This probably would have made a very good episode of a Conan TV show, such as the Hercules show made in the 90’s with Kevin Sorbo (there’s that name again). The picture simply feels like “the continuing adventures of…” without any importance and with the expectation of another equally bland tale next month. New director (Richard Fleischer) & new screenwriter (Stanley Mann), both downgrades, work off of a comic book storyline, which does lead to a very comic book feel, in this instance meaning episodic and without any real weight. All of the A-listers involved in the first picture are absent here. So where did they go wrong? Everywhere, really. I am also aware that there was one more film to follow this one, Red Sonja, in which Schwarzenegger briefly returns as Conan, but since it is universally regarded as one of the worst films ever made, I’m choosing to ignore it. My interest only goes so far.) I am uncomfortably aware that a third film is once again in development, called King Conan or the Legend of Conan, depending on who you listen to. (Kull is apparently another barbarian hero created by Robert E. They even recycled the script, turning it into Kull the Conqueror, “starring” Kevin Sorbo. Plans for Conan the Conqueror as a third picture went straight into development hell as Ahnold became a superstar with The Terminator, released later in 1984. Conan the Destroyer was released a week after The Karate Kid, and with that, Ghostbusters & Gremlins still in theaters, why would you go see this? The other reason may have been that 1984 was a banner year for movies and this film looked even worse than it would have next to its peers. I rather suspect that the bigger reason that no further sequel was forthcoming is that Schwarzenegger was simply too big of a star at this point to waste any more time on it unless it was going to be a guaranteed success.
It certainly is not a good movie, but it really shouldn’t have stopped the film franchise dead in its tracks.
Watching it now, on the 30th anniversary of its release, it’s really nowhere near as bad as I remembered it being. So after the success of Conan the Barbarian, this film was inevitable and so should have been more successful. The character’s roots were in serial stories that could go on more or less forever and the premise lends itself to multiple sequels. Spoiler-free Movie Review of Conan the Destroyer:Ĭonan was always intended to be a saga, for obvious reasons. Scant praise, maybe, but I remember it being truly wretched. PG-rated sequel isn’t actually as awful as I remember. This entry is part 2 of 2 in the series Conan 140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
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