USA, 2011: Conan the Barbarian

**Styygens** · Posted On: 8/26/2011 5:53pm

I want to clarify about the Whole Wide World. It's a biopic that uses REH's one and only romatic relationship as the plot hook. It's not an actionfest. When I say D'Onofrio is practically playing Conan "by the end" I mean "by the end of that scene." If you watch it again, I think you'll see what I mean; but if you're cringing, well, there's a point to that too. They play up his oddball qualities in the movie -- maybe a little more than is realistic.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 8/26/2011 5:54pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

Howard came out with Conan like 20 years before Marvel picked it up.

Clarification: As a good nerd I know of course that Conan's first appeareance was in "The Phoenix and the Sword", though Google doesn't help me remember the year.

The background to the lawsuit is that Conan had a renaissance in the late 60s and early 70s, mainly because Lyon Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter wrote a few epigonic stories ("Conan the Wanderer") and trimmed down the latent racism and sexism in Howard's tales.

That, in turn, ignited the Marvel comic book series, which in turn ignited a fad of fantasy comic treatments of similar stuff - see, the Fire & Ice movie, Thundarr the Barbarian, or He-Man.

The new Conan movie is very, very close to some of those old comics, IIRC. That is why Stan Lee is up those guys' butt again, IIRC.

Also, most Conan tales are public domain now, and available via gutenberg or as audiobooks on librivox. Go look for something called "Red Nails", and enjoy!

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 8/26/2011 6:01pm

Originally Posted by Styygens

I wrote it in Word and cut and paste. It seems some of my breaks didn't take. Sorry about that, guys.

**Styygens** · Posted On: 8/26/2011 6:07pm

Nice *****.

Now go do your homework!

**Permalost** · Posted On: 8/26/2011 6:56pm

Originally Posted by Hiro Protagonist

The new Conan movie is very, very close to some of those old comics, IIRC. That is why Stan Lee is up those guys' butt again, IIRC.

I think its because Stan Lee saw dollar signs when the trailer came out.

**W. Rabbit** · Posted On: 8/27/2011 7:18pm

eh maybe I'll revisit Howard's works...maybe.

The problem is I still think I feel the screenwriting for CTB was better than the few Conan books I actually read...I think we can agree that the screenwriting (and of course score) is really what made the movie watchable. That, and James Earl Jones and Max Von Sydow, who make anything they are a part of much better.

Come to think of it, I may have not even read Howard's books...I may have read one of the later authors? It's been around 20 years...

**Re4** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 2:58am

But where Milius succeeded isthat his movie was about Will, Power, Civilization, The Noble Savage, andManhood.

now i want to watch apocalypse now and red dawn again.

**Re4** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 3:02am

Oh and stone definitely was coked up at the time. He wrote scarface the very next year while kicking it.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 8/30/2011 11:26am

I wonder how many lines of blow have been snorted off of this prop sword?

**Styygens** · Posted On: 9/17/2011 2:20pm

Some wag added Conan the Barbarian to the website for the faculty of Trinity College.

Let me tell you of the days of high education.

http://io9.com/5841187/pranksters-ad...-irish-college

Pranksters add Conan the Barbarian to the faculty of Irish college

Last Thursday, Trinity College recruited an unexpected new professor for their English department: a one Dr. Conan T. Barbarian. Sadly, this was the work of rascals at the university and not one of Thulsa Doom's unusually stupid spells.
Here's his faculty listing (via the cached page, after the university removed it):

Dr Conan T. Barbarian, B.A.(Cimmeria) Ph.D. (UCD). F.T.C.D.
Long Room Hub Associate Professor in Hyborian Studies and Tyrant Slaying.
Dr Conan T. Barbarian was ripped from his mother's womb on the corpse-strewn battlefields of his war-torn homeland, Cimmeria, and has been preparing for academic life ever since. A firm believer in the dictum that "that which does not kill us makes us stronger," he took time out to avenge the death of his parents following a sojourn pursuing his strong interest in Post-Colonial theory at the Sorbonne. In between, he spent several years tethered to the fearsome "Wheel of Pain", time which he now feels helped provide him with the mental discipline and sado-masochistic proclivities necessary to sucessfully tackle contemporary critical theory. He completed his PhD, entitled "To Hear The Lamentation of Their Women: Constructions of Masculinity in Contemporary Zamoran Literature" at UCD and was appointed to the School of English in 2006, after sucessfully decapitating his predecessor during a bloody battle which will long be remembered in legend and song. In 2011/12, he will be teaching on the following courses: "The Relevance of Crom in the Modern World", "Theories of Literature", "Vengeance for Beginners", "Deciphering the Riddle of Steel" and "D.H. Lawrence". He strongly objects to the terms of the Croke Park agreement and the current trend for remaking 1980s films that he believes were perfectly good enough in the first place.
He is happy to hear from potential research students with an interest of any of these topics, but applicants should note that anyone found guilty of academic misconduct or weakness in the face of the enemy will be crucified as an example to the others.
Email: conanb@tcd.ie

As surprising as Conan's academic credentials are, let's not forget that the Cimmerian has sought out other employment outside of barbarizing. He did once moonlight as a pimp.
[Via MSNBC. Hat tip to Mark.]

Please note: The prankster used Arnold's picture, not Jason Momoa's.