord of The Rings.”

Is Conan The Barbarian A Good Guy?

When watching Conan on the big screen, it might not be easy to connect with him if you don’t know who he is in the first place. However, this would only make one closer to knowing what character situation Conan would fall under as a hero or villain. It has been said that several movies show Conan as a villain. There appears to be debate back and forth on whether he is good or bad, but I would say one thing can be concluded.

Is Conan Based On A True Story?

I think the answer to this all depends on how old you are and when, but for the sake of what I want to say here, yes. This movie out in 1982 originated from a character created by Robert E. Howard back in 1932 or so, although there had been no other film until 1982 when Conan The Barbarian was released. That would be an entire 73 years between movies before we saw a new version of him come to the big screen.

Is it historically accurate?

Here you have what many consider old-fashioned and dated action adapted for today. Bigger action movies are constantly being produced, and even more recent comic book films have come out that were made in the last few years. Without having a close examination of Conan’s The Barbarian movie, it can be hard to say if this was an accurate portrayal of what had happened back then or not.