First Images from Marcus Nispel’s CONAN Movie

This movie is another Hollywood-ized disgrace to the great works of Robert E. Howard.

Sure, Milius's film was not particularly faithful to the source material either, but it was done with such skill and vision that he created a masterpiece regardless.

The script for this new version is a half-baked pastiche of every 'Hero's Journey' cliche Hollywood bullshit you can imagine. And Nispel can make pretty pictures but he sure as hell has no idea how to tell a coherent story. Just look at PATHFINDER.

If this is the best Paradox can do with these beloved R.E. Howard properties then I despair for the other films they have in development of fellow Howard creations like El Borak, Bran Mak Morn and Dark Agnes.

This movie died in casting.

I too am a life long REH fan, but I disagree with the negativity of the posts. While the movie is not completely faithful to the source material, I am still very hopeful that they captured the “essence”of the character in this film.

I actually love the casting. Stephen Lang was simply awesome in Avatar. Rose McGowan from all accounts is also very convincing in her role. Jason Momoa is a little thinner than I’d like him to be, but I still view him as a great fit as a young Conan.

Momoa doesn’t look “oriental”. By the way, “oriental” describes THINGS from the “orient”, not people. Rugs are oriental, not people. People from the orient would more correctly be called Asian.

Anyways, where in the world do you get that? Without the tan and without dreads and beard, he really has no true asian features. The guy is mix of caucasian, samoan, and american indian. His facial features are absolutely perfect, in my opinion. I think that he literally looks like he could have been the inspiration for some of Frank Franzetta paintings. His facial features couldn’t be more perfect to represent Conan in my opinion.

From the source material, Conan is a Cimmerian. Yes, they are supposed to be the predessors of the Celts, but they are also supposed to be the only suvivors of Atlantis. Homer’s writings indicate that Atlantis was located near the Pillars of Hercules, near Gibraltor. If Atlantis existed, the people might have had a Mediterranean look. Look up the Mediteranean race on Wikkipedia. Cultural anthropologists classify the Mediterranean race as one of the three sub categories of the caucasian race. The dark haired people in Ireland and Scotland are actually part of the Mediterranean race. They are NOT classified as Alpine or Nordic caucasians. Momoa fits this look rather well. Do everyone a favor, and do some research before you claim to be an expert.

The issue that people have with Momoa is that he is not as muscle-bound as they’d like to see him. Momoa is 6’5″ and has bulked up a bit from his role as Ronan Dex in Stargate Atlantis. I would have preferred that he bulk up a bit more, but I don’t think that he is too small to be Conan.

The Conan from the books didn’t have a modern day bodybuilder physique. He certainly was muscular, but he was more of a hardened fighting man than a muscle bound oaf. The Conan of the books was more of an athlete than a muscle man. Momoa looks the part of a young Conan. If there is another movie, I’d like to see Momoa bulk up, but not too much. Another 15 or 20 pounds would be enough.

All of the REH fans need to lighten up. It seems that everyone wants Conan played by a body builder or a professional wrestler. I’m sorry, but the Conan from the books was extremely intelligent, a leader of men, a lady’s man, an athlete with panther like quickness. The person that plays him needs to be more than a muscle bound oaf…