Conan the Barbarian (2011)

CONAN FROM A DUMB TEENAGER'S PERSPECTIVE
by Reymundo Salao

Over the years, there were several attempts to continue the legacy of Conan in film. And it seems that this new one wishes to re-ignite the flames of the barbarian character, and perhaps start a new film series. Unlike the 1982 film adaptation by John Milius which had some few alterations from the source material, this new one claims to remain true to the original books. But while it did seem to capture that visually, it failed to establish some degree of emotional and cerebral factor which made the 1982 version a classic.

Comparatively, where the Milius and Schwarzenegger Conan was given ample time for quiet and more thoughtful moments, Marcus Nisepel's and Jason Momoa's Conan was always in a rabid action mode; more arrogant, thoughtless, and after a while, his monotone and lack of character made him too boring and too cardboard-like to sympathize with. The lines he spat out were all barbaric machismo and of vengeance and savagery, which after a while began to sound annoying and awfully corny.

READ THE FULL REVIEW: CLICK HERE

Photos from the upcoming Conan the Barbarian

In case you didn’t know, a new CONAN THE BARBARIAN movie is being made. It is directed by Marcus Nispel and stars Jason Momoa (from Stargate Atlantis) as the title character Conan. It also features (the Avatar villain) Stephen Lang as the movie’s villain Khalar Zym; Ron Perlman (Hellboy himself) as Conan’s father Corin, and also stars Rose McGowan and Rachel Nichols. Dolph Lundgren had spoken to the producers in November 2009 for an unspecified role. Filming began on March 15, 2010 and concluded on June 5, 2010. The movie is set for a 2011 release, but no specific date has been announced yet.

Personally I am an enormous fan of the first Conan the Barbarian movie which stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by John Milius (I hate the sequel Conan the Destroyer). Conan the Barbarian remains as one of my top 5 favorite films of all time. Because of that, I am pretty much updating on how the new movie would go.

The photos of Momoa that had been released earlier was, for me, very disappointing. I hated the way he looked. He looked too tame. Too “muscular pretty boy”. I was afraid Conan would become this posterboy for something really dumb, silly, and annoying. Conan should be scary. He should look like an animal, or even worse. Beastly with a regal aura. He’s NOT supposed to be a pretty boy.

Well, the recent photos have been redeeming so far. These new photos kinda cured my hopelessness for this project. These photos do look a bit better in the sense of showing a Conan that is more beastly than just some dumb pretty boy. Let’s all just hope that this will be as magnificent as the original.

Lang confirmed as Conan Villain

He was a bad-ass in "Public Enemies", even though his role was sort of a minor one he engulfs the air with his wicked coolness everytime he appears onscreen. He was also an unforgettable, mean, alien-hating villain in the ultra-successful "Avatar". Now it's confirmed that STEPHEN LANG is indeed going to be the villain in the upcoming CONAN (the Barbarian) movie.

Stephen Lang will be playing a character named Khalar Singh, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so.

In an interview with MTV news, Lang quotes: "I have no idea how I'm going to do it," Lang laughed. "First I'm going to find out how I'm going to sound. I'm going to get back on a Mongolian pony and ride like the wind. I'm going to flash my scimitar. I'm going to cut the nuts off Conan and his father."