Just one and no conditions or honorable mentions. If it’s something like LOTR which is one long movie divided into three parts basically, pick the one you liked best out of them. I’m curious to see if there will be any repeats in the relatively small sample size of this board.
I love that Conan is getting some love. It's not respected as much as it should be. I think a lot of people like the fun action part, but I think it's deeper than it gets credit for.
If the somewhat same story had been told in a non fantasy setting, with removal of magical elements, it would have been looked at in a more positive light. Some people are just quick to dismiss everything in the fantasy genre.
Agreed
Conan suffers terrible loss, conquers great physical adversity, is set loose and wanders the world because he’s simply too dangerous to try to control anymore. He makes two great friends, has wild adventures, love saves him from death and he goes on to wreck and chop off the head of the man that started all the misery thereby wrecking a weirdo cult of fanatics
Conan’s ultra-violent raid on Thulsa Doom’s orgy room with Subotai and Valeria is one of my favorite set-pieces of all time
In the final scene on the burning staircase of the despicable Temple Of Set he looks out into the distance to figure out his next conquest…He utterly slaughtered his enemies, who’s next?!?
And just that it starts with him and the father and the father is telling him about only trusting steel, but then we see that this isn't true. It's a hard-boiled aphorism for a "man's man's world" like Conan, but there is purer strength in Valeria's sacrifice. It's somebody looking for a home he was denied. He's finding out that mere revenge is not as important as truth. He's looking for a place in the universe and just wants to find out "what is best in life," and there are all these distractions, and there's Valeria with, "Let's just leave and be in love!" and she's kinda right. Yet, there is also his duty to avenge the fallen... it's poetry.
Yes, good point
The Cult Of Set destroyed his village, they fed his brave father to war dogs, abused the women and killed the men and burned his village to the ground, the cult decapitated his mother in front of him and put him and the other children in chains for a life of slavery
Once he grew strong enough to kill everyone involved in the murder of his tribe he was not looking back, he was on a killing spree
Valeria is one of the hottest movie characters ever but Conan required blood for blood
Ok, I have a question for those whose favorite movie is Conan the Barbarian. I get serious flack every time I explain this theory, but this is what I have thought since I was a kid watching the film.
I have always thought the war lords who enslaved the young boys and forced them to push the wheel for years did so trying to build the ultimate warrior. Why else would they have children pushing the wheel? It would certainly be easier and more effective with older males if the turning of the wheel served a purpose like in a mining process or something. I think they knew only one would survive.
All those whose favorite movie this is, please chime in.
It seemed to be a useless activity in a practical sense which would make it much like the Myth Of Sisyphus…that heavy weight can’t keep moving without you having NO Quit, and even if the impossible great big weight gets there who’s going to care?!?
I think The Wheel teaches Conan to never quit, it turns him into a gigantic threat to the people that murdered his village
I can never really answer this. It's basically too broad a category. How do you stack up a sci-fi/fantasy adventure like Star Wars against a mockumentary like This is Spinal Tap? Or, with your example, you've got the first third of a story which is an epic and a fantasy film with elements of action movie. What if you also really, really loved Duck Soup or Monty Python's Life of Brian? Are those comparable? What criteria would you use?
Now, that huge preamble saying, "It's an impossible question and I can't pick a favourite," aside, I will answer.
When backed into a corner, I usually answer Casablanca. It's got the drama, it's witty-funny, it's romantic, and it's a big story with big themes. The characters are great and the actors are stars. The performances are pitch-perfect. It's iconic, quotable, and timeless. Wonderful film.
I’d be forced to take the other two. But if I cheat and splice them together on an old VHS tape, the other two movies I’d pick are probably Highlander and Fallen.
I'd almost have a harder time picking the latter...
The Maltese Falcon and Batman '89 spring to mind. I've seen them a LOT. But there are numerous other candidates.
The Ninth Gate might be the weirdest one. I have a fascination with that movie that I can't really explain. It's not the best of its kind, but for some reason, every now and then I just rewatch it.
I had to look up his filmography because it's been quite a while, except FPKK as I tend to watch that one often.
Mudhoney (1965)
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970)
Supervixens (1975)
Up! (1976)
I think the first one I ever saw, and I can't remember which one, has a crazy scene where Charles Napier can't keep an erection and he kills a lady in the bathroom. LOL
in my defense, i've been solidly consistent in naming btvotd as my favourite film for a good length of time. every once in a while i'll shift gears a bit and say it's the cement garden, but for the most part beyond... has been in the pole position for decades now.
i legitimately love it. it's the perfect movie to me. it has everything. nazis. lesbians. hermaphrodites. a women giving head to a pistol. it truly has it all.
I do, very much.
Your previous comment made me think of James Franco sucking that gun barrel. Fantastic scene.
And after, he says "I think y'all are my soul mates."