Conan the Barbarian (2011)

An vengeful barbarian warrior sets off to get his revenge on the evil warlord who attacked his village and murdered his father when he was a boy.

Director:

Marcus Nispel

Writers:

Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer,

Stars:

Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Ron Perlman

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Momoa	...	Conan
Stephen Lang	...	Khalar Zym
Rachel Nichols	...	Tamara
Ron Perlman	...	Corin
Rose McGowan	...	Marique
Bob Sapp	...	Ukafa
Leo Howard	...	Young Conan
Steven O'Donnell	...	Lucius
Nonso Anozie	...	Artus
Raad Rawi	...	Fassir
Laila Rouass	...	Fialla
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Ela-Shan
Milton Welsh	...	Remo
Borislav Iliev	...	Wild Man
Nathan Jones	...	Akhun

Storyline

A quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the fierce Cimmerian warrior soon turns into an epic battle against hulking rivals, horrific monsters, and impossible odds, as Conan realizes he is the only hope of saving the great nations of Hyboria from an encroaching reign of supernatural evil.

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Plot Keywords:

warrior | revenge | boy | barbarian | battle | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, some sexuality and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate [us] Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Conan

Filming Locations:

Bulgaria

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,021,215 (USA) (19 August 2011)

Gross:

$21,270,904 (USA) (30 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nu Image Films, Millennium Films, Paradox Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ship "Hornet" is a fairly accurate replica of a 17-18th Century Chinese junk, especially with its three square sails.

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Goofs

During the fight on the ship, it starts of being night, but ends being with the sun out.

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Quotes

Khalar Zym: Behold... and despair... your new master!

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Connections

Featured in Great Movie Mistakes IV (2012)

User Reviews

Conan remake that should never have been

Conan the Barbarian is born in war, a product of blood and steel. Thus the film should be a visceral, violent portrayal of a warrior set against the fantasy backdrop of Robert E. Howard's Hyboria. What emerges on screen is a set of one dimensional characters placed in a world that feels half heatedly brought to life.

The film has been accused of being like viewing a video game. I would disagree. The nature of video games, particularly those of the fantasy and RPG genres, is immersion. There is no immersion here. We flit from place to place in a lame attempt to show the vastness of the world through a mediocre CGI backdrop of a castle or slave camp or pirate city. None are ever fully realised before Conan jaunts off somewhere else. The violence itself is the most disappointing. Nispel manages to create fight scenes that lack the kinetic quality of a dance. The camera is misplaced, the editing focusing on the wrong points. You never feel the hits, the power of the blows or Conan's qualities as a warrior. It feels clumsy.

There are more grunts and warcries than lines of dialogue and those spoken feel like the actors are running them in rehearsal for the first time. There is no commitment to the lines so again the audience fails to immerse in their characters. McGowen in contrast overly plays the sorcerer.

Given this is a reboot, the film does not feel fresh, but instead feels dated. It's almost as though Nispel wanted it to feel like the 1982 version, but taking only the worst qualities and none of the charm. Conan reinforces the assertion of refraining from producing reboots where there is nothing original the writers or director bring to the table. Conan is a stale rehash that will offer no reward to its audience.