Destroyer vs Barbarian
I for one liked Conan The Destroyer better.
shareConan the Barbarian is a good film, very nearly a great one. I own it, and have seen it many times, but, personally, I find myself watching Conan the Destroyer more often.
Is it flawed? Yes. Does it have plot holes? You bet. Bad acting? Here and there. Is it watered down compared to the first film? Most definitely. All of these criticisms made against Destroyer are absolutely true, and I won't pretend it is a good movie or even in the same league as its predecessor (although it could have been, if handled correctly).
But the reason I prefer it is because it's a "watch it anytime" movie.
Barbarian while a classic in the eyes of many is a pretty dark and serious film. Its epic scope also means a very long and involved plot. It's a movie I need to be in the right mood to watch, and I'm not in that mood very often.
Destroyer, conversely, has a fairly simplistic plot and gets right down to business from the start, with no pretense of being anything other than an excuse for half-naked guys to swipe at one another with swords and to have a gross monster at the end. I can throw it into my DVD player whenever and enjoy it
That, and, all jokes aside, I do like the idea of the jeweled horn being put in the forehead of a statue to bring it to life. It's just so ridiculous that it intrigues me. Despite the blatant reuse of the orgy chamber music from the first film, the ceremony wherein they bring Dagoth's statue to life and the chaos that ensues is one of my favorite movie climaxes ever.
So, in conclusion, Barbarian is for when you want a movie with a deep story and a serious tone, Destroyer is for when you just want to watch an action movie.
I own both, but I have a harder time watching Destroyer. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, but I like the more serious dark tone of the first movie. The one good thing about Destroyer, is that I can sit down and watch with my 7 year old. You can't do that with Barbarian, unless it's the TV edited version. I guess I'm not a big fan of the comic relief they thought they had to add to Destroyer with the sidekick. And some of the other characters are just plain cheesy or annoying. The "Bad Guys" in Barbarian are much better. You have Thulsa Doom and his minions vs the trademark evil Queen in Destroyer. Not even a close comparison. The special effects were better in Barbarian. The characters were better, the plot was better, and of course the score was better. I don't think there has been a better score for a Fantasy movie than Barbarian. Other movies have used some parts of the score in various ways. Even the Gladiator used some Barbarian music in their trailors. Destroyer to me is more like a movie that the SyFy channel would make for TV. Barbarian to me, equates more to a "Lord of the Rings" type movie. Destroyer equates to a more "Beastmaster" type movie. Just my 2 cents.
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