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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 14, 2016 18:46:16 GMT -5
I'm a huge fan of Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories, and while I like the first Conan film from the 80's in many respects, Conan has never been adapted correctly on film or TV (certainly not in animation). I was thinking Conan, if done properly, would work much better as a serialized show given the episodic nature of the original stories. Conan was in part Howard's existential debate on the pro's and con's of barbarism vs civilization and I feel that to make the show work, the show runner and writers would have to understand this and not be afraid to make it the core philosophy of the show.
The problem with Conan, in my mind, is that he needs to be layered and charismatic and played by a talented actor with range, but most guys who fit the bill physically would be ex-athletes, body builders, etc; guys with a limited range as actors. The Rock MIGHT have fit the bill, but he's a bit long in the tooth at this point. So what do you guys think?
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 14, 2016 19:09:57 GMT -5
The movie was flawed but I really liked Jason Momoa as Conan and I think he could pull off the roll on a series.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 14, 2016 20:44:50 GMT -5
I still need to see the Momoa version. I was biased against it because of all the bad reviews.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 14, 2016 21:30:11 GMT -5
I still need to see the Momoa version. I was biased against it because of all the bad reviews. It wasn't terrible per say, certainly no worse than the Arnold films, so if you're down for a simple popcorn fantasy film you won't be disappointed but if you were hoping for a more modern, nuanced fantasy film that was true to the source than you'd be a little sad. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 22:38:10 GMT -5
The final act of the movie was terrible film making, the cinematography was so bad you really couldn't make out what was happening on screen even in HD. The opening scene of the young Conan however, is probably the best Conan sequence to be done on film, not true to Howard at all, but int he right spirit at least. Once that sequence ended, it was all down hill form there.
However, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for anything decent to ever be made on film for Conan )or any Howard property) until ownership of the Conan rights changes hands again. The only thing the current rights holders want to see is another Arnie Conan movie, though their investors have looked at the box office take of all the post-Governor ship Arnie movies and balked at greenlighting it. The rights holders don't seem to want to adapt the Howard material to film, just use the recognition factor of the names to try to market projects written by other people where the true attraction is the name of the actors on the marquee and not the material of story being told.
The company is a mess. Paradox Entertainment was so mismanaged they just got taken over by the former owner of the company who left them high and dry to form his own company then leveraged a stock deal by assuming Pardox's debt to strong arm the acquisition of all of Paradox's intellectual property. Malmberg (the current owner who leveraged the deal) has been tryingfor 20 years to make the Arnie King Conan movie, which he announced as happening as soon as the deal to acquire Paradox was done before the ink onthe agreement had even dried in 2015, but more than a year later the project has stalled and Arnie's box office mojo is disappearing, yet Malmberg is fixated on doing this. Until someone buys him out, there will not be a worthwhile Conan project in any film medium (and definitely not television-I think Malmberg is the one who was behind the dreadful syndicated Conan live action show in the 90s too, which had absolutely nothing to do with any Howard material). Malmberg loves the character of Conan as portrayed by Arnie but doesn't seem to actually care for or trust the actual Howard material.
(sorry for the rant, Malmberg is just one of those things that sets me off).
-M
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 15, 2016 0:21:53 GMT -5
Not, thanks mrp. That was very informative. I suspected as much given the adaptations we've gotten over the years. I think that the success of the Arnie film had an overall negative effect in terms of filmmakers perception of the character and the source material. Outside of the comics, which have done a pretty good job, be it the original Marvel series or the current Dark Horse series, the only good adaptation of Conan that I've personally experienced was that Conan Xbox 360 game that was released in 2007. I never finished it, but it was a fun game and felt like Howard's Conan.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 15, 2016 0:37:57 GMT -5
I have a soft spot for the Conan the Adventurer animated series as well. Not Howardian all that much, but a very fun Saturday morning take on it all.
-M
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parker
Junior Member
Posts: 11 
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Post by parker on Sept 15, 2016 5:16:43 GMT -5
The best thing would be to adapt "The Hour of the Dragon", which is a best-of-Conan to begin with.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Sept 15, 2016 7:46:02 GMT -5
The best thing would be to adapt "The Hour of the Dragon", which is a best-of-Conan to begin with. .. which would be especially awesome if you can work in 'the Frost Giant's Daughter' as a flashback. Personally, I'd love to see the 'Tower of the Elephant' as a movie, but it's probably too action-less for anyone to make it. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 15, 2016 8:40:10 GMT -5
Beyond the Black River and The Scarlet Citadel would both be high on my list.
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Post by thwhtguardian on Sept 15, 2016 11:39:09 GMT -5
The best thing would be to adapt "The Hour of the Dragon", which is a best-of-Conan to begin with. .. which would be especially awesome if you can work in 'the Frost Giant's Daughter' as a flashback. Personally, I'd love to see the 'Tower of the Elephant' as a movie, but it's probably too action-less for anyone to make it. The Tower of the Elephant is one of my favorites, and honestly I think you could add a little action and still keep the basics of the story and it would do well, especially as say an hour long episode on Netflux. |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 16, 2016 0:57:10 GMT -5
Tower of the Elephant is a classic. I believe that chronologically it's the earliest Conan story--him being a young thief at the time--so if it was part of a series, it would be a good choice as a first episode. I like the idea of a series that bounced around chronologically in Conan's life, since that's how Howard envisioned it and told the stories, but I can't see that working in a modern TV series. It would work for me as a "hardcore" fan who's read all the original stories, but I doubt the mainstream viewers would go for it.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2016 1:14:09 GMT -5
There was an animated adaptation of Red Nails in the works a few years back, it got cast, got concept art, sample animation done, etc. but then died on the vine and PAradox let it die because it was animated and not an Arnie vehicle.      comic and animation veteran Dell Barras did most of the concept art. Ron Perlman was cast as the voice of Conan and Marge Helgenberger (of CSI fame) as Valeria. Mark Hamill was cast as the voice of Tokemec and James MArsden andCree Summers had been cast for unreleased roles as well. Here's a piece of the test animation of a battle sequence (it was unfinished when the plug was pulled on this) and Valeria in battle... there's lots more samples up on youtube. But Paradox pulled the funding on this because they wanted to save their money for the Arnie feature. I'd bet every last comic and toy I own we will never see anything on screen for Conan that is not attached to Arnie as long as Paradox/Malmberg owns the rights. -M |
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Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 16, 2016 3:03:56 GMT -5
Well, mrp, thanks to your information Paradox is now officially on my Sh!&t list.  The fact that we'll never see this just flat out sucks. It's arguably the best Conan story. |
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Post by Warmonger on Sept 16, 2016 10:28:47 GMT -5
There was an animated adaptation of Red Nails in the works a few years back, it got cast, got concept art, sample animation done, etc. but then died on the vine and PAradox let it die because it was animated and not an Arnie vehicle. comic and animation veteran Dell Barras did most of the concept art. Ron Perlman was cast as the voice of Conan and Marge Helgenberger (of CSI fame) as Valeria. Mark Hamill was cast as the voice of Tokemec and James MArsden andCree Summers had been cast for unreleased roles as well. Here's a piece of the test animation of a battle sequence (it was unfinished when the plug was pulled on this) and Valeria in battle... there's lots more samples up on youtube. But Paradox pulled the funding on this because they wanted to save their money for the Arnie feature. I'd bet every last comic and toy I own we will never see anything on screen for Conan that is not attached to Arnie as long as Paradox/Malmberg owns the rights. -M Well that sucks Ron Perlman and Mark Hamill? That could've been amazing. |
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