Conan The Destroyer (1984) Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Tracey Walter, Mako, Sarah Douglas, Olivia d'Abo, Pat Roach, Jeff Corey, Sven-Ole Thorsen, André the Giant and Ferdy Mayne Directed By: Richard Fleischer Review THE MOST POWERFUL LEGEND OF ALL IS BACK IN A NEW ADVENTURE. After the first Conan film making it big at the box office a sequel was on the cards an not just a sequel but apparently Arnold was signed on for a ten year contract with Deno De Laurentiis, the plan was to produce a Conan movie every two years. After watching this I wish that was the case. Conan the Destroyer features the hero (Arnold Schwarzenegger) as he is commissioned by the queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) to safely escort a teen princess (Olivia D'Abo) and her powerful bodyguard (Wilt Chamberlain) to a far away castle to retrieve the magic Horn of Dagon. Unknown to Conan, the queen plans to sacrifice the princess when she returns and inherit her kingdom after the bodyguard kills Conan. The queen's plans fail to take into consideration Conan's strength and cunning and the abilities of his sidekicks: the eccentric wizard Akiro (Mako), the wild woman Zula (Grace Jones), and the inept Malak (Tracey Walter). Together the hero and his allies must defeat both mortal and supernatural foes in this voyage to sword-and-sorcery land. This follow-up was made to address the issues fans had with the first movie. They put in a higher fantasy element and the film was more outlandish and colorful much like the comic from Marvel(funny actually) from the 1970s-1993. It left fans of the first film disappointed(shocked I am not) many cited the change of tone and push for a more family- friendly approach as the wrong way to go but on the plus side some critics felt it was a fun sword/sorcery film that was obviously faithful to the Marvel comics, since Edward R. Pressman suggested that the writer of those comics Roy Thomas write the script. The ending was suppose to have a demon instead but things seemed to expensive and they had to be scaled down. Roy and Gerry weren't happy with the end result of the script. Universal and Dino wanted to maximize profits for the sequel and the best course of action was to try and reduce the rating to a PG and appeal to younger viewers. Arnold expressed his concern on the reduced violence he felt they were going to alienate the fans and would cause problems with its success, but he still had fun making the film. Arnold is back and he does a pretty good job in the film, I can't necessarily say that he was just as good as he was in the first because I don't think hes that good here but hes still the person that will always come to mind when I think of Conan. He put on an extra ten pounds for the role. Sarah Dogulas who plays queen Taramia is just as great as she is in another comic book movie Superman II. Grace Jones plays Zula a character who was originally a man and created by Roy Thomas in the Marvel comics. Olivia d'Abo in her film debut and was only 15 years old at the time of shooting plays the beautiful princess Jehnna, for her film debut she did pretty good but was mostly screaming every time she got captured which for some could be pretty annoying but it didn't bother me. Tracey Walter plays Malick a thief who works along side Conan and is a bit of a coward who doesn't care much for the quest. Mako is back as Akiro the wizard to help Conan fight off other wizards along the way and is only other returning cast member from the first movie. The movies visual effects are still pretty great despite usage of blue screen. But the miniatures are the effects that are the best, like the castles and expand the world. The beast the wizard turns into is a nice design but doesn't give the actor much to do with his facial features. The winged creature that he also turns into is also nicely executed. The films goal was not only to capitalize on the success of the first film but to also make a more comic book style sword and sorcery adventure. The story and other characters do feel pretty weak given how good there performers are. The film does have quite a few problems such as that and can suck you out of it if your looking for something more. The tone is also not consistent with its first movie which is kind of problem considering how masterful I think that movie is. Conan The Destroyer is a fun watch but don't expect the first movie. Its goal was to have a higher fantasy elements and be more colorful towards children. With that in mind I think its great as a stand- alone film not as a sequel and I'm a huge sucker for sword/sorcery. It has good performances and great action and music but it is weak on story and side characters. Call me crazy but I still love it just as much as the first but for totally different reason I'm giving Conan The Destroyer a five out of five.

Sequel to Conan the Barbarian sees Conan (Arnold Schwarzenegger) leading a group of characters on a quest. Evil Queen Taramis (Sarah Douglas) promises to bring Conan's dead love Valeria back to life if he can protect her niece Jehnna (Olivia d'Abo) as she journeys to retrieve a jewel that has something to do with a prophecy. It's all bull though, as the Queen intends to kill Conan and friends once their task is through and sacrifice virgin Jehnna to the god Dagoth.This sequel is OK but nowhere near as good as the first film. More comedy and watered-down violence don't do much to help it. Arnold seems to play this a little tongue-in-cheek at times, unlike the first one where he played it straight. I had a huge childhood crush on Olivia d'Abo from this movie. She's actually one of the better parts, cast-wise. Basketball player Wilt Chamberlain plays her bodyguard Bombaata. As an actor, he's a great basketball player. Mako returns from the first film and is fine. He should have been the only comic relief but alas, we have the terrible Tracey Walter as Malak, Arnold's moronic thief sidekick. Sarah Douglas always makes for a good villain. Lastly, we have androgynous '80s curiosity Grace Jones as the animalistic Zula. She's amusing to watch, though usually for the wrong reasons. Still, entertaining is entertaining. Altogether it's a weak sequel but not without its merits and hard to hate. It's fun and enjoyable despite its faults.

Obvious its not, because it was made for kids. So cheesy its almost not worth watching. They got it on TV now. Conan the Barbarian was awesome compared to this one. Who ever thought this would be a hit switching the rating lower for a wider audience is stupid. They do it all the time for horror movies, and that is why a lot of horror movies suck, is the PG-13 rating. Good luck directors that keep doing it that way.Then there is not enough lines here to submit the review. That is stupid. There is nothing much good about this movie to say, unless I am under 13 years of age, which I am not. These people that make movies need to realize that kids are not the only people in this world. Just because they are the future, which the future is looking worse anyways. No need to worry about it since it will end eventually anyways.

Mildly entertaining sequel to "Conan the Barbarian" is expectedly not in the same league as its predecessor. The basic problem is a common one for many viewers: this is a somewhat watered-down, PG rated Conan that just doesn't have a lot of intensity. Ultimately it gets too fantastically silly for its own good, in an obvious attempt to bring in the younger audience. It's not the same seeing Conan in this kind of juvenile adventure. The quest that Conan and comrades embark on is also lacking in any truly perilous episodes. It certainly was typical of the kind of low grade stuff that veteran director Richard Fleischer ("20000 Leagues Under the Sea", "The Narrow Margin") was churning out at this stage in his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the muscle bound Cimmerian warrior who is approached by an icy Queen (Sarah Douglas) with an offer: accompany a princess named Jehnna (Olivia d'Abo) on a journey she must take according to prophecy. In return, she will restore his great love Valeria to life. Of course, this Queen is played by Douglas, otherwise known as Ursa in two of the "Superman" movies, so we KNOW that she's going to have a nefarious agenda going on. Conan is accompanied by characters such as Bombaata (basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, in his only film role), a feisty fighter named Zula (the always striking Grace Jones), a goof ball thief, Malak (Tracey Walter), and the wizard Akiro (Mako, also returning from the first film). On location filming in Mexico helps a great deal, as well as solid work from talents such as production designer Pier Luigi Basile and the legendary Jack Cardiff. The music by Basil Poledouris is also a very worthy component. Carlo Rambaldi created the amusingly designed monster-god Dagoth, and it's highly amusing to note that this creation was played by none other than wrestling star Andre Roussimoff, a.k.a. Andre the Giant. Unfortunately there's no real sense of an epic to this sequel, and while there is violence, it doesn't have a lot of punch to it. The finale when Dagoth comes to life at least isn't a bad one. The acting is either hammy (Mako), adequate, or hilariously stiff (Chamberlain and Jones). Walter, while ordinarily a fine character actor, acts too contemporary and is simply out of place here. All things considered, this viewer can see why some fantasy fans would be less than satisfied with "Conan the Destroyer". It's actually not that bad as entertainment, but it's better to take it on its own rather than compare it to "Barbarian", as it would always come up short. Five out of 10.