294 replies to this topic

[Kortoso]

[ThuleanWarrior]

That is even shorter than the fur diapers. I didn't think that was humanly possible.

[docpod]

That is even shorter than the fur diapers. I didn't think that was humanly possible.

Vladimir Palahniuk aka Jack Palance looks great in that shot. Look at the size of those leg muscles. The face is full of good natured menace. It was filmed in Italy and those Eye-Tie peplum movie directors seems obsessed with leather hot pants.

Morgan

[ThuleanWarrior]

Is Jack Palance Russian? I didn't know that if so. Whatever he is he is a cool ass dude. I used to love Ripley's Believe it or Not when I was a kid.

[Ironhand]

Try
http://www.amazon.co...l/dp/B002ZSHM0Q

[docpod]

Is Jack Palance Russian? I didn't know that if so. Whatever he is he is a cool ass dude. I used to love Ripley's Believe it or Not when I was a kid.

Ukrainian descent, grew up in Pennsylvania.

Morgan

[Taranaich]

Jack Palance played the best Conan in "Revak the Rebel."

Now this I have to check out, considering Palance in Sign of the Pagan is my go-to for "best Conan performance in a non-Conan film."

[Thak]

I think Jason did a great job, but i would pick Arnold. Arnold had that massive physical appearance, that for me is Conan.

[Ironhand]

Jason had the speed, agility, and cat-like grace that, to me, is Conan.

He also had the badass attitude and gigantic mirth of Conan.

Edited by Ironhand, 19 September 2011 - 02:38 AM.

[warhead]

Jason is probably the most agile guy I seen in handling a big sword on screen, he was quick brutal and precise, he definately showed Conan to be a badass in skill and attitude, made Arnold look a little slow and tamed.

[Cuchulain]

I could see Jason as a thief, it is hard to imagine Arnold moving quietly unless everyone is chanting to some snake god

[awesomeshotdude]

I voted neither......they just didn't have what it takes to pull off a convincing Conan at all. They both provided something different from the other, but still both missed the mark entirely!

[amster]

As a matter of fact as I was walking out of the theater I over heard...and get this a 13 year old say "what a suck mud movie,the acter playing Conan couldn't pass for a Cimmerian if his life depended on it,he looked like Conan the Mongol."

That 13 year old's who I picked up the Conan the Mongol line from.

Yes, we should all definately look to the 13 year olds of the world as our role models when forming our own opinions, because everyone knows how wise and knowledgeable 13 year olds are about such things.

Momoa gets my vote, obviously.

[Kahn]

Having just watched the new Conan movie I also felt neither of them. Both had some aspects of the character to a degree. I actually think Dwayne Johnson's Scorpion King character was more like Conan than the pair of them.

Well..... time for me to be hitting the old dusty trail!

[carljason]

Conan in the Chronicles of Conan is described as "giant" or "massive" and from this you get the impression that Conan is distinctly taller and bigger built than the average person in the Hyborianage. Based on this Arnie surely is the closest match, although Jason is well toned he doesn’t stand out and there are countless guys like him in my gym. Personality wise I feel that neither come close, Arnie can’t act and Jason’s betrayal seems to be too cavalier and arrogant. From what I perceive in the Chronicle’s he has a more mature attitude almost strong silent type confident but not arrogant, as one of the other post mentions may be that betrayed by the Scorpion King or King Leonidas, Aragorn or even Riddick from the Chronicles of Riddick.

[carljason]

After reading the comments of which is better Arnie or Jason i feel neither give a full already impression, so who do you think would be a better choice?

[Ironhand]

Conan in the Chronicles of Conan is described as "giant" or "massive" and from this you get the impression that Conan is distinctly taller and bigger built than the average person in the Hyborianage. Based on this Arnie surely is the closest match, although Jason is well toned he doesn’t stand out and there are countless guys like him in my gym. Personality wise I feel that neither come close, Arnie can’t act and Jason’s betrayal seems to be too cavalier and arrogant. From what I perceive in the Chronicle’s he has a more mature attitude almost strong silent type confident but not arrogant, as one of the other post mentions may be that betrayed by the Scorpion King or King Leonidas, Aragorn or even Riddick from the Chronicles of Riddick.

But Conan is not in your gym. I'm sure that Jason is distinctly taller and bigger built than the average person in the Hyborian Age. I, and a number of others, think that Jason's portrayal did justice to Conan. I'm not sure how old Conan is supposed to be in CTB2011, but I don't think he is fully mature.

[amster]

Personality wise I feel that neither come close, Arnie can’t act and Jason’s betrayal seems to be too cavalier and arrogant.

I resent that.

[Kortoso]

Carl, I think you *probably* meant "portrayal".

[JainkhulTamhair]

Arnold lacked acting skills but had some charisma in the first Conan attempt .

He cried at J.E.Jones' feet? His hair was dark blond? He practised his sword moves with a khitan? Blame it on Milius! After having "acted" in films that had no relation at all to sword and sorcery, it wasn't the same Arnold at all we saw before in that atrocious "Hercules in New York". In the 1982 Conan he acted like a true barbarian, even though it wasn't Conan we saw in this depiction.

Momoa's case is completely different : he wanted that role, he was supposed to be able to inspire fear and admiration, but instead he played the fake tough guy with a fake low growly voice, like someone pulling a joke on the America's got talent jury who'd sing a pop song while imitating George Corpsegrinder from Cannibal Corpse.
Momoa's moves were more than acceptable in conan 2011, I'd rather blame the choreographers this time : when battling Zym, there is a moment when they fall on Tamara's sacrifice wheel where we see Conan and Zym just waving their swords without any contact...as if in a cheap TV series.
Momoa did a lot of progress in his fighting compared to the lousy amateur fights and stunts in Stargate Atlantis.
His major mistake was to take the movie for granted...and to GRUNT his way through, acting mean while looking rather too friendly and absolutely not concerned by the events. Young Conan's portrayal was more gutsy than the adult Conan version, says it all, even if I strongly dislike the Rapanui ripoff egg race scene and the fight with the Iroquois looking picts.
The rest is hard to explain, I do not recognize Momoa as the Conan I've read in Howard's yarns, his presence on-screen didn't make him "pop out" compared to the other actors. Lang/Zym eclipsed him totally.
J.E Jones in the 1982 Conan didn't eclipse Arnold even though Jones is a stellar actor: the movie direction and Arnold's charisma (which made for his lack of acting) made a more than acceptable blend.

The finale with Arnold cutting Jones' head off in 1982 : nowhere in Conan 2011 do Lang and Momoa share a similar grandiose moment of tension (even though the barbaric clone in 1982 wasn't the Conan we know, how many times will I have to repeat it ) . DOT.

No, the real problem is that Conan 2011 wasn't centered on Momoa/Conan, Conan was just another character amongst others, floating around in the movie. Conan 1982 with all it's mistakes (as to not being faithful to Howard's Conan) was a well made movie and Milius bet all his money on the barbarian he coined "Conan". The story was about how great Conan was, everything was about one person only: Conan.
Conan 2011 is all about a generic barbarian who happens to resemble the cover on Conan #0 from Dark Horse but more friendly, younger, and absolutely not awe inspiring.

It's a crime, because Momoa would have been perfect in a few years from now, after more acting lessons, after having ceased to act "mean" by growling unnaturaly, after having trained in a hardcore fashion to bulk up (but avoiding the unnatural freaky and veiny look modern bodybuilders of the 2000's have) : the transformation from pretty boy to Conan we've witnessed in Conan 2011 was INCOMPLETE, Momoa got stuck in the middle of the process.

I have the impression that many here feel that since Conan 2011 showed us a slightly hairy, half-bodybuilder, dark haired Conan with a tunic and no fur loincloth as in Conan the Destroyer, that it was "in the pocket" with having Momoa as Conan.
Graphically, Buscema always drew a realistic BUT loinclothed Conan, still this version remains a fan favourite. Oh and Conan the Barbarian in 1982 never had any loincloth at all, that's Fleischer's fault in the funny sequel.
It's the ATTITUDE which counts, not the sole appearance.



In the end I'd say Arnold made a lot of progress when he played Conan, he never lifted a sword before that and played in films not even worth mentioning before his Conan role.
Momoa made progress only in fighting skills and we should thank him for that, but his acting didn't evolve at all, he stuck himself into a "mean boy" caricature to appear tough and the rest of the time he acted like a friendly sidekick, taking probably inspiration from Kevin Sorbo in the Hercules series. The kind of guy you'd love to joke with and drink a few beers: that doesn't resume the Conan essence to me , folks, it's small detail that the movie director insited like hell upon, thinking that the public would accept a drinking, joking barbarian as Conan.
As for the infamous "not enough mass" problem, Momoa looked too soft, it wasn't really a matter of pure mass,but rather of general posture and definition even though a good handful of extra -lean- pounds would have been more than welcome .
Arnold wasn't that bulky, look at bodybuilders nowadays, now that's unnatural.

With Arnold we had an impressive barbarian who unfortunately wasn't Conan, while with Momoa we had Conan's easy going sidekick instead of Conan himself.

I'm NOT voting for anyone, I'm just putting a big symbolic +1 for the charisma and presence for Arnold. What could have been done with Momoa was wasted away and he has been left out in the wild with no real directing.

I say take someone new for a next Conan movie, leave Arnold and Momoa for cameos.
Dolph Lundgren with black hair (wig) and smoldering blue eyes would be far more convincing as a seasoned Conan or even as Conan the King.

Edited by JainkhulTamhair, 22 November 2011 - 07:51 PM.