As I already commented on Facebook, I actually like Momoa’s close-up pic in that set. Really gives off a Conan vibe to me.

Nice views!!! Eager to see more

HAIL MONAN!!!!!

MONAN the Surferian

Two things i cannot handle about this movie.

1)a skinny conan.
2)anvil of crom.

I love the books so so much but to watch a movie its going to be difficult to watch without anvil of crom for even reading them books i still have that has Conans soundtrack.
It’s so powerful!
Basil Poledouris is granted passage by Crom.

What I like about Momoa is, that he does not look like a bodybuilder. He looks strong and fast, which fits. Need to see more tough.

What really annoys me are the set-photos. I do not know what it is, but everything looks horrible. And Nispel sitting there, bored, is giving me shivers. *thinks of Pathfinder*

Mamoa fits the description R.E.H gave of Conan in his youthful travels he was deep of chest slender of waist built fast like a panther I say they have done well.

Ian and derFeef. That armoured cart looks bad. All those pics in the woods look like they were filming a tv adaption of Robin Hood. And yeah Nispel looks bored to tears.I can almost here the minions of Set chortling off in the bushes; “Hah!Hah!Fool!You sold your soul to cold corporate execs who want to make a quick buck and only you will be blamed when this drivel hits the cinema.” Serg: Did you come across the books before seeing the first movie? I find it perplexing you find the first movie insulting (the second ,yes!)but don’t see the cheapness and frankly insulting story of this one.Bear in mind that everything we have seen and heard so far has about as much affiliation to Howard as any of the other versions.Or is just Jason Momoa you have faith in to carry this whole movie off?

KORGOTH IS F@@@KING AWESOME___I WATCHED THAT LIKE 30 TIMES

haha, great line about the flipflops steve.

korgoth is great, too bad it was just a pilot.

Korgoth > Monan

Forgive me for my dour mood, I just hope frazetta is finally getting to paint arnold drummond in all of his barbaic glory at that great big comic con in valhalla…

We really should not judge the looks of the movie based on these shots – these are clearly not official photos and thus they do not represent the look of the movie. The editors change the colouring of the final film so much that the entire mood of the original shoot may be changed.

But, I agree that I don’t really like the armoured carts or shabby village shots we’ve seen thus far. We need some official images of Conan adventuring in the “civilized” world, in the big towns and cities.

It would be silly to judge the look of the movie from some crappy leaked location shots.Plus I would be interested to know how some of these people who are commenting on the way Momoa looks shape up body wise-spotty weedy “fan boys” I think!!

Ooops.Technoviking

I’d also like to share this with you guys… there , to me anyway, is absolutley nothing out there right now as far as movies coming out that I am excited about at all at this moment. Basically conan ( no matter how it turns out)because like many of you i’ve enjoyed the character and his incarnations for some time now, and the adaptation of Jack Kerouacs On the Road( My all time favorite novel) which is filming come august and due right before conan in 2011. thats it. Not into all these marvel flicks anymore, and batman three is further off . Agree or disagree on the flick Ian, I always enjoy your opinions .I really do believe now you will never see a movie thats true to REH because it simply cannot be done, no matter what dream team of directors producers writers and stars we can conjure. And as much as I respect the “scholars” over at the cimmerian I’d like to see anyone of them try as well,for all of their Milius bashing ( get the point guys you dont like milius conan enough already!)they’d be met with harsh criticism too.I think if they can take an original idea capture some of the motifs use the races and characters in some proper context ( do research , rewind 10,000 years and be a little creative) you will at least get a movie that will be entertaining and remind you in some way of the original work much the way any GOOD pastiche whether its comic or story or movie should do.

lol.

My problem is i aways speak my mind in any situation which has often gotten me into some trouble from time time.But this broken old dog cannot be tamed it seems even at my age i still never learn..
lol
And you are correct.I am to hard to please for the Conan i see in my mind .
Just don’t understand why they have an armoured cart too.
Give the movie to me and i’ll come back in 5yrs and hand what it deserves and give the world a major warp spasm that would even raise Atlantis

I love this shit man… thank god . you know one thing that I dreaded was this whole fanboy thing coming conan’s way , and steve yeah youre right it’s always gonna be there, films comics books all have what they say are “cult” followings and there will always be those who over scrutinize han solos wookie print speedos.I’d hate to see that here.Like you said I think this group of savages here, no matter their background and education , are a far more insightful and more importatnly realistic bunch than those waiting for lucas to wake up or similar.Ian youre 36 I happen to be 32 ,I dont feel either of us are that old at all.Look at Ray , you said you were 42 correct, and you look like youre in great shape. Only get one life out there folks…And serg I have the utmost respect for your optimism, I credit you with not only letting me think and take a step back, but reigniting my enthusiasm , no matter the outcome.

Remember that animated “Red nails” movie? Rumours abound that its actually still going ahead or even been completed and just waiting to coincide with the live action movie. Since Ron Pearlman has surfaced in this too it kind of makes sense that there is some sort of tie in with Paradox at work here. Some test footage has found its way onto youtube. If this is true, and I don’t see why not ,this could be a real must for Howard fans.

Red Nails would be a great treat if they actually were to release it! I have seen that old site for it, and to tell the truth, the pics there looks a bit to rough and simplified for my taste, almost like a quick and easy to make nickelodeon cartoon; but then again, the “old” clone wars series (to get back to the star wars fanbois again;)was extremely stylized and simplified and still managed to capure an almost unik expression that was far more better and intense than the full lenght episodes 1-3.
I have hope for Red nails, hope that it atleast will be released.

Some of us are big and strong, some of us are small and weak, most of us are probably in the middle somewhere…but since nobody here is playing Conan in a movie, it doesn’t matter. Even if we all become like serg and never criticize momoa again for not being muscular enough, the other conan fans will spend thousands of hours doing it on the other forums or whenever the movie is discussed.

I can imagine all of this happening again in 20 years when they decide to remake the tomb raider movies but they cast a B cup actress, and one person says HER TITS ARE LIKE ROTTEN APPLES, THIS IS NOT WHAT ENVISIONED!!! and then another person will say YOU CAN’T JUDGE BY THOSE PICTURES, YOU CAN’T SAY A NEGATIVE WORD UNTIL THE MOVIE IS RELEASED, SO FOR THE NEXT YEAR YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME SAY HOW GREAT THE MOVIE WILL BE!!! and a third person will chime in and say that we can’t talk because we have breasts that are even smaller than the new B cup actress.

Red Nails, last I knew, the designer or producer or somebody said it was shelved and he released some early stage animation of it on youtube. Even though it had zombies, it still seemed like it was gonna be decent.

I don’t know if any of you here are familar with are 2000ad Comic in the uk.But there is a barbarian called Slaine the Horned God within and some fans made this short taster and placed it on youtube.
The movie is inspired by Simon Bisley’s illustration of Slaine the Horned God.
This is Simons Conan.

http://simonbisleygallery.com/?bisley=home.image&picid=162

Slaine while in battle becomes this huge disfigured creature.
If you read Conan comics maybe you should cast your download eyes on Slaine also

I am not kissing arse here but i think you are a cool guy and i like you all.All here like M says keeps the blog afloat.For if we do not banter about this character we so love and simular interests.May it be person tastes ect which all of us here invited each other to there person world.It’s still coming here and getting to know each other at the end of the day.
I know i slag The Conan movie off but to be honest with you guys if i am not talking about conan i am obviously going to span out in other areas.
If you catch my drift.
But M,
Like you said to me.You like to read my comments and i am flattered by this which means you hold respect for me and for others here.
So no m8y.You are not wrong.
You are like all of us here,human.

Shit,Finn!!! Well you should thank me! Cause it seems that Im the one staying completely positive about the project – or when you see somebody pulling crap here it’s making your day?
In-fact it makes me wonder? why do you commenting my posts when you read between lines? Did I actually write MOMOA? im not writinig it anymore I try to describe things in General – and I guess you’ve pointed true stuff about my post that made you mad!!! DAMN right!!!

M:I for one think you’re the most level headed guy on this blog.You throw out some good and entertaining debates and you know I look forward to your comments. Without wanting to defend anybody before THEY have a chance to reply I can only say that I don’t think Finn meant any harm in his comments. They were not directed at anyone in particular. But it is interesting nonetheless to see how others react to their own views even when they are being shown back to them as an allegory.
Ian: I’ve read a shelf load of those Tor Conan paperbacks but not “Savage”.Sounds intriguing though I didn’t get with Leonard Carpenter’s other attempts. Might check it out. Recently, when I was in Greece, I read “Conan the Rogue” by John Maddox Roberts which I heartily recommend. It plays like a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western with Conan riding into town being hired by everyone and then him playing them all off against each other. An entertaining read.

I have no problem with either positive feeling towards the movie or negative and cynical feeling towards it, one can only guess whos right. It’s when a cynical attitude towards ourselves comes out through veiled remarks I think it wrong. Please tell me I got it wrong finn and that wasnt your intention, I’m struggling to see the point otherwise and I will apoplogize up and down if so.

Fucking hell this is getting very heated isnt it?
I just think we have to be level headed about the leaked pictures as I think much of what we have seen is probably just extras and background stuff that few will notice in the course of watching the movie. As far as the director goes not reading a lot of REH,could be good could be bad,by the way both Lang and Perlman are not fools and both of them from what I have read have high hopes for the movie.I’m 53 this year and still try to keep in the best shape I can,been reading CONAN since I was about 18 so I WANT the movie to be good again time will tell.I fucking hate that Bakshi abortion of LOTR tho,I was fucked off for months when I saw it at a special preview in London in 1979.It was screened for members of The Tolkien Society and it got fucking laughed off the screen!! Bakshi was a lazy prick when he made it you can see the last half hour he had run out of steam and didn’t give a shit!

damn, the website software erased what I put in brackets.

…I would be the one saying this movie will be great, and someone else would be saying he’s too (old, strong, stupid, doesn’t look fast enough?) to play Conan.

Simon.
I do like the Lord of the Rings animation,simply because i was very young.
It introced me to the world of fantasy.From the metal miniatures,fighting fantasy books and everything fantasy throughout the yrs to my teens playing role play D+D.
Plus Milus brought Conan to me and the road started from there.And i am thankful to Milus and Bakshi for this

If it wasn’t for these scorned on attempts to open the world to new
delights,half of us wouldn’t be talking in here now.like me introducing you all to Slaine the Horned God if you haven’t crossed that path already!Which ive heard NO reply to.
./scratches head in wonder!

And i too think it’s getting over heated in here
I am guilty for being over critical about them pics as well as others in here but i am basically doing what you have done in 79 steve.
The Conan movie will bring new followers even if the old ones agree or disagree with the version made.
And in 20yrs they will be here like you and me bantering.

Alright cool man.Now I get your drift.I sincerely apologize to you finn and everyone for that damn silly rant.I know its no excuse but sometimes the bullshit you put up with during the day ( work stuff family)affects you in places where you wanna relax whether its the gym or fishing on a lake or on a movie blog:)and even relatively stable ( relatively I’m still a bit of a nut) guys like me need to blow off steam. Please accept my apology Finn, I’m man enough to know when I’m wrong.The bakshi lotr is a weird flick for me,Its very disappointing as I do enjoy most of bakshis work( heavy traffic ,fritz, american pop ,street fight wizards and fire and ice are my faves) but lotr has this cheap ,butchered in the editing room feel where sometimes I cant understand whats going on. there are some good scenes, but few and far between. I credit it for being the first attempt at such a dense piece of literature, .I understand some of the better scenes( again very few) even influenced peter jacksons take on it. But my question to you simon, since you were a young man at the time and would know better, was it entirely bakshis fault that it turned out the way it did? I thought I read there were budgeting and editing issues and the studio never allowed bakshi to do the way he wanted to or to finish it for that matter?

@ steve I just realized that your conan the rogue by roberts sounds exactly like akira kurosawas “yojimbo” ( which in turn was remade as a fistful of dollars and last man standing ).The original is best but the eastwood version definitely holds its own! If you remember way back I sort of mentioned in passing that the plot could be an excellent springboard for a conan movie plot.I gotta find that book then!! thats awesome. samurai with no direction comes into village overrun by 2 rival gangs and plays them against each other… great piece of japanese film.

No problem m, you are a good guy, we all are since we are conan fans and conan fans are good. We’re all on the same team. I try to never get mad at anything on the internet, but if you do, I guess it is better to do that than venting some other way like tailgating people or microwaving a kitten. I remember reading conan the rogue when I was about 13, I thought it was great. Especially the cover! Problem was I read all those TOR pastiches when I was a teenager and they stopped making new ones. But I just realized I missed 4 of 5 of them (conan the renegade, raider, valorous, the rebel, and the mists of doom), so I recently ordered them from amazon. That will hold me over until some of these new projects start coming out.

I mean hey yeah its been done but it could be done sick in a conan bit!

Steve,
Go and fuck yourself m8.
I am out of this blog once and for all.

Has everyone been at the black lotus today or what?

Steve,
I am cringing with my own stupidity now.
I am so sorry man really for saying the above.
I was watching the dark knight wondering why you said kiss my axe,which i thouht you was saying kiss my arse to the my lotr/conan comment above.
Kiss my axe is from slaine.

Damn i can be so stupid at times..
Sorry again man

Ian: I’m still laughing. What a blog…

Damn you
Ian glares under his troubled brow!!!:P
I wil have my revenge
lol.

What is this ? Low B” Movie ohhhh CROM !!!

Lol.check this guy out

Orphans of doom/the awakening
Beatiful!!!

yeah its a likely thing.of all my friends growing up in high school or wasting myself at community college, only one of them was into howard and lovecraft and such like i was. I keep in touch loosely with a that one and a buddy or two from the old days,it’s hard once you get married and have kids just to keep up on the things you enjoy,much less catch up with buddies. I guess thats why things like this or facebook can be of help. which i know I mentioned I’d get a new comp soon and be on that, but unexpected expenses arose so it may take a bit longer. this comp of mine is shot. BUt enough with the sensitive man/sentimental stuff, poledouris is a master! one thing that has not been touched upon often is how the musical score for this movie is being handled… i think we all read that it’s not poledouris and its not a guitar fusd 300 type thing,which leaves me wondering which possible direction they can go , or whos scoring it . does anyone know? off the top of my hat,If I had to pick a modern composer I like, how about Harry Gregson Williams? He’s done spygame the last castle, I think for all of you vidoe game folks he did metal gear solid, which had a very good musical score…thoughts?

Ian, I picked up Slain, the horned god a few months ago and was totaly blown away by the art and the concept of that epic prehistoric world!
I just picked it of a shelf and thought it looked good, so I dont relly know much other slain stuff. I think Ive seen some black and white books, they any good?
(oh, and I love that one page when slain gathers the chieftan celts and just for one second a cliche Conan is standing among them:) A really nice piece of art.

For stronty fans out there correct me about the name wolf which is Wulf.
A great character and good friend of alpha.

My random rants for today:checked out slaine myself today seems like really cool stuff.thanks again, i looked up kane too because of your references, seems like cool stuff.thanks for all the info guys, exposed me to some cool stuff.From what I am gathering on the references posted and my own looking into things, I think my own tastes would lie on the low end of fantasy or sword and sorcery not so much the high elf and fairy stuff.seems ones hands get dirtier there…. shame about del toro leaving the hobbit…I’m gonna guess the problems this flick is having getting off the ground is gonna put it back about ten years or so…read a damn dirty nast rumor they may want to modernize on the road for film which to me is an impossibility,say it aint so.good article in the cimmerian analyzing frazettas famous conan the adventurer painting down to the style of scabbard hes holding and questioning why the woman in the pic isnt completely traumatied by the pile of corpses shes laying on…check it out

that would be a nice alternative, but then who replaces him on the hobbit ?and from what I understand deltoro and jackson had monster and set designs done as well as even some action sequences mapped out… do they start from scratch once a new director is picked ?(if with all the legal problems mgm is having it wouldnt surprise me if this flick meets the same fate as bond, delayed indefinitely)i would like to see jackson take up the reigns if just for consistency. Hey maybe Marcus Nispel will be available once he wraps up Conan! Har,if He strikes at you he will summon a demon more ferocious than all in hell!

they started march 15th, its been almost 3 months, I’m sure we’ll hear when the film wraps up shooting and goes into post production, I’m gonna guess the next two weeks maybe?Maybe july or august we’ll see production photos and a teaser trailer, and honestly I can’t see what else they can throw except for an official site and more trailers. I’m gonna take another guess and say that they may try to follow the marketing tactics they used with rambo , a very violent teaser about 8 to 10 months before the movie’s release built up a lot of buzz but who knows for sure?

I definitely agree with the hobbit being a different tone altogether( i actually enjoyed it more than reading lotr,strangely enough ) I only go with jackson because I can’t think of anyone else either, and at least with jackson, i think he can handle the difference in mood,and at least you know what youre getting with him.In any case , I think its gonna be a while before you see any hobbit flick, we may even have two or three conan flicks by then!:)

ITS COOL isn’t it? 93 posts in 4,5 days

“Aaaannnddd-CUT! Right thats a wrap then. See you at the premiere in a year and a half. Oh, don’t mention to anyone you know where I’m going ok? OK?!” – Marcus Nispel, somewhere in Bulgaria 4th June 2010.

Is filming finished?

I absolutely agree.we all know by now that it is not Howards conan literally per se,and where I’ve said in the past there may be more Howard in it than meets the eye, maybe that happened more by accident rather by intenetion due to the inherent nature of the material and themes( what the whole cult of set says about civilization, as we talked about a while back.Did milius intend the viewer to percieve it this way or that, or are we lookng too deeply into it?).I think these guys over at the cimmerian, for as bright as they are, tend to go out of their way to bash the movie and I can see their reasoning to some extent: they probably dont want conan to be remembered by mainstream audiences this generation as represented by arnold( which aside from those who know the source material is how people view conan) in some 80′s fantasy flicks.As far as the kurosawa bit, everything from spghetti westerns to spielberg has borrowed liberally from his techniques,and storytelling methods , retarded or not. I thought whatever milius did apply from kurosawa it was on more the photographic /scenic side of things not so much the action, score or even the storytelling parts. George Lucas was more blatant in the original star wars with that. With all of it’s weaknesses and the fact that of course it strays literally from reh( What pastiche doesn’t ? I just reread the return of conan, and aside the stupid aquilonian minuet scene in the begining which could be blasphemous enough, what about crom intervening at the end?! If thats not straying from source then what is? and that was written in what 55 ,’57?)Conan is a good flick. It s the second movie that should be bashed on a regular basis though I can watch it cause I view it as a comedy. That ape/lizard guy in a rubber suit thing in the castle is straight out of ed wood!”there’s two mirrors left wizard, and you’re behind one of them…but which one!”

on a last note, I finally saw avatar. one thing that i believe this new conan has going for it ( as others have mentioned too) is stephen lang. he was the best part of that silly movie.

actually I dont mind good ol conan the avenger, those parts just irked the shit out of me.the rest isnt half bad. I didn’t like the next book in the series, conan and son go to disn… i mean conan of aquilonia, but the last one conan of the isles i enjoyed…what’s your faves of the pastiche novels? ( the ace series and the question goes out to anyone)btw steve though i cant seem to get the script to king conan on my p.o.s computer i did get a synopsis on an old arnold fans site with some bits of dialogue and all i can say based on what little is there is i wouldve definitely enjoyed , but it seemed a little overboard with some names and places. It had conan king of zingara? kon his adopted son who he suddenly cared so much about , him getting fat, an ice worm and a valeria look alike, and i understand there was a role for sean connery playing a guy named metallus. conan makes another good speech to crom though. It seemed consistent with milius take but on a much larger scale.I’d love to read that whole thing I’ll keep trying to get it though.

@steve:I know it annoys me too!:) like I said it’s definitely consistent with milius’s take on the character, it would’ve been nice to see him cap it off too. Dropped you an email too keep an eye out for it.

Crom ! it had to be jingle all the way?! couldn’t be kindergarten cop or stop or my mom will shoot?

you definitely have an interesting perspective on it fayric,i see destroyer is more fantasy/camp oriented than barabarian but as you said no need for debate . I like the dark grim humor you’ve pointed out in howards stories that are a bit underthe surface in some stories.I don’t think destroyer is unwatchable, some ideas in it i really like( dagoth , the monster god i enjoyed is one example)but you can see it just doesnt take itself seriously at all and the execution…. I do think the movie industry , with all of its writers actors producers and talent should be capable of bringing a new series without an origin, look at those kurosawa and spaghetti westerns that are so mych fun and tell a good story. the hero is full grown no background , adding to his aura. now I just think filmakers and writers today have gotten lazy and cookie cutter and just follow trends.I agree too that this new flick likely wont read like howard,i know i said it has to to succeed.I think i mean it has to be closer to howard than the last films,i talk out of my ass alot!. i’m convinced its impossible anyway unless we find a howard doppelganger out in texas somewhere …but i do think the general attitude , and backdrop and varying cultures of the hyborian age can be wrenched out if Howards material is given the attention it deserves. that doesnt mean of course , imitate howards writing.take the nolans batman. now i dont want to start a debate either, but this take on batman is a far cry and far more complex from bob kane and bill finger intended, i would say its lies closer to the neal adams stuff of the 70′s. but it pays attention to it’s roots, and though i personally find the dark knight inferior to begins, both movies in my mind actually surpass the comic, which the last i looked at seemed stale and one note.i could be just getting older and sick of bruce wayne and his issues.( heard he was dead and coming back these days? I see writers and moviemakers like the nolans, the coen bros writers like cormac mccarthy at least capable of doing their homework and wrenching out the good stuff rather than what impressions we first get on the surface.

Steve had brought up leigh brackett to me once. I looked her up and its just a matter of me finding time to pick up a book at the library or something.A high production made for cable tv show akin to spartacus or the sopranos(production value wise, though I see some of conans moody temperment and bullish strength in a guy like tony soprano)would definitely be fun to watch ,though it would be difficult to pull as conan’s adventures bring him around different sorts of people every episode, so the only regular would be conan,where even if you cast him, they’d be looking for a different group of support actors every episode.(unless some were two parters)That said I think a series based on the tales of REH or even adding pastich writers works too is probably suited more towards animation.but again you’ll run into the issue of having different supporting role character designs each episode too.I really dont know how it works in that business but i imagine it must cost more money to constantly recast in every episode per season or have different character designs in every episode as well.

Video from filmming

I knew I would find something!!! New pics!!! Thak Serg
http://www.rudarci.com/blog/897

Good find Serg. Just who is that guy with glasses in that pic? Looks like Elton friggin’ John. Surely he not doing the film score? Looks like those guys on horseback come from Khitai. But if so… Where are all the tigers and stuff?

Now it looks like Crouching dragon,hidden tiger… or something. Seriously I think the costumes look pretty good in these shots. Looks like Conan is going to get around a bit, a sort of tour of the Hyborian age. Just hope they don’t neglect those gleaming cities I always get to imagine when reading the stories.

Great Etude

Bet Peter Jackson never kept Tolkien lovers in the dark like this when he made “Lord of the rings”. I think Nispel needs a publicist or to say a few words himself. Unless of course he isn’t really the driving force behind this movie and its all being dictated to by studio execs. I would love to see the director at least saying a few words and supporting this film.

Conserning official interviews… I think there is logic in Silence
They’re still filming god dammit!!! For better understanding and analysis I always like to put myself in one’s shoes…if I were the director I would first finished the filming and that started to talk…especially if Im in the other country
…have a look at Rodriguez ( predators) and Nolan ( inception) only know they’re sharing info
“`I say the official pics or news or talks will come in 2nd part of June as I assumed couple months ago

figure the movie is gonna be in post production too, I’m guessing a teaser in between august and november.from what i recall,when jackson was filming lotr in the late 90′s early 00′s there really werent as crazy with fan boards and blogs and such so you really had to look for info, and alot of it was false internet stuff.I was around 24 at the time,no wikipedia no twitter ,no craigs list no youtube just email and imming folks.I thought we were all too plugged in then!:)I remember hearing very little about it , that it was beign filmed as one flick and in newzealand, some casting news and all of a sudden a trailer , some big hype and then 2001 it was the theatres.no script rewrite news no leaked photos( though that did happen),pre movie hype was different then. God I remember the pre movie hype for tim burtons batman and that summer it was everywhere! there wtoday people seem to know the whole movie before those involved even finish it, from pre to post,i think it diminishes the experience of watching a movie as a whole.this whole expectation gets built and then it’s like you’re somewhat more critical or let down when you finally see flick knowing most of what went into it.look at the pre batman3 /ghostbusters 3 hype starting to generate on the web. it’s already begun. you can argue the same here, but at least in between movie news we have a ton of stuff ( conan related or otherwise) to bs about to fill the time.( if they even develop an tinterest) but If anything this is how it probably should be.I’m not complaining ( especially since i met so many good folks here)but I must ask if there’s a point where it stops and a movie can still have a sense of magic without knowing everything about it before its seen? and fayric i can definitely see youre point in adapting howard. it can be easy to do and i can see the problem howards writing can pose for a scriptwriter.maybe conan , as well as most of howards heroes( or pulp heroes in general) lend themselve more to an animated medium? It allows them to preserve a sense of unreality and mythology, whereas live action grounds them in reality, therefore making moments where you’d suspend disbelief seem silly on film. just a random idea, take it where you will:)

oh and fayric in mentioning translating howard i meant “it can’t be easy to do” not it can be. sorry that could change the whole thing.

actually that was in the lord of the rings novel, jackson did kinda overemphasize the woman stuff though.

If they can take a pre-existing book/character, rape it down to a quivering vegetable of its former self, then make a $500 million blockbuster out of it, I’m sure they will do that 10 times out of 10. Now I’m realizing that REH stories probably don’t translate well to the screen the way they are, or it is too risky with the high costs and corporate homogenization of movies these days, or american audiences with short attention spans don’t want to see it, or blah blah blah. Majority rules. Minorities will always be disappointed. If 35% of this new movie actually came from REH, I would be impressed.

My favourite comment so far is Finn’s “quivering vegetable” line. My imagination may not be as once it was, but that phrase brings to mind all sorts of dread implications of utter madness and unfathomable terror…

great article on thecimmerian(which is shutting down in days, what ashame) called conan vs conantics which rips apart the nyberg carter and decamp stories.written in 1976, It touches upon many of the criticisms we’ve come up with on the material that is non howard. the authoer goes even futrther and says that it’s even anti howard based on how it’s writtern.

Oh look a vegan Conan!

I tried reading the Eddison book years ago,very hard going I wouldnt bother if I were you.I think people are really getting their pants in a knot before they need to about CONAN,I hope it will be an enjoyable ride despite it might not measure up to Howard’s work.It cant be any worse than Destroyer can it?
Stll hoping for the best but for fuck’s sake lets see some official promo/set pictures!!!

hahaha, Fayric. The Free Range Chicken’s Daughter. I will have to slip quivering vegetable into a story.

That’s too bad about the cimmerian. I read a few posts about the closing but couldn’t find a reason why. I guess it is just too much work and there’s nobody to replace them. Is there someplace else to fill the void?

@ Son of Crom…. Have a cry

well there is another site called the barbarians keep which seems interesting . i’m sure you guys have checked it out.it is a pity though, the articles are very well written at the cimmerian.And I still am gunning for Lemmy as conans grandfather ( rather than having his father in it at all).I get the feeling i will be let down at least in that department:)

IMO…’m’ nailed it!

m – “well also consider that part of the challenge: how do you make a conan movie that will appeal to not only those who are familiar, but to those who not only are not familiar but would normally not be interested in this movie? a studio has turn a profit and pay back their financers as well, the their goal is to not mainly try to get the movie to appeal to us( we have to face it, in their eyes we are possibly the minority here ,compared to who they could lure to see the movie, and the possibility of our complaining that the movie may not be true to source will be overlooked and laughed at as a bunch of disgruntled fanboys trying to make waves) but to mainstream audiences. And it might not even be because the source material is so strong ( we all know it is ) but because they had a big hit or 2 back in the early to mid 1980’s and reintroducing popular heroes from fiction( pulp novel or comicor even video game) is a very in vogue thing to do in hollywood right now.”

Well Nispel should be a dab hand at that scene by now after having already filmed it in Pathfinder too…Not sure I entirely agree with Ray and M. I don’t think it matters one iota whether or not this film is true to Howard’s origins or they do go for the whole “village slaughtered I’m out for revenge”, storyline. The same amount of people will see this because its Conan no matter the story. I think this is down to lazy marketing forces. I don’t see a vision here like with Milius. Just look what Dino de Laurentiis did to him for daring defy the great Hollywood by not wanting to make a popcorn movie. I believe ths will be more akin to Destroyer but for Crom’s sake lets hope its better.

it is rough out there don I feel ya. I’m very lucky in my job ( i would thank crom but he doesnt listen)that it is very secure.and steve i do agree about event films today, even the ones i like lets say iron man 1( havent seen 2 not motivated to either) it is awesome, but not in the same way an event movie like jaws( btw my all time #1 movie and milius wrote the best scene in it!) or raiders were. even as a kid i think i would feel they just dont have any substance or technique.as far as conan. ultimately it is a bout the sale , but you need things in that product to be able to sell, one is this: a reminder of the milius experience, whether the movie delivers that or not. best evidence for the milius facter: any teaser poster we’ve see.another factorREH: just mentioning his name and their”intent” to becloser was enough to create internet buzz, ourselves included. another factor casting: an attractive young cast male and female, hell one or two of them can even act,(perlman and lang that i know for sure) but the “hotness factor to draw new crowds.these guys may well end up being lazy where it counts( story acting filming and effect technique theme and character ) but they are shrewd and know that we won’t unless we go out and pay to see it. and they do it every time. btw steve check email many thanks to you!As far as avatar, i think it had all the makings of good fantasy( and i really enjoyed langs performance if anything he’s def gonna shine in conan i think)artwork, design. the story was not bad UNTIL it started to get political.now no matter what my political conviction may be, i was turned off by it. I enjoy this stuff as parable to a point, but it was practically lecturing me( i felt that way about the dark knight , but from the opposite end of the political spectrum, but that is another…)I go to the movies for escapism, if i want the real world i watch ( and read thru bs) the news!

I dont even like gravity defying martial arts in gravity defying martial arts movies anymore! i wish we could find a guy like bruce lee, who had a knack for knowing when ( and how ) to use flashy techniques with more practical ones and still be brutal. i cite the opening sequence of enter the dragon and his chuck norris fight as prime examples.I did get the package steve , a thousand thanks from this strange western shore i live on.@donald:in previous postsI’ve said in the past I’m not the type to pass a full judgment until I see how it comes together, which is why the pics released dont upset or excite me.I really did,however, like the one pic of conan about to cleave that guy, for if nothing else a nice photographic composition .I’ll be happy if the movie is in tone to what happens next in that scene, at least I think the violence will be unapologetic and proper for the subject matter.I was also thinking , though nowadays 100 mil is like a upper midrange budget, maybe that might work in conans favor.just a thought though, nothing behind it yet.

I read a short piece in a swedish movie magasine, where the writer said he had come to watch only two kinds of movies: predictable action b movies, and really difficult, uneventful “european” movies. He had relized all 4 or 5 star academy award movies that people talked about really didnt make more of an impression than afternoon rain. And its true, I can hardly remember any of the “big hit” award winners of the last few years. Movies I kind of liked when they came, I dont even bother to see to the end when I see them again. And I dont think this has to do with me getting old and bored, I blame the complete lack of creativity in todays movie industry. (also, there are some really good movies made in Korea and a few in Japan, so its probably a hollywood/american problem)Avatar was nice to see in 3d and all, but the story was so thin and predictable it was embarrasing (someone at IMDB made a point that the story in many ways was a rip of from Dune, but I think thats not fair to Dune even if its a good point). One movie I did like was the new Sherlock Holmes, but I dont buy that it is closer to the original than traditional movies.

Funny thing is, we all look forward to this new Conan movie, despite all our despair and dissaproval (to the movie idustry in general as much as the movie it self). Its kind of like Conan who stubbornly praise barbarian society, but keep coming back to the cities and wars of the civilized world (and of course, evetually even rule them;)

just to pass the time all, I’m sure you guys know the reh twogun raconteur site, just read part 2 of an article called conans wild west.i think it’s listed under favorite author articles , but dont qoute me. i plan to read the other parts, but i recommend it ( and the site ) to anyone interested in howard , conan ,sex and civilization. there is another site called the barbarian keep which has an excellent article in defense of john milius conan which as we know can cause endless debate amongst conan fans. a great read for those who like and hate the movie.the cimmerian is shutting down if anyone knows where those guys are heading to ( or other howard/weird fiction blogs) please do give a heads up. these articles whether i agree or not with them, have really expanded my perception of how important reh is, and are written by extremely bright people.

When I was watching Sherlock Holmes I started thinking about it and I asked myself “Do I believe this is Sherlock Holmes?” and the answer was yes. There was some stuff that bothered me but not enough to ruin the movie. It was pretty good compared to most movies I have seen recently, except for…….

From Paris with Love. I watched that a couple days ago, it is a great irreverent action movie with non-stop violence, john travolta is an asshole secret agent that goes around killing everybody like a modern day conan. After I watched it, I thought, god damn this movie needs ten sequels. Then I read about it. The critics gave it negative reviews and it was a box office failure

I might be weeks behind on noticing this but the corpse dummy from the set pics is the unlucky recipient of Conan’s “Jumpin on the beach” slash… I don’t think he survived.

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/7645/slashbb.jpg

I guess I was right, imageshack took down the pic I hosted with the side by side. Well you get the idea of what I’m talking about.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2179695360/nm1801912

shit,I actually can almost get past the hair there.I like the lean young tigerish look, I imagine conan getting beefier as he ages.this can work for an early 20something conan. by 30 id expect more on him,close to arnold’s size but even more ripped like bruce lee.And yeah he would make a good tarzan. looking forward to more. good lookin out serg!

i think the ape was trying to have his way with conan’s woman pictured. chaos ensues….Conan’s pearly whites win the day, the only thing that came out unscathed.in all honesty I don’t think he looks bad, but that damn hair!It is the only thing annoying me,and I know how unimportant it is.I try to keep it ot of my line of visionbut to no avail. Makes him look like he got lost on his way to the lost boys reboot tryouts.

Well Wald now I know where you went, love your comment over at conan.com.Have you deserted us old comrade? Nobody there has any faith in this movie and I honestly can’t blame them. Just look at how cheap that photo looks. Momoa is the least of this films problems. The whole set-up feels wrong. Horribely tacky. Every time I see another set shot I’m amazed. Just WHERE is the money going on this turkey? Not on set design or costume thats for sure. Those look like fancy dress outfits from the high street. Antmanx68:That fake scar? No one got that from a story. Someone watched Conan the Destroyer.Probabley the same make-up artist too.What a load of faith destroying cucking frap.

Serg: It reveals more than you think. I hate to say it but without any CGI makeover (groan!) this will make Beastmaster look like Lawrence of Arabia. I have seen very little authenticity in any of these photos-nothing that looks remotely durable or realistic. Or Hyborian age. This looks for all the world like dungeons and dragons.Emphasis on fairy tale heroism in a medieval setting.Dressed like that Momoa looks like the stereotype Conan everyone takes the piss out of when you say you are a fan! Even wears his sword across his back-aahhh!!!

I watched 300 last night and found myself comparing it to Pathfinder and the vision they are trying to create here. Remember when they were talking up Conan and the idea of a reboot along the lines of 300?
Enter Marcus Nispel. Seems logical that he could pull something like that off. But somewhere along the line they lost sight. It comes down to the script. It just does not gel with that artistic vision. There are too many chiefs on this project. Who hired all American Stephen Lang to play a warrior with a name like Khalar Singh? W

Conan fans are pisimistic fans
anyway Give Serg THANK for I dig interviews with Momoa and Nispel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
get google chrome so you can translate the text- but it translates not propelrly so be ready for some funny stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.novinar.net/news/rezhisiorat-na-konan-srednite-vekove-sa-vse-oshte-zhivi-v-balgariia_MzI4MjsxOQ==.html
~~~~~~~
http://www.znam.li/Pages/FreeTime/Default.aspx?evntid=1440773

p.s. while ssurfing the web for info I found Nichols’ naked tits HAHAHA

!

Heh.Maybe Wald blocking you Serg for keep swiping info that is for his site!Google alert?
So we know that this movie is set about 5,000 years ago,Hyboria (a place) is about the size of Bulgaria and Conan is the last surviving Cimmerian after his village is wiped out,making it no longer a country just a village. Good stuff. Good to see all that ravenous on set Howard reading paid off then.

Steve, what I was meant was that a lot of people on here complained about the lack of scars (since the STORIES say he’s scarred up)… Momoa’s face is already scarred up and they clearly added fake scars to his body. Thats all I’m saying, they at least addressed the scars, question answered. Not saying this looks great or anything although I remain optimistic.

That was some quick filming. It took less than 3 months (March 15th to Jun 5th). That seems pretty quick for an epic fantasy swords & sandals.

I hope everyone had a chance to check out those interviews! Wald somehow didnot approved them here,which is sad.Make sure you read them.They are interesting

So they officially announced filming has wrapped…why havent there been any news threads ? Sword brother steve, pertaining to kull ,i didn’t think so either, I was just screwing around.I agree they wanna see how conan does before all the cookie cutters get announced.Nothing on solomon kane being released here, I am beginning to think i will be seeing this on syfi soon.As far as this production is concerned, I’m not really optimistic or pessimistic,just maintaining a healthy skepticism towards any news that comes out.the only thing I have faith in is the steel in my…no wait I mean, the only thing i have faith in are the facts of the movie that have been released.We know there is a conan movie, who is starring in, it who directs and there have been some candid set shots taken on set.everything else ( even what we’ve heard about the story thus far) is largely conjecture.I do concede if I were to consider everything without that taking in that grain of salt, there are some things working against this flick,maybe more than there are working for it.Two major things,we have an unproven director( nispel ,for the most part,hasn’t been that good) and an unproven lead( though he may end up being surprisingly decent)and thats a gamble on the studios part, considering this is their biggest movie out of their gate so far.to tell you the truth aside these candid pics that were released, they’ve done a good job of keeping things relatively quiet on the and securtiy tight on the set. I think it’s a good thing we don’t know much about this flick.no script leaking like indy4,just a few candid shots,looks like theyre at least having a good time making it.I tried to join you guys on conan.com but the site keeps telling I’m not allowed on it so oh well.gonna read more of the script tonight steve,btwdo you want those other things back? I may have something here to send to you as well, gotta dig it up.lata

Dont cry Steve,ok?

BTW he didnt say movie will not have CGI at all- what they had Nu Boyana for? Relax, Im very positive we gonna have cities in Movie!
Great looking!!!

I just have one question to ask.
I looked at the picture of the Momoa picture above close up and them scars look shit.And what is with hollywood and there pearly white teeth?
He even has a few hair beneath his chin.
Damn i hate that Whitesnake hair style.

Sorry,
He has hair beneath his lip not his chin.
Back into mist i go again

Lol serg

I raise a flagon to that, Ian! Serg, I just blew my nose and dried my eyes but every time I look at that photo of Jason Momoa and that ugly broad I just get all choked up and start racking with sobs. Maybe Crom should cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me for not having the unbending faith of a true barbarian. I apologize.I’m a hot blade who needs to be cooled and tempered and honed- and other such deep stuff.

yup it sure seems this movie does not have the confidence of its fanbase, that it certain.What is sad to me is aside from On the Road( sorry to mention it again, maybe i should start a movie blog on it!))is there is not one movie aside this I have a remote interest in at all, I dont even care really about batman 3.So if this movie ends up as bad as most believe it’s gonna be I don’t think I’m really gonna bother with anything , I don’t wanna give these people my hard earned cash for shit in return.Quality film is going the way of the dinosaur I honestly have to admit to myself that when i dig deep down, conan will likely not be an exception, whether I’m positive negative indifferent waiting or what. I can’t deny my doubts either, as much of a benefit of the doubt i give.I’m not gonna jump on the band wagon and start bashing again, but I cannot deny the points made against the flick either.but there is a light; one of the good things about today and technology( aside the fact that no one seems able to think on their own two feet) is that it’s more accessable and if people get together and do their own adaptations or original film( call of cthulhu or paranormal activity, made for what 10 grand?)well maybe there’s something there where at least theres a good burger on the grill and not a big mac.And serg, keep your stand, it’s what makes you a good man!

Thakns!
The percentage is only on those two sites-Howard’s fans sites-which is very pity
Throughout the web the case is direct opposite! More positive responces
I think it always like that- the last people who are satisfyed are fans of the character! Lately I was surfing the web so much-my eyes are dry-and I see this all around-Thor,MIB 3,Avangers all negative from fans only ! This is somekind of desease I guess!
But in fact we are manority and -put it a hard way- they dont give a shit about all our attitude
p.s. Im not stupid and if I see SHIT coming I point it out!!!There is nothing I can be complaining so much that I loose my mind like many others-and why do so when in fact everything can not be undone anyways? I dont know, I just have this strong feeling that this flick will be atleast OK!!! I imagine it to be CRAP but failed.
Time will judge it anyway

not saying this movie is the best possible way to portray Conan. A fan movie sounds great, but it still has the crucial problem of finding a Conan that fit the agility, streaght and cunning of Howards hero. Still the fan movie might be the best shot at seeing the conan most imagine from the text.

As you know how much ive gone on about my Conan in the past.
the picture from the darkhorse comics image is my conan.The one where he is holding the shield with arrows stuck in.

http://www.darkhorse.com/Zones/Conan

Fayric: I was disappointed by 300 when I first saw it at the cinema. Nigh on 3 years later on dvd I find myself liking it a bit more if only for the stylized b-movie nonsense of it all. I kept waiting for Brian Blessed to turn up and give a big manly shouting speech. Alas… Seen an advertisement today announcing “Solomon Kane” is coming out on dvd/blu ray in the U.K. end of this month. So I guess its a stinking pile of turd as it did not even get a theatre release stateside. Take note and brace yourselves Conan fans…

Finn: Checked out Cohen! A fan movie along these lines and those of the Lovecraft society has to be the way forward. The 21st century myspace DIY punk ethic fighting the evil corporate powers that be-an idea like that gets my approval and should appeal to every true barbarian. Hai,Crom!

@ian I actually like the cover of #19 also,theres a wild look in his eyes.Remember guys that steroids has changed the landscape the past 50 or so years to what is deemed superhuman, and if you look at some of the boxers bodybuilders in Howards time and what he perceived as massive shouldered and broad chested,you may be set up for a bit of disappointment.someone today s always shattering the “glass ceiling” when it comes to the limits of physique, and the bar for perfecftion is constantly raised so I wonder if there can ever be a satisfactory conan for everyone. theres an article somewhere inrehua that shows pics of one of the boxers he admired and he doesn’t resemble in physique what we have learned to perceive as what howard is describing in his tales.From bodybuilding to baseball to hell how comics are drawn everything today is oversized and unnatural.If a superhuman juiced up sort is cast as conan , it can be argued that straying from the source has already begun before and plot or script…so whats right I dont know, i guess conan has to at least be bigger than most common people today.Where howard may have intended 6’0″ to 6’2″ for the hyborian age( historically speaking most hmans were probably between 4’10″ and 5’8″ which would be tall, conan wouldbe freakish…i dunno it’s just really conjecture).I ‘m also becoming more convinced that decamp has done more harm than good to conans overall perception , even to this day, with louinet getting to the source material before even weird tales changed it, conan has been a very corrupted property throughout most of its existence.I read the comic 300 and let me say they changed parts of it to make it more gladiator ish. there’s nothing in there about leonidas teaching his son about honor and crap, and the spartans were a bit tougher from what i remember. on top of it all it wasn’t even that good a graphic novel.Fan films can be great if Howard fans can get over the hurdle of constant disagreement , or else I can see “creative differences ‘grounding alot of this stuff espescially when its your own money being put up now.I’m gonna take an educated guess and say with some conviction that conan fans tend to be leaders not followers and you all know what happens when there are too many chefs making the stew and they all think theyre gordon ramsay! But an organized group like the lovecraft historical society could potentialy commit to an idea to adapt a story

I hate be nitpicky on this though….the hair is really, really starting to annoy me…Serg you’re an awesome guy I totally respect your stance, you’ve reinvigorated my interest in the film no matter what happens…but that goddamn hair is reminding me of Sorbo in Kull it’s becoming a distraction. I would’ve liked sorbo more if not for two things 1) the rest of the movie 2) sorbos goddamn hair….I know it shouldnt be a focal point, but it’s so badly done it’s taking away from the things I like about Momoa.

M,

I in honesty,i think well built men have always been around.ofc steriods has make men bigger.But you have to take a step back to still existing greek sculpures that have survived the ages.
As an artist of the human body myself.One can only perfect the human body by observation by reference material ie picture,models ect.
What i am getting at.For artists and sculptures of that period.One can only learn by sight.
And man worked as slaves or being that of war.
I hope that all makes sense.
The sculpts are from greek times and shows that they had full knowlege of the human body.

Laocoon and His Sons
Doryphoros
The Statue of David from 1501
zeus/poseidon is from 460 B.C

Ouchies,5mil?

As ive said.Waldgeist showed how good momoa would’ve looked with the right hair style.If it was straight and black with a fringe i would be faving my ass off over this movie but thats not going to happen.
20yr old conan with momoa’s current build and waldgeists conan hair style.
I would be won over bar far.

All of those statues look a lot smaller than conan to me. Conan is on par with hercules or samson. The size of muscles for people who try to get strong has gotten a lot bigger in the 20th and now 21st century. Even since arnold’s time, the size of bodybuilder muscles has exploded into ronnie coleman territory. We don’t need a professional bodybuilder to play conan, but any possible candidate for conan has already spent years of his life lifting weights. We can’t have a conan movie without a big strong looking guy in 2010 who looks like a wolf among men. And this conan movie does have a man like that. Bob Sapp.

damn finn thats true.As a half god though I kinda place hercules a little higher on the food chain than I would conan( I don’t want to,but He’s a friggin half god)samson would be a bit closer(still higher). I don’t particularly buy the superhuman aspect of conan thats prevalent more in pastiche works. Not to take away from conans damn near unhuman strength of course.In Howards writing conan is much stronger than most, but there’s a believability to it howard presents it,almost like getting to the core of a myth. people who see strongmen or feats of strength tend to exaggerate it when telling it to others, hence tall tale and myth is born.so conan may be close and is “herculean” in appearance by default that he’s not a half god hercules is more an example of human perfection (beyond ,being half god )than even conan.I was thinking in the context of the early 20th century( before say jack lalane and weider came aorund and blew the lid off bodybuilding ),the boxers who were around( men that howard did admire greatly for their strength and endurance)and the art that was around ( say weird tales covers) and attempt to perceive these folks the way howard did and how it applied to his heroes descriptions.I look at these guys and think of howardisms like “face of a fighting man” or whatever else he uses and I try to find what he was looking at.Arnold though he is bad ass does not have a fighting mans face. neither does momoa though both are freakish looking.Now forrest griffin, mike tyson they look like they’ve been in a few.I was thinking about guys specifically like forrest griffin and heis the type that seems to fit at least a literal description of these iron men howard seemd to like so much.on a different note, though it does exist blue eyes black hair is very rare, i think that may have been the point being the cimmerians werea rare people descended from a lost race. the literary bond I think was also blue eyes black hair( eyes may have been grey though.)Does anyone know for sure if the movie has in fact wrapped shooting and is in post production?

m,thank you biy what’s with that hair-do you mean goatty-if thats what you mean Im too lost here! ITS KINDA IDIOTIC-but you can not see it in other pics

Pardon the spelling, but you know what im talking about

As Nispel did all those years ago I have formulated the opening of Conan in my head. In this version we have a narration from Conan himself quoting largely from Howard’s poem Cimmeria over a montage of woods,lakes,trees,brooding skies and wolves.We see a strongly made youth before a roaring council fire shouting defiance shaking a flint tipped spear. The flames fill the screen and dissolve. We see, in the the lurid glare of other reddened fires, the sacking of Venarium under a winter darkened sky. There is a pause in the swelling crescendo of music; We hear the words spoken in a guttural accent; “My name is Conan-and this is my saga.”
The camera pans slowly back from blue volcanic eyes into a dark scarred face under a dark square cut mane of hair,dark as a ravens wing.Sounds fade in of a revelling night time tavern. Origin done- on with the adventure!

That would be enough origin for me. Any explanation/previous history should be able to fit during the title music while presenting lead actors and director and the other stuff.

I had in my mind an opening for an original conan movie played out simliar to this: of a wild bull running scared in the grey mist with various scars and spears,angry and confused maybe it knows its gonna be lunch. start to see shapes of tall dark men hunting it. cornered the bull gores one in the throat and tears out his jaw.and older man and his large middle aged son watch the young man asks his father ,” of the boy, if he dies?” the father says “crom , we’re barbarians go mate and find another!” they laugh and hear a battle scream…out of the mists a 17 year old conan jumps out. struggles and breaks the bulls neck eventually. title screen comes up and the next scene conans grandfather(played by fucking lemmy) riling the tribes of a grim land to take on aquilonian border post thing, relating his stories of” jeweled cities ” in his youth, while eating bbq bull.a young conan listens with keen interest to this and the planned midnight raid. then brags about his grandsons feat saying ” hither come , conan” brags a bit of his gradnsons feats at such a young age and puts him in charge of one gang of raiders, setting up the next scene.and next opening battle is a raid on venarium, which would be a bloody mess of course.I knw I may him a bit older than 15 but I was trying to be practical.I know I’ve also said I hate origins, but this was an exercise ad the only way I could find to enjoy it. it gives no motivation for revenge, and the slaughter of venaiums men women children is not meant to show barbarians in exactly a good light, just to show what conan comes from. this is really a base idea theres more to it actually. I actually was thinking of this while I was assting the shop carpenter today,lucky i didnt take an arm off meself! I have a whole outline in my head ( almost a whole one) on what would follow.the themes i would try to show ( while still giving it an adventure yarn feel0 are myth vs reality and of course civilization to barbarism. the bits of stories from howard I would utilize would be mainly from rogues in the house that chick that conan throws in the mud from one of those stories ( i forget) the courtroom scene conan alludes to in queen of the black coast and bits of the tower of the elephant. I may just right up a synopsis for my own entertainment…how’s it sound anyway?

All these words and passion, you’d think you all would have filmed your own version by now!

Did not REH have black hair blue eyes? Not quite sure but worth digging in to. M: Some of that opening sounds like the start of “Apocalypto”. Some of the suggestions have merit though. Particularly the raid and sacking of Venarium. I think Conan would have been too young and inexperienced a warrior to lead such a raid though. He could be sickened at the beserker blood lust of his fellow Cimmerians in their wholesale butchery. Framed shot of him standing bloody in the marbled streets trailing his sword as in the lurid red flames can be heard the screams of women and children…shots of rising and falling axes and swords…Closing in on Conan’s grim immobile face, hangs his head in despair and shame…a hollow victory…Personally however I would not detail Venarium. As Howard did I would have it alluded too and related by other characters in the movie(s) with horror and fear. Always Conan says little of what happennd that bloody fateful night.Perhaps he could see brief stark details outlines in lightning flashback never totally shown. Of course Lemmy at the beginning of the movie cornered and alone, facing his enemies, would have to shoulder his mighty two handed war-sword then spit and growl: “Thats the way I like it, I don’t wanna live forever!”

i ve seen apocalypto from the middle,oops!,time for a rewrite i guess.I wouldn’t normally have put any kind of scene from cimmeria or conans youth, but if I had to I would want it similar to that. I remember conan boasting about killing a bull in his youth and the raid was to demonstrate the barbarism aspect of the theme i would explore in the first half. when conan arrives to civilization there would be another chain of events that would demonstrate that side of the theme.I wanted to show , although conan is a barbarian, the reality is there is no such thing as a noble savage as would be demonstrated in a scene like venarium.No man woman and child is left alive in that raid( of course this could never actually be in a movie due to the senstive climate, but crom it’s my imagination!) Of course I would have conan dealing with the realities of the hypocracies of our civilized world as the second half to challenge the viewer ,which really is better? Heh anything could be changed, but to give you an idea where it would likely be heading: after the raid conan grabs armour horse and loot from some of the dead and leaves for the civlizedworld .now the frost giants daughter is adapted, but I have conan just succeeding in having his way with the girl when he is struck down for days. a band of aesir find him and her garb as evidence and hire him as mercenary.this is all a small sequence it wouldbe a montage showing him fighting and looting until after one battle, non but conan are left alive ( maybe 4yrs later?)and he now chooses to head towards a city nearby.the main plot of the story would now take place mostly here. conan takes up a job as thief and hired enforcer/collector. he is hired by a politician to break in and steal something of importance for the purpose of blackmail.(think god in the bowl)to sum t up as quick as i can(wrote three pages ofa synopsis last night)wellhe basically witnesses a supernatural murder, gets accused , escapes gets betrayed by hi lover , arrested tried escapes but actually comes back for more after considering a return home to loot and kill the wizard who may have caused this mess( taken from god in the bowl and the tower of the elephant.) i have the villan in this piece named yara, and conan is aided by taurus of nemedia, but he lives in my version. too much to write here though maybe ill send it to you. it was fun to try and think out.

Just finished Slain -deamon killer. The paralells to venarium is striking, with the tribes gathering to make a stand against the roman ocuupatin force. And the autor writes in the introduction about not trying to make it politically correct and tidy for a modern audience; celtic warriors did not care if the massacre was extended to the Romans women children. The only thing to take the edge of the slaughter is the fact that the romans were an occupational force.

@ Finn. Yes, swedes are terribly correct and dull. Even the heatens “sacrifice” stuff like candy and fruit at the great celebrations (not so great now days). There used to be a bloodfestival in my town every 9 years, where 9 males of each creature (including men)was hung from trees to let their blood soak the roots (they even write about it at wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_at_Uppsala). I think we have found much better ways to pass our time, to be honest;)

Thank you fayric ( got my ticket reduced to a parking violation, fathers day weekend in full swing baby!!!)I never did much creative writing , except for school when you had to,all of this talk and input as to what works for conan what doesnt has inspired me to some extent to find time to do so, to put up or shut up so to speak. it seemed some of the guys (namely steve, thank you brother!) were relating their vision, and I guess it pulls triggers in the head.Hey if it impressed even one conan fan I must be doing something right. And again thanks to steve, reading that milius script also helps to give at least an approach to this.Btw my wife is half swede by descent, half austrian( though her father believed for 60 odd years of his life he was of croatian descent only found out recently the contrary.)but she always thnks she is right about everything…I chalked it up to her being a woman!!!har swords in the air brothers!!!

Fayric; I live a few miles from St.Albans which, during Roman occupation, was built and named as Verulanium and was the biggest frontier outpost in this country at the time. It is here that Queen Bouddica made her final stand against the Romans after sweeping down the country in a whirlwind holocaust of blood and slaughter before being successfully outmanouvered. Howard’s inspiration for Venarium comes from here though of course the barbarians wreak unholy vangeance in his para-phrased history.I wanted to get that graphic novel but it comes with a hefty price tag over here. M: Yes! I would be delighted to read your synopsis or draft or anything else you have written. Have a good weekend all.

The posters of the girls seem decent. Hard to mess that one up.

Fayric, it would be great to stand around and watch them try to put a dead male horse up in that tree. Good thing sweden didn’t have elephants.

Serg:Looking at those photos it took me a while to realize I was actually looking at two different people. Fayric: Just been over to wikepedia to look up Verulanium (after viewing your link) and seems I am in error on some points. The truth is much better! Queen Bouddica DID sack the city it seems.I guess she made her final stand further down south. Also, before the Romans came, it was known as Verulam. Sorry for the errors, I really should know this stuff. I wager “Slaine: Demon killer” told you all this anyhow. Pat Mills weaves history and mythology seemlessly. Oddly, if you visit St.Albans today there is virtually no mention of our most famous warrior queen. The big abbey dominating the top of the hill pays homage to England’s first Christian martyr and is a tourist attraction. Nothing of interest there for true barbarians.

Steve, you are right, mills made use of that in demon killer, but its kind of hard to know whats facts and whats not, with all those demons and warped heroes and stuff;) I think Slaine is wery different from Conan in many ways, but mills might do a good conan script if he tried.

M, know what you mean with not finding time. I dont have any kids of my own, but my brother got his second this spring, and time is wery precious to him these days. Your remark about your wife always thinking she is right made me remember something: Im sure you heard the old Zen koan “riddle” that goes “if a tree falls in the forest, where no man can hear it, does it still make a sound?”, well there is another version, “If a man speaks his mind in a forest, where no woman can hear him, is he still wrong?”. Just remembered that one;)

Fayric thats poetry in motion to me brother!I will head for the woods and discover the answer!I’ts toughin a climate today to raise a family when jobs are being cut school budgets are slashed and jobs that are steady, the corporations are pulling the ol” you’re lucky you even have a job bit’ as an excuse to forego saftey and instill unfair disciplinary practices.for an extreme example, If someone in my line of work sees me without my hardhat removed just to wipe sweat for a second, he could turn me its a 20 day suspension without pay as ppe standards violated( ppe means personal protective equipment)) and the unions not only dont fight it, they agreed to this!! no balls!or a backroom deal! my wifes boss is going to jail for tax fraud and the business may close next month.and so it goes, maybe thats why I’ve got such a preoccupation lately with escapism!!!:)Yeah as a new guy to slaine you can see there’s a ton of differences but conan has to be a major inspiration, mills has a fantastic understanding of myth and culture, as did reh.I’m new to it though, gotta find me a full graphic novel to read.

Been wondering about Waldgeist myself. He seems to be spending more time on the conan.com blog talking about stuff he has not even put up here. Maybe he lost interest in us. M: I sympathize with you on this world wide recession epidemic where the only people who loose are the menial workers. I am an attendant and clean public toilets. Its not the greatest job as you can imagine. Recently I have had my hours cut down. This after I had to fight them to get them to sign a standard contract to show that I was actually employed!Over here society favours those on benefits and you are certainly better off. I myself survived and lived quite well on busking and claiming housing benefit for about six years. Something which is quite legal so long as you register as being self-employed with the local council. It was great fun but now I guess it is time to take on some proper responsibility,but why so damn hard and unfair to be straight and law abiding? This is why Conan makes for such great entertainment and reading. Created in the throes of the great depression its easy to see why a hell raising adventurer at odds with society’s hypocrises would be so popular. The same appeal goes for Burroughs’ Tarzan too.

And i give you, steve credit for doing what you do for work. It takes a real man and,you’re willing to go out and work for a living. most of these spoiled american bitches here think they get out of college and become ceo’s!!I’ve held all sorts of jobs when I was younger, from construction to costomer servie rep to retail . all these spoiled bitches ,they all work at starbucks nowif they work at all, they live off mom and dad.I got lucky when i got the job i now have,I’d be a bum without it(like chinaski). I’ve been working the past ten years for one of the largest utilities in the world as a substation maintenence mechanic. I’ve worked around voltages as high as 345,000 !!I think the emf (electromagnetic field) has affected my brain though…

A bit of topic I guess, sorry about that, but I raelly blame the uneventfull progress of this movie.
(and I to wonder whats up with wald)

M: I have visited the conan.com forum under an abreviated version of Bran Mak Morn’s nom de plume in “Worms of the earth” so I guess we are not being kept out. I thought Wald might be a bit miffed about Age of Conan not going down that well here but I don’t think he would hold it against us. I know too he is as disenchanted with this movie as the rest of us- judging by comments I have read over there. Got to say I prefer this site, its less stuffy and certainly less formal. Too many rules.

Yeah I posted on conan.com once, they were talking about when would conan the destroyer be released on blu ray, so I told them a link to the 720p version. Immediately banned. Forums as great as long as no one has control or power. Then you can just say whatever you want.

We are waldgeist’s neglected stepchild hoping for a little sign of attention or love, but we won’t get it. HE’S TOO BUSY WITH HIS REAL FAMILY!!!

Conan.com is great portal for Info and stuff but the new conan movie topic is so so bitter—
—but its cool very cool—
Notice what we’ve started to talk about
I think its time for us to see SOME movie-related stuff
Hellooo? Fred,Marcus…Momoa for god’s sake, are you here?

Finn my man, we are no ones neglected stepchildren, we are here cause we choose to be here!As far as age of conan or anything conan,I doubt its the case though my man geist did seem to take it more personal than he should’ve. he didn’t program the thing he just put it out, being a good employee, plugged it.It was actually a ballsy thing to do if you think about it.I give waldgeist credit.But you guys know as well as i do , you put something with conans name on it out, you’re gonna get subjected to major scrutiny.It’s shouldn’t be anything personal,though we all lose our cool,.Hell I expected to be eaten alive for my ideas on an original conan movieI recently posted ..But I have no problem with that, as if there was something lame in it I expect honest criticism and I appreciate it. you know what, ya take it like a man and move on!But geist If you are reading, you’re a smart ,good man, hope things are cool and I hope we do hear from you soon with some news on the flick.

did I get something wrong? Is he a part of the project? I doubt that
I thought you guys dig something as I sometimes do

@serg:Not friendly as towards the movie or towards this blog? shit it’s his blog if he’s upset why doesnt he shut it down then? Maybe because it’s called the movie blog and it’s almost official sounding he doesnt want to bash it here as he is on conan.com?Shit maybe it’s just the fact that there is no news out there.If you shut it down, geist ( i think you are reading the comments here) just give us an advance notice, I personally would like to keep in touch with you guys here, I have steves info already).To any other fathers out there enjoy your father’s day!:)

He could still stop by and say “Hi”, thoug

Some movie-related stuff:
Author Sean Hood, who has made one of the latest rewrites for the screenplay for the new Conan movie, wrote about the influence of the 3-D Technology and he has described a few details about the film’s climax (Source: genrehacks.blogspot)! Excerpt:
“In short, 3-D is just another creative choice, one that the screenwriter should neither over-emphasize nor ignore.
So far, this best describes my experience on Conan. 3-D has indeed subtly effected the way we (writer, director and producers) are imagining the story. The Ruins in the climax, are looking more and more like a drawing by M.C. Escher – characters jump, fall, and swing their swords, in our imagination, in jaw-dropping 3-D.
Conversely, I imagine the quieter scenes preceding the climax, scenes that emphasize dialogue and character intimacy, as completely flat. I don’t imagine “3-D moments” but I do imagine the space – flat, deep, or limited – in which the action occurs.”

My Remarks: In his most popular works famous dutch artist and graphic designer M.C. Escher (1898-1972) was playing with perspectives, visual illusion and spectacular architecture. No wonder that Escher has influenced many production designs for movies, for example Labyrinth or The Name Of The Rose and parts of Hogwarts for the Harry Potter series.
For more infos about the artist search Google with keyword “mcescher”.

Stamfer: Yeah I read that link too but I’m damn confused whether these guys are all making the same movie or not as they all seem to be telling something different. 3D sounds gimmicky and lets face it a bit naff. M: Well most fans despise de Camp and with good reason. Though I would like to say I found his completion of “Drums of Tombalku” worthy of Howard and his completion of Howard’s rough synopsis of “Hall of the dead” top notch. Also he was an excellent writer. Novels such as “The Tritonian Ring”, “The tower of Zanid” and the Harold Shea series written with Fletcher Pratt during the ’40s make him one of fantasy’s giants like it or not. Too I read his “Citadels of mystery” some years back, a non-fiction book on the rising of the legends/myths behind Atlantis,Troy,the Pyramids,the Aztecs,etc. Fascinating stuff particularly his debunking of Atlantis by siting Plato’s “Republic” as a satirical parable on Greek government. By and large the book makes these myths more enduring and appealing,no less satisfying for being made aware of historical accuricies and events. De Camp, for all his faults, was too cynical to write convincingly of Conan despite his early enthusiasm for the character when he started reading Howard during the ’50s. Still I feel I must defend him tooo a point for all the enjoyable hours he gave me reading his own stuff way back in my teens.

Serg will be standing on top of a mountain of the bodies of all the people who said a negative word about the movie, resting his hand on his sword, a naked woman grabbing onto his leg.

or naked “well-punished” Nispel
Thanks though

Conan had golden hair ones! I never knew

Well it does say that shooting has finished on the studio site. I have a hunch that we’ll not just see official pics, but maybe a teaser as well come a month from now.If this is the case this could make or break for a lot of folk so lets be at least prepared for the worst and hope to be surprised.Ray ,if you’re around have you heard anything ?

M: Read that article ypu talked about over 3 years ago when I first started using the internet. I remember that guy’s referece to Lin Carter’s Thongor. De Camp authorized some of Carter’s Thongor stories to be rewritten as Conan ones. “Lair of the ice worm” from “Conan of Cimmeria” (utilized somewhat horribly in Milius’ King Conan I might add M!)is one I remember off hand. I loved Carter’s Thongor novels when I first started reading Conan. They are good unashamed FUN and have no grand pretensions. I heartily recommend “Thongor and the wizard of Lemuria” for a sunny afternoon read. Don’t forget too that without the Lancer paperbacks there would have been no Frazetta.

Nevermind, found it on another site.

oh and waldgeist it good to hear from you again…300 baby!

Looks okay…I get a WB/Xena/Sci Saturday night movie vibe with the usual boring production sets.

Rachel Nichols hopefully won’t have a lot of lines to speak. She was awful in GI Joe..then again everyone was in that movie.