I was shocked to see such a low rating for this movie. I myself give it a 10 with only Dumb and Dumber, Casino, Scarface, and Tommy Boy. I thing that for a 1984 movie the effects are pretty sweet and it's Arnold, enough said. I know I'll take heat for this opinion, but I think I'm kinda smart and own over 300 DVD's so I do have some justification.
shareIt is a good popcorn flick plus it is 100% canon as far as D&D adventures go, with the warrior, the thief, the wizard, the paladin (Mubomba {spelling?}) and the like. Just the movie to be playing in the background while rolling the multisided dice!
it's pretty stupid to say "come on people" on a message board. like you are rallying a group of people in front of you as a fearless leader, able to convince the masses and sway votes.
it's pretty stupid to say "come on people" on a message board. like you are rallying a group of people in front of you as a fearless leader, able to convince the masses and sway votes.
shareBlackcat, I have to "rally" stupid people like you I guess because you aren't smart enough to understand how good the movie is on your own. LOL you jerk relax. I'm just trying to get some positve vibes going for the movie cause I think 5 is way to low.
shareAs if we need you to make our own opinion.
shareseriously, The Destroyer is a bad movie. I own it. I watch it, but it is mindless.
The Barbarian is only epic because Arnold had few speaking lines, the supporting cast was strong and it was a well directed coming of age separate narrative story.
The Destroyer cashed in on the D @ D craze of the early 80's and if it was released as a stand alone film it would have been at par with *beep* films like the Beastmaster and DeathStalker.
First of all, this movie is twice better then Barbarian. Perhaps the acting is not very good and has some cheese but I saw this movie in 1984 when I was 10 with a double feature of this and Romancing the Stone and I loved this movie. To me it's a classic. I've just seen it too many times. But it's a 9 to me.
shareThat's an awesome double-feature.
They were nearly gone in my day, but I caught one at age 11, I went for "Street Fighter" but it started my love for STTNG with "Star Trek Generations." Yes, "First Contact" is infinitely better.
That's a good assessment of Conan the Destroyer's intent and it's fantasy classmates (from the D & D popularity spike).
Assuming that the OP was serious, my reason for rating this film low goes beyond just the films merits (or lack thereof). It's primarily because this is the film that essentially slayed the Conan franchise, which I had high hopes for.
Conan the Barbarian was rendered seriously by the director and showed an unflinching (R-rated) view of Robert E. Howard's Hyperborean world (with adult level violence, pillaging, blood, gore, nudity, drinking, drug use, sex, beastiality, homosexuality, cannibalism and an orgy). It had a good (inspired) cast and one of the best movie soundtracks of all time. And, as you said, the storyline was even inspiring. They were off to an auspicious start for the series.
Conan the Destroyer was aimed at a much younger audience and there is nothing wrong with that (I'm sure a PG movie was a smarter business decision at the time). But, in doing that, almost everything that made the first movie good has been diluted and dumbed down. I think they tried to do the same casting formula which worked last time, but as much I respect their accomplishments, both Grace Jones and Wilt Chamberlain are woefully bad as actors. Plus they re-hashed the music from the first movie out of context and even repeated some of the fight choreography.
this movie is worth 6 stars max and i also own over 300 DVD's so i have some justification for saying so
shareI've just given this 8 stars, which it very much deserves. It's got great action, superb lines ("We didn't steal everything he had" "We didn't have time!" and "I need you!" "I'm yours") and some red hot women. What more do you want from a film!?
In comparison, Barbarian is really dull. I already have this argument with my friends in the UK who say the opposite. They're smart fellas, but in this instance they're wrong, wrong, WRONG!
Actually, I take that back; Barbarian is really dull, but compared to Destroyer it's absolutely awful!
Actually, I take that back; Barbarian is really dull, but compared to Destroyer it's absolutely awful!
How about a non-cliche plot, characters who have more depth than cardboard, a hero with a brain larger than a peanut, and competent special effects? That's what I want in a film, Ben. It's really sad. Richard Fleischer made films like 20,000 Leagues under the Sea and Compulsion, doing excellent work in each version. Then three decades later, he lost whatever competence he had as a director. So sad.
shareAgreed. I changed by rating to 8.
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>:-)
I only gave it a 6 as well. Pleading with someone that has seen hundreds of movies to give it a 10 when the other movies on your '10' list are of dubious standards, well, it doesn't sway opinion. Conan The Barbarian was lacking in that it took a right turn from Robert E. Howard's stories and went off on a story line all its own. However, what it had going for it was a great musical score and incidental music similar to The Seven Samurai, a very good James Earl Jones character and his 2 menacing henchmen, Conan and 2 devil-may-care companions (all very Howard-esque, even down to the fact they were people of few words but a lot of actions), and Mako, whom I have always thought a brilliant actor and in this, a brilliant narrator.
Move a few years forward to Conan the Destroyer. We have an utterly slapstick companion, an airhead princess, a bad guy, who when he actually appears slaps a few people around then gets his hynder handed to him. Even Conan gets in on the slapstick with the drunken scene talking about the promise he was kingdomed. Yeah...awesome... It became what a whole host of fantasy genre films of the 80s were, people in loincloths waving swords around and a few cheap laughs.
When you compare the two movies there is no comparison. Even the score of Destroyer is variations on themes from the first movie where there is a lot more 'scherzo' type moments in the music. When the music isn't even as serious as the first, you know what to expect.
I just watched it for the 1st time, I have a lot of DVDs (Not actually counted them) and have an above average IQ and I think it's a piece of crap
Now I usually avoid movies commonly decreed as bad so I can honestly say it is one of the worst movies I have ever seen and sat all the way through
The DVD cost me nothing and yet I still feel ripped off
8/10 is being a bit generous. It's a fun movie and a good way to kill over an hour and a half of time but compared to the first one it falls flat. For me, there is way to much comedy relief. But the movie was at least filled with much action and adventure. I'd give it a 6/10. The first one is easily 10/10. Just my opinion.
This movie is a total POS.
It's a shame they dumbed it down and made it PG. The first Conan movie is great, this one is like a kiddie version.
Seriously, the source material for Conan is great. They couldn't have picked a story out and faithfully made it into a movie instead of this family friendly PG crap?
all geks or who now-i give him, 10,movies like that u will not see anymore
shareI gave Conan the Destroyer a 9 rating, and I gave Conan the Barbarian an 8 out of ten. I really love both films in their own right because they are both set up to be different viewing experiences. Barbarian is the "epic" of the two and the mood of it is much darker. Destroyer is more like a fun journey. A lot of people give Destroyer crap for this reason but like I said its a different viewing experience. The only reason Destroyer gets a point higher score is for me it has been an easier movie to sit down and enjoy. The Barbarian's run time is a tad too long in comparison. I did have both of them rated as an 8 at one time but I gotta give destroyer a 9 just because of its shorter run time.
The movies that I have rated as 10's are as follows...
John Carpenter's The Thing
Pitch Black
Total Recall
V for Vendetta
Casino
Live Free or Diehard
Rush Hour 1 & 2
The Pest
Heavyweights
Terminator 1 & 2
(listed in no particular order, except The Thing is my all time favorite film.)