171 replies to this topic

[Ironhand]

The original beast in Red Nails was a big lizard, probably about the size of a Komodo dragon.

[KG Thunder]

The original beast in Red Nails was a big lizard, probably about the size of a Komodo dragon.

Do you mean the 'crawler'? I always thought that was meant to be yet another giant snake monster, since it was described as "ophidian".

[Hollywood Hogan]

I would love for this animated movie to be finished. Loved that clip from youtube... Conan choking one enemy in the air with one arm and slashing other enemies with his sword, unrealistic but cool none the less!

Hollywood

[Taran]

There was a British company rumored to be producing their own version of A Devil in Iron a year or so ago as well. I don't know what happened with that project. But if Paradox can't get another stab at a big Hollywood Conan film off the ground, then they should let the independents have a crack at it.

Yeah...no. It's been pretty much confirmed that there wasn't any substance behind that rumour, just a fellow looking for attention.

While the clip had a nice feel to it animation-wise, why was the Atlantean sword there? And then the zombies that were put in to "punch up" the climax...aaaaargh.

[EM Erdelac]

Hey a note to the moderators - I tried to post this in the Red Nails animated thread but it was locked. Did a search for this and didn't find it anywhere, so apologies if somebody already posted it.

Here's some unfinished animation from the abandoned Red Sails project I found on youtube.

http://www.youtube.c...B09&playnext=36

[Kane]

I have to be honest. I'm not that excited by watching those vids.
Seems that every swing of Conan's sword is removing a head, limb, or cutting someone in two.
A greater variance of injuries and wounds would have made it more interesting to me.
As it was, it seemed a little repetative.

[RJMooreII]

Movie swordfights in general are terrible. Not everyone can be an expert in melee combat (I certainly am not), but it seems like some basic common sense and application of physics would make the action flow and be far more interesting. I have never thought that a plethora of flashy moves was 'cool' unless those moves made sense in the context of the fight. I think it's like Hollywood's terrible generic gunfights, as though slow-motion and frantic chaos can possibly be as driving as an actual tense hail of bullets. The same can be said of movie fist-fights, which are terribly undramatic and silly exchanges of full body blows. I think it's much more impressive to see someone step through a guard with incredible speed and nail the person senseless with two or three quick shots than to wail on each other like Don Fry. Not to slight the Mario of MMA, but that's a sporting event and not a real fight for life where you try to rip someone's fingers out of sockets and curb stomp them before their friends kill you.

Maybe I'm too left-brain, but I like my fantasy as realistic as possible. If a story doesn't make sense it isn't really a story, I think.

Edited by RJMooreII, 22 May 2012 - 02:29 AM.

[StriderSkorpion]

The original beast in Red Nails was a big lizard, probably about the size of a Komodo dragon.

Do you mean the 'crawler'? I always thought that was meant to be yet another giant snake monster, since it was described as "ophidian".

The crawler was a snake like creature, but Ironhand might be referring to the dragon. Of course, that was actually in the forest outside Xuchotl unlike in the clip.

[Ironhand]

No I was talking about the crawler. I assumed it was a lizard, I can't say why. Maybe because it was called a crawler not a wriggler or a sidewinder or a slitherer. The dragon of course was bigger than a horse.

[Kane]

IIRC, Conan mentions that the dragon was the size of a mastadon. So in my mind that means it was, roughly, the size of an elephant. I still picture the dragon as some form of alterted stegasaur. Because it is said that the dragons were created through necromatic methods using the bones of such creatures, I tend to think that they were semi-dinosaurs created through the mixing and matching of various bones and fossils. Thus creating monsters that were seen nowhere else in time or place.

[guilalah]

IIRC, Conan mentions that the dragon was the size of a mastadon. So in my mind that means it was, roughly, the size of an elephant. I still picture the dragon as some form of alterted stegasaur. Because it is said that the dragons were created through necromatic methods using the bones of such creatures, I tend to think that they were semi-dinosaurs created through the mixing and matching of various bones and fossils. Thus creating monsters that were seen nowhere else in time or place.

Makes sense. Could explain why the beast is in many respects stegosaurian, yet also carnivorous.

Edited by guilalah, 23 May 2012 - 08:12 PM.

[Ironhand]

I pictured the "dragon" as a spinosaurus. REH probably pictured a giant baby alligator with a fin glued to its back. That's what he would have been seeing on the movies of his day.

[BIFlight]

To pitch in here:

The creature is very clearly described as being much like a Stegosaurus (rows of plates on its back, spines at the end of the tail). Regarding the carnivorous aspect, keep in mind that dinosaurs were much less well-inderstood in that day. Films of that era, such as "The Lost Continent (which fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 may remmeber) depicted pretty much every species known in the day, including Apatosaurus and Triceratops, as vicious, brutal carnivores. Such views may seem strange to us now but at the time people had trouble imagining these ancient titans as behaving any other way. I think REH can be forgiven for describing a Stegosaurus as a stubbornly persistent meat-eater when even the scientific community of the day didn't relaly know better.

[Kane]

I pictured the "dragon" as a spinosaurus. REH probably pictured a giant baby alligator with a fin glued to its back. That's what he would have been seeing on the movies of his day.

While the Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon serials did use the 'fin on a lizard', I got the feeling that the dragon may be more inspired by the Stegosaur from the film "King Kong".

[guilalah]

The reptiles w/ fins glue'd on foot-age, used as stock footage in so many 50's films, comes from the 1940 film 'One Million B.C.'. That's several years after Howard's death. I would think Howard would have been far more familiar with stop-action animation of dinosaurs.

[StriderSkorpion]

No I was talking about the crawler. I assumed it was a lizard, I can't say why. Maybe because it was called a crawler not a wriggler or a sidewinder or a slitherer. The dragon of course was bigger than a horse.

Yeah, reading comprehension fail on my part regarding the Komodo reference. For some reason I thought you were refering to the way it looked.

[turko]

Whoever is responsible for this should put it up on Kickstarter so they can get it finished.

[droc]

Movie swordfights in general are terrible. Not everyone can be an expert in melee combat (I certainly am not), but it seems like some basic common sense and application of physics would make the action flow and be far more interesting. I have never thought that a plethora of flashy moves was 'cool' unless those moves made sense in the context of the fight. I think it's like Hollywood's terrible generic gunfights, as though slow-motion and frantic chaos can possibly be as driving as an actual tense hail of bullets. The same can be said of movie fist-fights, which are terribly undramatic and silly exchanges of full body blows. I think it's much more impressive to see someone step through a guard with incredible speed and nail the person senseless with two or three quick shots than to wail on each other like Don Fry. Not to slight the Mario of MMA, but that's a sporting event and not a real fight for life where you try to rip someone's fingers out of sockets and curb stomp them before their friends kill you.

Maybe I'm too left-brain, but I like my fantasy as realistic as possible. If a story doesn't make sense it isn't really a story, I think.

While I agree with you about the sword fights, most of the street fights I've seen have mostly been very poor boxing and wrestling (or rather hugging).

Yes, in theory there are no rules and people try to rip eyes out, break fingers etc, but only those of us trained in that type of vicious combat even think about doing that in a fight, for most others it's wail, grab, hockey punch, panic, rinse and repeat. At least from my experience.

Girls are different though, they go for eyes, balls, hair, scratching etc from instinct.

Oh, and Never EVER, say bad things about Don Frye, he might just be lurking around the corner

DROC

[ConquerorWyrm]

For the Crawler, I pictured something like a komodo dragon the size of a salt water croc...probably about 15' nose to tail. The dragon, the body is described in girth and shape to be like that of a gila monster or Mexican beaded lizard with the short, stubby legs yet with spines, not plates down the back. The tail is curious as sin here as it is described as being curled like that of a scorpion.

As for the Red Nails animated film, I so hope it is never finished. By description in the story, Conan is dressed as a corsair. Here he is, as he is generally depicted, as Breech-Cloth Clad Barbarian Man who for some reason has the time to shave all his chest hair off...you know, that which is described in different stories as being present. Set be praised, but I hate Generic Breech-Cloth Clad Barbarian Man! By this point in his career, Conan had pretty much done everything and traveled everywhere. He's not the terrified and illiterate youth from God In The Bowl. And ZOMBIES! Whoever wrote the script for this should be keel-hauled hard! There are no zombies in that story and by throwing them in, my god, might as well change the name of the hero to Fred 'cause that sure ain't Conan. Seriously, of all the Conan tales, this one is the most compact and insular. Everything vital to the story is within the pages. The action fulfills itself with what is in the story itself. It doesn't need any stupid zombies. Being what the story is, a close set illustration of the decay of society, well, can't get past the concept of idiotic zombies. Really, the story translates pefectly if left unaltered, just scripted. Of all the Conan tales, this one is the one that could actually be done word for word, scene for scene as a film without modification.

May the Red Nails animated film fade like the memories of Acheron.

[Red Amra]

^{ZOMBIES! Argh...Crom and Steel!}