Conan the Barbarian (1982 franchise)

Dagoth from Conan the Destroyer (1984 film)...

In addition to some similarly-themed sword-and-sorcery films set in thinly-veiled versions of the same setting, the franchise includes the films:

• Conan the Barbarian (1982 film)
• Conan the Destroyer (1984 film)
• Red Sonja (1985 film)
• Conan the Adventurer (1993 series, animated)
• Conan the Adventurer (1997 series, live action)
• Kull the Conqueror (1997 film)
• Conan the Barbarian (2011 film remake)
• The Legend of Conan (upcoming)

Summary

The (film version) of the adventures of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and friends, in prehistoric Hyperborea during the Hyborian Age.

Details

• Release Date: 1982-present
• Country/Language: USA, English
• Genres/Technical: Fantasy
• Setting: Hyborian Age
• Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, Brigitte Nielsen, Tia Carerre, Sandahl Bergman, Kevin Sorbo, Jason Momoa, et.al.
• Director: John Milius, Richard Fleischer, et.al.
• Writer: John Milius, Oliver Stone, based on characters and setting created by Robert E. Howard
• Producer/Production Co: Dino De Laurentiis Corporation, et.al.
• Trailer: (1982), (1984), (1985), (1997), (2011)
• TVTropes: (1982), (1984), (1985), (2011)
• IMDB: (1982), (1984), (1985), (1993 animated), (1997 series), (link), (indev), (2011)
• See also: (10,000 BC), (The Sword & The Sorceror 1982), (Beastmaster 1), (Beastmaster 2), (Beastmaster 3), (Ladyhawke), (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085113/ Wizards and Warriors series]), (Krull), (Yor: Hunter from the Future)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: R (Nudity, Adult Content and Violence)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• S____ (One Tentacle: Debateably Lovecraftian; has almost no direct connection to Lovecraft's work)

Although there is some crossover between Robert E. Howard's Conan stories and the shared universe of the "Cthulhu Mythos", it's not particularly evident from the films, though the monsters, weird cults, and sorcery might be useful for some ideas....

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• (review needed!)

Synopsis

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982): Orphaned boy Conan is enslaved after his village is destroyed by the forces of vicious necromancer Thulsa Doom, and is compelled to push "The Wheel of Pain" for many years. Once he reaches adulthood, Conan sets off across the prehistoric landscape of the Hyborian Age in search of the man who killed his family and stole his father's sword. With beautiful warrior Valeria and archer Subotai, he faces a supernatural evil.

CONAN THE DESTROYER: In his second cinematic adventure, the mighty warrior Conan is tricked into working for the scheming Queen Taramis. Along with finding a mystical horn, Conan and his allies, which include the fierce fighter, Zula, and the wisecracking sorcerer, Akiro, must protect the beautiful young Princess Jehnna. With deception and danger at every turn, Conan has to use all of his power to defeat the evil foes that stand in his way.

RED SONJA: Power-hungry Queen Gedren captures the priestesses guarding the Talisman, a mystical orb that created and can destroy the world. But one of the priestesses escapes and seeks out her warrior sister, Red Sonja, to warn her about Gedren's plan for world domination. Lord Kalidor (a Conan-like character played by Schwarzenegger), the Talisman's keeper, insists on helping Sonja, and though she scorns the assistance of any man, she soon gains respect for Kalidor's fighting prowess.

KULL THE CONQUEROR: Intended to be a third Conan film. After five years as a slave, warrior Kull travels to the shores of the fantastical kingdom of Valusia, where he slays mad King Borna. Inheriting the crown, Kull begins an ambitious program of bringing freedom and tolerance to Valusia, which displeases Gen. Taligaro and the royal court's advisers. Determined to unseat Kull, Taligaro has a wizard resurrect the witch Akivasha to seduce and destroy the new monarch.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN 2011: A powerful Cimmerian warrior, Conan carves a bloody path across the land of Hyboria on a personal vendetta. That soon turns into a an epic battle against evil, for Conan's mortal enemy, Khalar Zym, seeks the legendary Mask of Acheron. The artifact will enable Khalar Zym to raise his wife from the dead and achieve immortality for himself, but it will also unleash a malevolent force upon the land, and only Conan and his companions can stop it.

Notes

Mythos Elements

• deity Father Set the Snake God
• deity Dagoth
• deity Crom
• various sorcerers, wizards, and cultists
• villain Thulsa Doom (the wizard in the 1982 film seems to be based more closely on Thoth Amon)
• villain Thoth Amon
• villains Tsotha-Lanti, Thugra Khotan, Kathulos, Yah Chieng, and Xaltotun may have appeared in direct or "expy" incarnations in some film adaptations
• Bat Men (appear in The Beastmaster (1982 film), a Conan-clone)
• Octopus Monster (2011 film)
• Voormis and/or Gnophkehs
• Dragon
• Serpent People
• King Kull
• Conan the Barbarian
• setting Thurian Age
• setting Hyborian Age

See Also

Though not explicitly set in the same universe, these films are at the very least set in a "with the serial numbers filed off" copy of the setting:

• 10,000 BC (2008 film) - Mammoth hunter D'Leh has long been in love with a beautiful, blue-eyed tribeswoman named Evolet. After horseback-riding raiders serving the last immortal survivor of Atlantis kidnap most of his D'Leh's fellow tribesmen as well as Evolet, D'Leh sets out on a dangerous trek across a Pangaean continent full of savage monsters to rescue her from her captors. (The film-maker acknowledges that his setting was inspired by Robert E. Howard's Hyborian Age setting.)
• The Beastmaster (1982 film) - Don Coscarelli's low-budget epic fantasy film in the mold of Conan the Barbarian. Prehistoric Dar uses ESP with animals to save a slave girl from a sorcerer. Spawned a number of even lower-budget sequels, and a television series:
  • Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991 film) - Prehistoric Dar goes by time warp to Los Angeles to smite his laser-equipped long-lost brother.
  • Beastmaster III: The Eye of Braxus (1996 film) - The Beastmaster must stop an evil lord from claiming a magic gem that will bring a deadly god to life.
  • The Beast Master (1999 series) - The sword and sorcery adventures of a wandering adventurer who has the ability to communicate with animals.
• The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982 film) - A medieval prince rescues a damsel and avenges his slain family with a triple-edged sword.
• Wizards and Warriors (1983 series) - In this deconstruction of the sword-and-sorcery genre, the respective princes of two neighbouring kingdoms come into repeated conflict: good Prince Erik Greystone, engaged to Princess Ariel, fights the evil Prince Dirk Blackpool; both princes rely on wizards and witches of ambiguous morality and allegiance in their conflicts with each other.
• Ladyhawke (1985 film) - Upon breaking out of a dungeon, a youthful thief befriends an honorable knight and the knight's lover, a beautiful girl cursed by the jealous Bishop of Aquila to change into a hawk except a moment at twilight; the party join together in a dangerous plot to overthrow the Bishop and break his evil enchantment.
• Krull (1983 film) - A prince and a fellowship of companions set out to rescue his bride from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their fantasy world.
• Yor: Hunter from the Future (1983 film) - A warrior seeks his true origins in a seemingly prehistoric wasteland.

Additionally, Robert E. Howard's original stories have spawned a virtually countless number of stories and novels, comic books, role-playing and video games, and other media based more or less directly on the original stories, or created in thinly-disguised imitation of them.